Everything that Mary had said broke Tiffany’s heart for Arianne. “Ari, Mary’s right. Don’t rush to see the baby. You can’t touch him for now anyway. Instead, why don’t you tell me what you would like to eat today? I’ll ask Jackson to whip something up for you. Eat more and you’ll regain your strength. That way, you’ll recover faster. Or maybe you should call Mark and have him come over? You’ve suffered a great hardship to give him his child. You should let him see your frail and fragile state or he won’t feel bad for you.”Arianne felt more energized. Thanks to Mary and Tiffany’s help, she managed to slowly straighten up and take a few steps. The pain made her too afraid to breathe too heavily. She never thought that her first time getting off the bed after surgery would hurt this much. A long time passed before she managed to gasp, “N-no need… t-to trouble Jackson. Ma-Mary… Call… Mark. T-tell him… to come…” Of course, he had to come. A certain issue between them was still unsettled.
Arianne burst into tears in the end. “I want to know, why did my grandmother forgive you after you told her about the plane crash? How could the grudge of killing her son be written off, just like that? Not even I have been able to let go of my hatred for you completely, even after living with you for so many years… Granny said that she knew everything that I know about the plane crash and some things that I don’t. What don’t I know? Are you still refusing to be honest with me, even at this point?”Mark stiffened instinctively. He lifted his hand and wiped her tears away. “I chose to be honest with granny because I wanted to make things clear with her. Perhaps she did hate me, but she’s also aware that I will be the source of your reliance for the rest of your life. You were pregnant, so she wanted us to live peacefully as a family. She said that the dead can never come back, but the living must continue living their lives. She couldn’t hate me, and I’m very grateful to her. I don’t f
Tiffany calmed herself and bent down to pick up her handbag. “Er… It’s fine… I’m fine. Uhm… I’ve promised Jackson that I’d have dinner with him. I’ll be on my way now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then, she turned around and left hurriedly, as if scared out of her wits. Ethan — it had been a while since she last heard that name. She was still traumatized. She once loved and hated this man deeply. This man had personally pushed her straight into hell… Had he returned?Arianne and Mark looked at each other, feeling heavy-hearted. They did not continue discussing the topic. Mary was blissfully ignorant of the situation, so she pulled out a strange-looking thing from the plastic bag in her hand. “Ari, the doctor says that you have to pump your milk as soon as possible. Are your breasts swelling up now?”Arianne glanced at Mark, her face beginning to heat up. “N-no… It’s fine… I don’t think I need to do that for now… The baby isn’t with me right now, anyway. I can’t feed him.”“Are you shy?”
Then, it seemed like someone had unlocked the door with a key. She heard Tanya and Jackson’s voices before she was lifted into someone’s arms. She didn’t know what happened next.By the time she woke up again, she was in the hospital — the same hospital as Arianne. However, Arianne was in the department of gynaecology while she was sent to the hospital due to a fever.Jackson and Tanya were watching over her in the ward. Jackson began nagging her when he saw that she had woken up. “You were perfectly fine this morning; how did you end up with a fever? You’re already not smart enough. You’d have turned into a complete idiot if I hadn’t realized it sooner.”“It’s not like I wanted this,” she argued weakly. “I was perfectly fine this morning. I don’t know how I ended up this way either… This sucks.”Tanya stepped forward and said, “I’m glad you’re alright. I’m going back then.” She might not show it, but deep down, she was a little annoyed. She had planned on having lunch at Eric’s th
Tiffany was speechless.Jackson scowled the entire way home, simply because Tiffany had refused to throw the bouquet away, claiming that she owed Alejandro a favour and couldn’t bear to waste someone else’s efforts. However, he couldn’t throw it away for her either, so had no choice but to crudely throw the bouquet into the back of his car.When they arrived at the ground floor of her condo, Tiffany held her temper as she tried to coax him. “Okay, I’m home. I’m going in. Thank you for today. I’ll buy you a meal tomorrow.”Jackson’s expression softened a little. “Get a good rest when you get home. Let me take the flowers. My place is cold and empty. It’ll be great for livening up the place.”Tiffany was speechless. “S-sure. As long as you don’t throw it away. It’ll be quite a shame. Take it home and put it up then.”When Tiffany entered her home, she saw Tanya watching television on the couch and eating the fruit that Summer had brought. Tiffany did not nitpick on her over this. “T
“That’s right,” Jackson answered from the other end. “It’s so late and you haven’t eaten. It’d be too late by the time I cooked for you, so I ordered food for you on the way back. Did you receive the delivery? Go to bed after you’ve eaten.”She felt warm and fuzzy on the inside. She was surprised at his attentiveness. “Thank you… I’ll eat this now then.”She remembered that Tanya was making ramen noodles for her after ending the call, so she quickly called out to her in the kitchen. “Tan, you don’t have to cook. Jackson’s bought takeout for me. It looks like a large portion. Have you eaten? Would you like to share?”Tanya turned off the fire. The half-cooked noodles and bubbling water gradually steadied. “I’ve already eaten. You enjoy it.”She did not even look at Tiffany when she walked past the living room. Tiffany felt very guilty. “Tan, have some with me? I wasn’t aware that Jackson had ordered takeout for me. I’m sorry…”Tanya turned around and forced a small smile on her fac
Tanya lowered her head shyly. “Stop it…”Tiffany was enlightened when she saw the look on her face. “Sure, of course. I understand. This is great news. Don’t worry, I’ll do everything I can to make it happen between you two. We should always keep the goodies in the family. It’s first come, first serve. I’ll invite him for you.”The group agreed to meet up at the shopping mall. Tanya had happily dressed up too. Eric was the last to arrive… And he wasn’t alone. He had brought a woman.The woman standing next to Eric seemed like a good match for him. She was shining and beautiful, and absolutely dazzling… Tanya’s face turned ashen, unsure of how to react.Tiffany had no idea that Eric had a girlfriend. She felt very awkward when she saw the peculiar look on Tanya’s face. “Eric, what’s going on? Who is this? Won’t you introduce us?”Eric confidently put his arm around the woman’s shoulders. “This is my girlfriend, Vicky Nathanial. This is her first time meeting all of you. We’ve been
Tiffany’s head swam. She had a pitifully low emotional quotient and didn’t know what to do. Left with no choice, she turned to Eric for help. “Ah… Eric, your girlfriend has just returned to the country; you should spend more time with her. Stop being such an insensitive man.”Vicky pranced happily back to Eric’s side before he could say another word then hugged his arm as she buried her head into his shoulder in an adorable manner. “My Ricky is only an ‘insensitive man’ to other women. He’s really considerate towards me! Didn’t you want to buy presents for your friend’s baby? Let’s go. Ricky’s aesthetic sense isn’t as good as mine. I’ll choose on his behalf!”When they arrived at the second floor of the mall, Tanya finally couldn’t resist making an excuse to go to the bathroom. Tiffany hurriedly ran after her. Tanya silently stood in front of the bathroom sink, with a sunken look on her face. Tiffany carefully apologized, “I wasn’t aware that Eric already had a girlfriend. I was wond