How could Mark possibly bring himself to believe her words? Mark only wanted to fill up the void of insecurity that was quickly enveloping him.After a long while, the storm finally stopped.Arianne put on her nightgown and tidied up her closet. She easily found the beige coat that she had spent a long time trying to find just before. It was hard for an agitated person to stay focused; something that was obviously so close to her had suddenly seemed to disappear from her sights.She held up her coat and threw it at Mark. “I told you that I was just trying to find my coat. There you go, do you see it?”Mark laid sideways in bed and lazily glanced at the coat. “Did you have to take so long just to find a coat? Did you have to rummage around so much? It was just in plain sight; who’re you trying to bluff? I admit that I was in a bad mood yesterday, as too much has happened recently and it’s really hard for me to keep a straight face as though nothing has happened. I’m sorry.”Arianne
Arianne half-jokingly said, “I sold off most of your cars when the company was in peril before. I suppose you still can’t drop that, can you? Are you trying to use your son’s birthday present as an excuse to fill up your garage again? How old do you think Smore is? He’s just about to turn three years old on his next birthday—what could he possibly understand? Even if you bought it, wouldn’t it be you who’s the one driving? You should stop buying so many cars and keeping them as an exhibition, wasting your resources. We’ll be fine as long as we have sufficient cars.”Mark’s lips curled into a smile. “Yes, my wifey’s right. Let’s not buy it then. Smore, it’s not that papa doesn’t love you, but your mama’s the one who’s being strict.”When she heard the word “wifey”, Arianne’s hair stood upright, although her heart was elated at the same time. It was a rare sight for him to be such a smooth talker. Everyone had been feeling stressed with everything that had happened recently; it was rar
Mark’s facial expression slightly changed. “Are you saying that Aunt Shelly’s the one who ambushed Alejandro? Stop joking, you already know that Aunt Shelly isn’t that fit to begin with, and even if she had the use of all her limbs, it’s more likely that Alejandro would’ve successfully retaliated and she wouldn’t have been able to escape unharmed.”Arianne did not dare to dive deeper into the topic. “I didn’t mean it like that. It was just a random thought that came to mind… It’s quite late now, so let’s get some sleep and continue our search tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll get some leads soon.”When the lights were out, the entire house was enshrouded in darkness. Mark laid sideways as he faced Arianne. She could neither see his facial expression through the darkness, nor did she know how he was riddled with insomnia the entire night.Could it be true that Aunt Shelly had faked losing the use of her leg just to bluff him? Could it be that her leg wasn’t crippled at all? Why would she go t
The doctor gulped a few times, probably because he was overly nervous. Based on his obvious reaction, Mark knew that he had guessed correctly.The doctor finally broke after being threatened by Mark’s stare—no one would ever dare to offend a person of such importance like Mark. “Yes, she asked me to do everything! Her leg was truly injured, but it wasn’t to the point where she would be crippled. She has already regained her mobility and can move around like any normal person after recovering over this period of time. However, she needed to avoid any strenuous activities for her to be able to fully recover. She begged me so hard. She said… your wife was trying to chase her away and she had to lie in order to be able to continue to stay at your house, at her safe haven. I couldn’t bear not to help after seeing how pitiful she was…”Mark’s mental barrier immediately crumbled. So, it was true… Aunt Shelly had been lying to him all along. She had orchestrated the entire incident and even
Mark’s throat slightly moved as he gulped. He found it quite hard to bring the words to his mouth. “Her leg isn’t crippled. In fact, she has probably mostly recovered after such a long period of time. Hence, it shouldn’t be an issue for her to move around freely. She’s been lying to me all along.”Alejandro was not surprised by the fact. He had been receiving news about what Shelly had caused at home. “I see… Then, I’m pretty sure she’s the culprit. She must’ve known who I truly am, which would explain her ambush. She already managed to escape from the mental hospital, so if she really wanted to hide, it’d definitely be hard for you to find her. Plus, she hasn’t got any money or identification with her, yet she’s able to survive outside for so many days; she’s truly amazing. However, we have no idea if anyone else other than me has been hurt when she’s had one of her mental attacks. Now that I think of it, it’s quite scary to be targeted by someone who’s mentally ill.”Mark found Ale
Alejandro’s face darkened. “Divorce? Who’re you trying to scare off? If we get divorced, our daughter belongs to me. I refuse to believe that you’d be capable of snatching her away from me. Why bother getting a divorce when you can’t bear to be away from your daughter? I meant it when I said that I wasn’t there, so either you catch me in the act, or you can stop suspecting me. Women have a really serious case of being suspicious of everything, going around thinking about all kinds of nonsense every single day. Are you not tired?”Melanie pouted her cheek and scoffed, placing Millie in Alejandro’s arms before turning to walk away. Alejandro was initially quietly seated in his rocking chair and did not dare make too big of a movement since his wound was still hurting. However, he instantly felt so much pain that he gritted his teeth when Millie’s weight was dropped onto him.Millie stared at his exaggerated facial expression, looking like she was shocked. Her jet black eyes did not eve
Water quickly filled Shelly’s eyes. Before the first tear broke, however, Mark groaned exasperatedly. “No, you stop that! Stop your tears! Now! It’s not going to inspire mercy from me—hell, the longer I look, the more you disgust me. Don’t bother wasting your acting chops on me! It was you who harmed Alejandro, wasn’t it? What the hell are you going to do next, huh? Murder Arianne, isn’t it, you psycho?! You don’t belong anywhere other than a goddamned asylum, where you can get your lunacy mended!”Shelly forced the rolling tears back into her eyes. “Y-Y-You’re disappointed to see me here, aren’t you?” she said, her voice trembling. “But I can assure you, it’s not what you think! Not once has my body been defiled. I simply have nowhere to go, Mark. I have no money. This is only temporary, a quick fix. Do you…? Do you really think so little of me…?”Mark’s mind was so utterly ablaze that it fueled the curtness in his answer. “How about ‘bloody yes?!’ I wish you’d never tainted my life
Shelly seemed to have reached a point where she balked at recounting her past. Her voice, thick and strained, had broken into a series of unintelligible croaks complementing the anguish in her face.Mark curled his fingers into fists and gritted his teeth. “Go on.”Shelly waited, letting the brunt of her emotional turmoil pass, before continuing.After the labor was over, she took a glance at her baby boy.In a snap, all the repulsion and the feeling of defilement left her completely. Women may experience a profound change of heart the moment they claim motherhood, and Shelly emerged from her experience a mother who could not bear to part with her son.Suddenly, she refused to let her sister take her child away.To stem unwanted developments from this incident, Shelly’s sister took the baby back home the next day. The baby was then christened as Mark Tremont.Never had Shelly ever imagined that her sister would one day be so utterly possessed by a man that she saw her own little