Arianne was disappointed. She had hoped to see who the kidnappers were, perhaps even find clues on Ethan. In the end, they were still too late.They led everyone upstairs and found Zoey and Mr. Harris’s room door wide open. Everything was a mess inside. The hotel’s lady boss was calculating their bill and scolding them with cutting remarks, demanding compensation for the damages. The pair were still in shock, so they couldn’t retaliate. They submitted to the lady boss’s criticism. Zoey was fine, but her husband was not. He looked as if he had endured a heavy beating.Arianne stepped forward and stopped the lady boss. “That’s enough. I’ll foot the fill. Henry, go downstairs with her and calculate her losses. Pay her back for whatever’s due.”The lady boss, who saw the amount of people Arianne had brought along with her, was too afraid to lash out any further. Instead, she meekly followed Henry.Zoey looked at Harvey and immediately understood why Arianne had come here. “We’re fine.
Brian tucked his smile away. “Yes, sir. There’s a reason why I haven’t had a girlfriend. For example, my busy work schedule, having no time, that sort of thing…”“Would you like a long holiday then?” Mark asked in a soft voice. “Or perhaps you’d like to bring your retirement forward, say, twenty or thirty years?”Brian shook his head vigorously. “No no no, I’m happy to serve you. I’d happily drive you around for ten more years during my retirement years, as long as I’m capable of doing it.”…The West family residence.Summer had been confined to her bed ever since Tanya’s strangulation and would suffer from bouts of fever from time to time. The doctor had concluded that it was a result of shock and that she would be fine after a good rest.Jackson had been paying frequent visits to the West family residence because of this, mostly out of guilt and because he felt sorry for his mother. He had a slight change in his impression of Atticus after seeing how much personal care and con
Less than half a month later, the weather in the capital had reached its yearly scorching peak. It was so hot that people simply wanted to stay indoors. No one wanted to move.Arianne and Aristotle were close to falling sick from the humidity. Aristotle’s resistance to heat was very low, and Arianne was afraid that he might get heatstroke if she took him out of the house. She rarely brought him out to the garden these days and would only walk around it in the evening around sunset. Regardless of how large the Tremont Estate was, it seemed much smaller during this time. It was rather boring to stay inside all day.Lately, Mark had gotten so busy that they hardly managed to see him. He left before Arianne woke up and arrived home when she was asleep at night. She was beginning to wonder if Aristotle would forget his daddy if this continued. After all, they stayed in the same house but never saw each other. Babies did not have good memories, so it was no surprise if he forgot his face.
Jackson placed the phone on the table, with the call still connected. “We’ve only met once. What could I have possibly done to deserve your visit today? Tell me.” He had deliberately put emphasis on their previous meeting. Both men had gone to see Tiffany. The angry sparks between them remained fresh in his memory.Jett pushed Alejandro, seated in a wheelchair as usual, forward. “You have a pretty good piece of land in your hands. Name your price. I want it.”Jackson narrowed his eyes. “Oh? Your information network is certainly efficient. I just haven’t decided on what to do with that piece of land; I haven’t set it aside just yet. After all, it’s pretty valuable. You have a lot of land on your hands now, so why are you buying more? Do you intend on monopolizing the market in the capital? Unfortunately, my friend has just called me and I’ve already agreed to give him the land.”“I’ll give you double of whatever he’s offering. What do you think?” Alejandro instantly replied.Jackson
Mark halted his steps. “Oh, did I wake you up? I’ll take my shower downstairs then.”Arianne rubbed her bleary eyes. “It’s alright, take your shower here. I’m so sleepy right now, I’ll have no trouble going back to sleep. But please bathe quickly and go to sleep. Don’t tire yourself.”Despite her okays, Mark still took it upon himself to be as featherlight as possible during his shower to make as little sound as he could. Once he came out of his bath, he took the space next to Arianne.The pair had singled Smore out aside, who pitifully only had his comforter as his company.Arianne had yet to slip deeply into slumber, so instinctively, she wrapped her arm around his neck and drew herself close into his embrace before adjusting her position. “If you continue to come home late from work every time, Smore’s gonna forget how you look sooner or later,” she teased. “You know how bad kids’ memories are. He sleeps in the same bed as we do, yet he never sees you… If he ended up forgetting
Tiffany brushed her nose. “’Chia right. As if you’ve got that much time on your hands.”Alejandro took a sip of the beer in front of him. “As we were saying, I just bought a plot from Jackson today. He’s quite adept at holding grudges, it seemed, because the way he treated me was the same as he would a love rival. He sold that plot with three times its supposed price.”Tiffany’s fixed the table with slightly downcast eyes. “Oh. So? You could have, I dunno, not accepted his offer if you thought it was too expensive. Or do you have so much in your pocket that you just want to burn off some of it?”Watching her feigning indifference made Alejandro chuckle. “Hee hee. It’s so obvious that you care a lot about this, so why pretend otherwise, hmm? Come on, there’s no need to fake anything when you’re with me, alright? Just be yourself. I won’t lie; I thought it was pretty expensive, but I needed it, so I said yes,” he explained, before adding, “Oh, and by the way, he’s coming to the branch
Jett stood outside Tiffany’s room instead of entering and took a watchful spot beside the door when the group reached Tiffany’s unit upstairs. Tiffany thought it strange, but she pushed Alejandro’s wheelchair into her unit anyway. He was a disabled man whose legs could no longer function—how dangerous could being with him be?Tiffany thought that she needed not to be too concerned.She only moved in recently, so she had yet to sort many of her things into place, thus leaving a mess. “I haven’t had the time to tidy my place, so… yeah,” she admitted sheepishly. “Er, I’ll go make you a cuppa tea now.”She went to the drinking station and began, but it was clear from her unpolished action that she was not very good. After a slip when she almost hurt herself with boiling water, a hand suddenly appeared next to her. “Allow me.”Tiffany froze. Why did Alejandro’s voice come from above her head? He was wheelchair-bound, so his voice should be coming from below her neck, right?She whipped
Tiffany quietly pushed open the door of the conference door, trying her best not to draw attention to herself. However, almost instantaneously, a talking Jackson’s attention drifted to her face the moment she stepped in. It lasted about two seconds before it casually left her.Tiffany’s mind had only one remark: that was it? That? Was it?She had not expected such a placid reaction. Had he really let her go or what?Amy was quick to remind her, “Miss Lane, despite being the Assistant Director, you’re late by a good whole twenty minutes.”An unnatural expression shadowed Jackson’s mien. He had been mildly surprised when he saw Tiffany coming into the room, but he remembered that all was per Summer’s arrangement and got over it. But now, it seemed that his dear mother appointed Tiffany as the Assistant Director, too.He should probably be glad that she was just the “assistant”…?He faked a cough before interjecting. “Take a seat, Miss Lane. Let’s resume this meeting—we’ll discuss y