Mark had requested for these to be prepared since yesterday. Coincidentally, Helen and Aery had paid them a visit today too. She wasn’t sure if he had prepared it specifically for Aery, but the ingredients ended up arriving late and Aery couldn’t wait until dinnertime, so she became the plug.Such high-grade prawns were hard to come by during this season. Mark had certainly gone through a lot of trouble to have them specifically air flown here.She had just stuffed a prawn into her mouth, with half of it hanging out of her mouth, when Mark arrived at the dining hall. When she saw the ugly look on his face, she thought that he was upset at her for starting the meal impolitely. Just as she was hesitating over whether or not to spit the prawn out, Mark pushed the entire plate of prawns in front of her and said, “No table manners.”Arianne suddenly remembered that he never ate prawns. Looks like she really would be the plug.Even though his tone wasn’t ideal, she couldn’t be bothered w
It had been a while since they had a meal together and spent time in the same house. He hadn’t taken the initiative to speak to her over the past few days, so Arianne paused in her footsteps when she heard these words. “I… don’t like the smell of smoke. You go ahead, I’ll sleep in the guest room.”She had never said anything about her abhorrence towards his smoking before… A complicated glint flashed across Mark’s eyes. He threw the cigarette box into the trash then got up and went to the bed. “Sleep.”Arianne was shocked. She couldn’t understand what this meant. Had he thrown his cigarettes away, just because she said she didn’t like the smell? It didn’t seem possible that he had done this out of consideration towards her feelings. The biggest possibility was that he was pissed off…She went into a momentary daze then walked over to fish the cigarettes out of the trash. The trash can in their room was always clean. After all, she usually only slept in the room. “I didn’t mean anyth
On the other end of the phone, Ethan suddenly popped into Tiffany’s mind. She didn’t tell the story of their breakup, but her tone became a little bitter. “Yeah… It’ll get better, and we’ll all be fine!”As soon as Arianne ended the call, she dove right back into the complicated work. The busy morning passed quickly. By lunch break, she thought of a Chinese restaurant nearby that served light food since that was what she felt like having today.In the Chinese restaurant, she ordered two dishes that she liked and started digging into it. By the time she left, she realized that it was already raining outside. The weather was always unpredictable in this season, just like Mark Tremont...The rain was pouring and showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. As time passed, she grew aware that she was stranded here. Even if her office wasn’t too far away, she couldn’t possibly reach it. There was an open space that served as a parking lot in front of a Chinese restaurant. Since she wasn’
Arianne was rendered speechless for a moment. “...You’re doubting me just like Tiffie. Alright, we’re here. You can pull up now.”She waited for the car to stop then left in a hurry after thanking Ethan.Ethan watched through his dark eyes as her figure left. It seemed like Tiffany hadn’t told her about their breakup...When it was about time to get off work for the day, Arianne received a whining text from Tiffany. ‘It’s too difficult to find a job! Not only that, it’s raining so much today. It’s annoying!’Arianne was almost done with her work at this time, so she replied to her text. ‘You have Ethan to support you, what’s there to worry about? You used to help him out, now it’s his turn to return the favor. Since he has a good job now and is driving a car that costs nearly a hundred thousand dollars, you can live a decent life. Just take your time in searching for a job.’After the text was sent out, Tiffany didn’t reply for some time. Arianne found that strange. After a long t
By the time Arianne came out, Mark was already sitting at the dining table. He was in his light gray loungewear with slightly damp hair. She could smell the after-bath fragrance on his body. Regardless of circumstances, Mark always paid attention to his bearing and manners. He kept his posture straight all the time and never seemed to relax, even for a moment.Since Arianne didn’t know what to say, she decided not to say anything at all.There were two plates of big prawns for dinner tonight. When Mary served up dishes, she purposely placed the prawns in front of Arianne. Arianne unceremoniously began to peel the prawn shells and feasted on them. On the other hand, Mark gracefully brought the small bowl to his lips and slowly sipped on the soup.He failed to see how someone with such a good appetite was suffering from gastritis and was starting to heavily suspect that there was something wrong with her.Arianne noticed his stare, then forced herself to ask, “What’s wrong?”Mark av
Arianne wondered to herself. Didn’t Mark sleep in their room last night? Why did he come out of the study room early in the morning? He looked like… he just woke up. Did he get out of the room and go to the study room in the middle of the night?She naturally couldn’t comprehend Mark’s behavior, but since she knew better than to get herself into trouble, she left without even having breakfast.Mary came out of the kitchen with a bowl of millet porridge, but Arianne was no longer in sight. “Where is she?” she wondered out aloud.As soon as her voice fell, she caught a glimpse of Mark who was coming down the stairs. The sour look on his face instantly muted her.Arianne couldn’t focus on her work the entire morning. She had never expected herself to feel weak and dizzy just from not having breakfast. Her morning sickness felt even more intense than usual when she was hungry.When it was almost lunch break, she received a call from Tiffany. “Ari, I’m downstairs of your office. Come d
Speaking up to this point, she stopped because she really didn’t want to talk about Helen.Tiffany kept her mouth shut too. After all, they were both in depressing situations. Talking about it would just make them feel worse.Then, a sudden thought hit her and she took out a letter from her bag. “Ari, this is for you. I don’t know why it was sent to my place. I’m surprised that there are still people writing letters in this day and age. Isn’t it more convenient to use a phone? Who is it? How did he know where I live or even that we know each other…?”Arianne was very puzzled too. She opened the letter and stared at it. There were only a few lines of crooked handwriting on the letter. It took her a lot of effort to make out every word. As soon as she did, she felt blood rushing to the top of her head. She couldn’t even hear Tiffany calling her anymore.“Ari? Ari? What does it say?” Tiffany’s curiosity was aroused as she urged Arianne to tell her.Arianne snapped back to her senses
Arianne’s mind was in a mess. She momentarily lost the ability to make any decision. All she could think about was investigating whatever happened that year. “This… Let’s not talk about that yet. I have to do a complete investigation of the matter concerning my father. I’ll have a good look at this letter tonight after work. I’ll pay a visit to the address on this letter and see this “Mr. Sloane” this weekend. Perhaps everything will be clear then. “Tiffany nodded. “That’s a good idea too. Get this sorted out first, don’t think of anything else for now. You have a little one in your belly now. Don’t go alone, I’ll come with you. I don’t think this address is anywhere in the city. I’ll worry if you go alone.”Arianne returned to the office after her meal but couldn’t concentrate on work. Every word in that letter provoked her emotions. She was sorely tempted to immediately uncover whatever happened that year. Who was this “Mr. Sloane” in the letter? How could he have possibly known a