Melanieâs uncles, after going through the worst of the guardsâ retaliatory fisticuffs, were quick to succumb. Slowly but surely, only Mrs. Lark and Nikolai remained silent.Alejandro chuckled. âOho, looks like weâve got ourselves some tough cookies! Tough, and a sore to virtually everyone around them⌠You, Nikolai Lark! Youâre the jacka** who pushed Tiffany down the stairs and made Melanie bear your blame, arenât you? Meanwhile, your mommy supports everything her precious little baby does. Well, let me tell you, I consider everyone else involved in this fight today to be evenâexcept the two of you. The rest of you may go after signing your names on the contract. But you two? You two get an extended stay⌠We have much to discuss.âMrs. Lark was frightful at her core, but she was not about to admit that. âW-What are you gonna do to us, huh?! You think youâre above the law, huh, hotshot? Iâm calling 911!âAlejandro remained unperturbed as he fiddled with the lighter in his hand. â911,
Mrs. Lark gradually opened her eyes. âNik⌠Just let it be this time. Our luck ran out this time. Sign it and bail; I donât ever want to see their faces againâŚâ she breathed wispily. âDonât ever show your faces again, Melanie, Alejandro!âSeeing his mother change her mind uneased Nikolai. âMom, are you really going to let everything the Lark family has built up and worked on be handed to⌠that knave? Weâll be setting ourselves up as clowns for everyone to laugh at and mock⌠I canât live like that!âAlejandroâs patience had run dry. In a fit, he walloped the contract on Nikolaiâs face. âBoo-hoo-hoo, cry me a river! Find some way to cope with it, smartass, since you people brought this on yourselves. Anyway, timeâs up; my time is too precious for you people to waste!âBodyguards that had stood by immediately fanned out from behind Alejandro and surrounded Nikolai, who tripped and fell onto his bottom in terror. âWhat the hell are you people trying to do?! I-I-Iâm warning you, d-donât y
Melanie felt tears swarming to her nose. âY-Youâre right. Mommy has been careless⌠But Iâll be more careful next time,â she replied. âMillie kissed Mommyâs boo-boo, though, so I donât feel pain anymore⌠Just a little tired. Can you sleep on your own later?âMelissa nodded docilely. âOkay! Millie is a big girl now! Donât need bedtime stories. I will sleep, sure!âMelanie waited for the nanny to take Melissa away before she sank onto the rug-covered floor with her back against the bed, her eyes studying the contract. Fresh memories of the event just moments ago replayed in her mind.She exhaled a long breath. Her father and Miklan had stood up for her at the right time and came to her aid. It made her feel a little bit better. At the very least, not everyone in her family saw her as a contemptible enemy.At least, she still felt a small warmth of familial bonds from themâŚBy the time Alejandro finished his shower, Melanie was still sitting on the floor.âHey, hey. I told you to tid
Alejandro remembered his car and called Jett, telling him to bring it to the repairmen. However, even after he hung his call, the image of that crumpled mess in his mindâs eye made him frown.âBah. Should just get a new car. I got sick of that one, anyway. Hey, got any car you like in mind? Letâs go take a look tomorrow,â he said. âAlso, Iâve decided that this is just a scratch and Iâm skipping the hospital.âA new car? Well, was this not the first time the man had ever voiced any genuine inclination to buy Melanie anything? âNo, no need. Iâm not going anywhere,â she said, shaking her head. âBesides, donât we have other cars at home? Any of them is good enough. Why bother buying a new one for me?âThe linchpin to her refusal, of course, was that Melanieâs mind was already set on sincerely proposing a divorce in two daysâ time. Him suddenly breaking out an ostensible act of bonhomie like this would only give her pressure.Normally, Alejandro did not care much about these thingsâany
Jackson brought a bowl of hot soup to Tiffanyâs lip. âAlright, alright. Drink this while itâs still warm quickly, please; I gotta get to my office today. Anyway, Alejandro managed to return just in time to give those Larks a piece of his mind, so everythingâs even. âSides, he even capitalized on them showing up at his front door to make them sign the contract right there and then, so hey, not exactly a fruitless fiasco, is it?âTiffany looked at the soup and felt her stomach churning in retaliation. âI. Donât. Want. It,â she declared. âIâve been drinking the same damn soup every day! I wasnât even this chubby-lumpy when I was pregnant, but since this confinement happened, Iâve been adding thirty pounds to myself! Thanks to this soup, I need to trim all of this fat now. So, nope! Take this away, please. Oh, ohâand donât let your mom see you do that, thanks. I just really donât wanna drink it anymoreâthe taste just makes me siiiiick!âJackson started on, helpless. âBae, you know my mom
Mark relaxed his guard. âOh, thatâs all? Not a problem. My hands are tied at the moment, so Iâll have Arianne go. Itâs her best friendâs daughter, after all; she would be pleased to help. Besides, women have this magical way of making things look better in photos than they really are, so she might be able to take just the right picture to mollify Tiffany.âHe made a lot of sense, Jackson thought as he rose from his seat and straightened his collar. ââKay then. Iâll get Arianneâs help. Heads-up: I wonât be coming back here,â he said. âAlso⌠I really donât think any magicâs gonna be able to touch up the painful truth, man. I dunno, with the state my girlâs in, itâs⌠not gonna work.âArianne left Tremont Tower in the late afternoon and headed to the hospital to visit the Westsâ ill-fated child on Jacksonâs behalf. It was, personally, a breather; without it, she would have to remain cooped up in the office with her back hunched over her drafts, and that was not counting the possibility o
Mark narrowed his eyes into two scrutinizing spotlights that grazed her face. âHas Alejandro committed any act of infidelity? Has he committed domestic abuse? Or has he wronged her or committed any grave injustice toward her?âArianne shook her head slowly. âNo, I think? The only thing heâs done wrong is not having loved her back thenâŚ? Thatâs all; I donât recall any notable conflict. Alejandro even bought her a limited edition sports car, you knowâ$300,000 and all! I think she finally sparked Alejandroâs affection. I mean, if animals could forge genuine, heartfelt bonds with other creatures they spend time with, then what more could we say about us humans? Melanieâs patience has carried her to this day when he finally loves her, only for her faith to crumble and give up. Sheâs put her foot down and made up her mind; she wouldnât listen to me!âMark stayed his ground. âSame suggestion: stay out of it. Alejandro is the type of wretch who remembers scores. He remembers every. Single. B
Since she did not, Arianne shook her head. âNo, havenât come across her anywhere. She should make an appearance before the wedding starts, right? Both families have gotta show up by then, no?âRobin said, haltingly, âI⌠donât think sheâs coming.âThat took Arianne by surprise. âWhy is that?âRobinâs fingers closed around the fabric of her dress tightly. âBecause sheâs made it blatant and clear that she doesnât like meâno, she hates me. When Syl told her about our wedding, she said, âYâall already registered yourselves as married anyway; whatâs the big fat point?â She thinks our wedding is unnecessary. She thinks my family pressured Sylvain into planning one, because we somehow want stupid material things like a house or a car or whatever fancy-schmancy things only she can cook up,â she fumed. âShe told Syl all of this on the phone. He thought I was already asleep, but I heard everything. The wedding has always been Sylâs ideaânot my familyâs.âTo be frank, Arianne, I loathe his mot