Smore stood at the base of the stairs, glum. He had wanted to present a picture he drew to Mark, only to have his father ignore him.His distress made Ariane’s heart ache. She hated it when unhappy feelings between parents were taken out on innocent bystanders, especially when Smore was one of them.She approached the hurt child and held him in her arms. “Daddy’s not in a good mood,” she cooed. “He didn’t mean to neglect you. I know, how about you show me what you made?”A smile broke out of Smore, who solemnly—as though it was a treasure—presented his art to his mother. Arianne examined it closely before praising with a smile. “This is amazing, sweetie! You’re really good at drawing! Alright, would you like to play with Granny for a bit? Mommy needs to coddle your Daddy now because he’s in a bad mood. He needs someone to be nice to him, like what I do with you when you’re upset, okay? It’s very sad, too, if everyone ignores Daddy, right?”Smore nodded in understanding and ran away
Mark raised his head and gazed at her with faint but undeniable wildness in his eyes. “He can wait a little longer.”Arianne’s eyes linked to his, and her heart fluttered. “C-Can we not? Dinner’s still waiting for us… Why is it that you always get the kick anytime, anywhere? God, can we please just talk about this later?”He refused by catching the edge of Arianne’s sleeve with his teeth and yanking it away, exposing the latter’s chiseled collar bones. His lips swooped down on her neck.A jolt of a soft but warm sensation rocked Arianne’s mind, and her arms automatically wrapped around his neck—When the two exited Mark’s study, the scarlet flush on her face had yet to recede, though Mark looked as though he had not just answered his carnal calling. He quickly picked up Smore after descending the stairs and before taking their seats around the dining table.Kids say the darndest things, and Smore, too young to know fear, called Mark out right to the man’s face. “Daddy wants coddli
Arianne pursed her lips. “Some people seek thrill in gambits like these, I suppose. They win everything when they succeed, and they lose everything if they don’t, sometimes costing them their life. Either way, no matter how much Smore wants it, don’t succumb to his demand and let him out of the house. Seaton must have come here illegally, and now that he’s more or less without an identity, he leaves very little trails behind. That means tracking him is gonna be a challenge, so we ought to keep our eyes peeled.”No sooner than she finished did her phone ring. It was a call from Tiffany, and since Arianne was in the middle of dinner, she openly accepted the call and put the call on loud-speaker.And that was how Tiffany’s despairing, hoarse shriek reverberated within the dining room. “Aaaaariiiii! J-Jackson’s been stabbed! We called 911, and we’re in an ambulance now, heading t-t-to the hospital. I don’t—can’t—I’m scared to tell his parents. I… I just want you to be here with me, pleas
A long time passed until the doors to the operation studio were pushed open, revealing a surgeon in a large white coat. “Any of his family here?”Tiffany wiped her tears away before approaching him, exclaiming, “Me! How is he?”The surgeon took off his mask and breathed a sigh of relief. “No harm was made to his vital organs, though his right kidney sustained slight, non-critical damage. He lost quite a lot of blood from the assault, but he should be fine with a timely blood transfusion. Doesn’t this count as a case of crime already? Perhaps you should take this to the cops.”Tiffany looked at Mark with a plea for help in her eyes. He shook his head and replied, “We’ll handle this, Doctor. Thank you.”Filing a report to the police was unthinkable. Seaton’s own country recognized him as a dead man, so if they reported this attack to the authorities and exposed Seaton as alive, it would turn into an investigation involving two or more sovereign nations, which was a typically unbearab
Melanie presented a small bowl of soup to Tiffany, cooing, “Hey, hey! It’s okay, we know what happened. You must be scared out of your wits, aren’t you? Here, let the warmth sooth you.”A little while later, Jackson’s senses gradually returned. Seeing him opening his eyes, Tiffany loomed and threw herself onto him with a gleeful hug. “I-I can’t believe it—I thought you were gonna die! You frickin’ scared me!”Jackson’s eyes popped wide open as traces of bloodshot redness surfaced to his cheeks. Arianne, noticing his uncanny look, quickly pulled Tiffany away from him. “Let him go, girl! He’s still weak from his surgery and everything—what you’re doing can really hurt!”Jackson exhaled a long breath after he was freed from Tiffany’s clutches. “I… I swear to God, you’re gonna kill me by accident one day, bae… Go and see if my wound’s torn open!”Melanie swiftly pulled his sheet away and examined him. “You’re fine, Jackson. All’s good, no worries. It probably only hurts a bit more now
“Don’t tell my mom about this,” Jackson quickly said. “Tell Tiffany to keep her trap shut. I’m not badly hurt. I’ll be discharged in a few days. Go home, all of you. It’s getting late.”After leaving the hospital, Alejandro lit a cigarette. “I don’t think Seaton wanted Jackson dead. You were closer to Seaton, so you should know that Seaton was a medical student years ago. He should know precisely where to stab a man in order to take his life. Even if he’s forgotten his medical knowledge, he wouldn’t have just stopped at one stab if he really wanted to kill a man. It wouldn’t have been difficult for him to kill Tiffany too. It’s obvious that it wasn’t his intention. It’s probably just a warning to us, and a means to let off some steam.”“Since that’s the case, we have to station some bodyguards at the hospital, just in case,” Mark calmly said. “We all have to be careful from now on and avoid falling into Seaton’s grasp again.”Alejandro narrowed his eyes. “Are you worried about me?”
Arianne wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. “Stop bickering. It’s the middle of the night, and everyone’s exhausted. Let him focus on driving. There are four lives in this vehicle.”Tiffany stroked her belly. “That’s right, four lives. You’d better focus on the road; who knows if my shock from today affected the baby? I’ll get a check up tomorrow when I visit Jackson at the hospital.”“We’ve sent people over to the hospital to take care of him,” Arianne said with a frown. “You shouldn’t leave the house alone. What if you run into trouble, and no one’s around with you? No matter how worried you are about Jackson, you’d better stay at home for the next few days. If you really need a check-up, I’ll go with you and have Brian drive us there. It’ll be safer with a man with us.”When they arrived home, Arianne immediately fell asleep when her head hit the pillow. She truly couldn’t move any more.The next morning.She got up as usual and went to the office with Mark. Then, she reali
“Same thing,” Mark calmly replied. “He has zero identity. It’s not easy to find him if he wants to hide himself away. I’m afraid we’ll just have to wait until he shows his face again.”“Even Jackson, who’s great at self-defense, has been cut down. If you or I run into Seaton, we might actually lose our lives…” Alejandro latched onto Jackson for some mystifying reason.Jackson gritted his teeth angrily. “What are you implying? Some things can’t be overcome, okay? He f*cking snuck an attack on me. Stop looking so mystified. Just wait until I’m out of this hospital. I’ll knock you down first. You’ve certainly got a big mouth, you villainous pest.”Alejandro laughed instead of getting enraged. “You may be pissed, but you can’t do anything about it, can you? If you want to beat me up, I’ll stand right here, perfectly still. I swear that I won’t fight back, as long as you can get out of bed and raise your fists.”“Enough,” Arianne said helplessly. “Why are you two acting like kids at a t