Mark was slightly taken aback but then curiously took a small sip. The rich sweetness of the milk tea immediately exploded in his mouth, causing him to frown even more. For someone like him who didn’t fancy sweets since he was a child, this was pure torture.Arianne suddenly snapped back to her senses. What had she just done? Why did she give him the milk tea she had drunk? Did he actually just drink it?!Arianne jolted when she saw the lipstick mark she left on the straw. She held the cup close to her chest and looked out the window. Although she pretended that nothing had happened, she was panicking on the inside. Should she still drink the remaining milk tea?Mark didn’t know what was going on through her mind at the moment, but he was amused by the way she tightly held her drink. He had only taken a small sip, why did her heart ache this much over a beverage?When they were approaching the Tremont Estate, Mark’s cell phone suddenly rang.He took a glimpse at the screen and ins

”I’ll pick you up. Give me your address. I’ll be over in a minute,” Ethan said.Half an hour later, Ethan’s car arrived outside the gates of the Tremont Estate. Arianne wrapped her coat tightly around herself and quickly ducked into the car. The late night temperature was freezing.The security guard on night shift at the gate noticed that Arianne had entered a car that was not Mark’s and prudently wrote down the car plate number.Arianne wasn’t in the mood to venture too far off, so she told Ethan to stop at the intersection. “Let’s talk in the car. It’s really, really late.”Ethan looked exhausted. “I’m too tired today. Come to my hotel. I’ll call a cab for you when we’ve finished discussing. There are a lot of details to go over, and I don’t want to be thrown off my game when I do this. You’re Tiffie’s only best friend, and I don’t know who else to turn to for help. Just this once, okay?”Arianne couldn’t bring herself to reject him, so she followed Ethan back to his hotel.Th

Arianne didn’t respond and simply tightened her grip on the towel around her. She shut her eyes, refusing to look at him. Perhaps she wouldn’t feel so afraid if she avoided looking at him…Mark’s gaze landed on the scar on her shoulder. She was left with this scar because of him… But now, he saw it as a mockery. “You disgust me!”Mark left and didn’t do anything else to her. This was different from his usual way of dealing with things.The bedroom door slammed shut. Arianne sat stiffly on the bedside like a soulless puppet.She stayed up the entire night, and no one called her to collect a dead-drunk Mark Tremont. He wouldn’t turn into a completely different person in his drunken state and paw at her neck like a cat, either...At eight in the morning, Mary knocked on the door. “Ari, are you up? Would you like something to eat? What happened… between you and Mr. Tremont?”Arianne huddled further under the covers. “I’m not eating. And it’s nothing.”Mary sighed and didn’t ask any

Arianne gently stirred a bowl of steaming porridge with a spoon; she didn’t respond to Mary’s suggestion.Did Mark go looking for her for so long last night because he felt responsible? She never felt that she could influence his behavior. If Mark wasn’t willing to come home, then he would only feel disgusted even if she got on her knees and begged him.The news continued brewing on the Internet, but Mark never directly responded to it. He even donated to an elementary school on New Year’s Eve.Arianne accidentally discovered the latest article while she was flipping through the news. It was a photo that was taken secretly when she was in the hospital. She was lying on the bed, looking pale and lifeless. The content of the article was questioning whether she had been hospitalized due to domestic violence and if Mark Tremont’s gentle nature was nothing more than a facade. Now that she thought about it, the person outside the hospital ward must’ve been the one who snuck a shot of her.

Aery’s heart sank. She rarely saw Mark looking this serious and terrifying.She just couldn’t understand why Arienne wouldn’t leave Mark even though she didn’t love him. Nor could she understand why Mark didn’t want to give them his blessings even though he didn’t seem to care about her. Was this all because of his pride as a man? If this continued, she would forever be Mark’s secret lover. She, more than anything, wished to be Mrs. Tremont. Arianne got this so effortlessly, yet she didn’t value it at all. Aery couldn’t help but be incensed at the thought of it.While Mark was working in the study room, Aery strutted into his room to take a shower. She then picked out one of Arianne’s silk pajamas and put them on. Looking as though she was the mistress of the house, she walked into the living room and haughtily commanded Butler Henry, “Go get the guest room ready.”Butler Henry remained standing still and directed his gaze to Arianne.Arianne was nonchalantly reading a magazine on