Helen Cameran’s words bewildered Arianne for a moment, but she chose not to be bothered by them and headed back to her seat. She could still see Helen idling there out of the corner of her eye. It upsetted her and distracted her from her work.After so long, she still didn’t make any progress on her wedding dress design sketch. By nighttime, she had no choice but to look at other various designs for inspiration. Her mind was still occupied by Mark’s marriage announcement. Everyone in the company began looking at her strangely. Disdain and rejection turned into cautiousness. At least, no one dared to step on her toes anymore.An idea suddenly popped into her mind. What kind of wedding dress would Mark like? The final draft must impress him no matter what, so she must cater it according to his preferences!Although she racked her brain, she still couldn’t figure out what he liked. Hence, she was still stuck on the wedding dress design sketch until it was time to get off work.When sh
Lily nodded slightly. “I’ll take my leave now, if there’s nothing else.”As soon as she returned to the office, everyone in the department of design flocked to her. “How did it go, Miss Pierre? Did he approve it?”Lily went straight into the CEO’s office and only spoke when she saw Eric. “It has been approved, Mr. Nathaniel.”Eric didn’t seem surprised at all. “Okay, get the janitor to clean up the office. You may all get off work early today.”The entire department of design cheered as soon as the news got out. Everyone except for Arianne, who was still seated at her desk.She quietly packed up her things and went to the bathroom. In front of the mirror, she reapplied her lipstick to cover up her pale lips. She didn’t want Mark to be upset when he saw her at home.All of a sudden, she heard someone speaking inside one of the toilet cubicles. “I think Arianne is the one who forced Mark Tremont to make their marriage public. He's always kept their relationship under wraps and even
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
Mary shuffled forward, took out his shoes and put them down neatly. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that Mrs. Tremont eats once she wakes up.”Mark did not deign to reply, pursing his lips instead. As his car drove away from the Tremont Estate, Arianne woke up sheepishly. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Mary… Why didn’t you wake me?” she grumbled.“Mr. Tremont told me not to,” Mary replied, stepping forward with a smile. “He wanted you to rest more. You’ve been exhausting yourself over the past few days. I’ve warmed up your meal and brought it over. You must eat before going back to sleep, no matter how tired you are. By the way, Mr. Tremont just left.”“Mm,” Arianne replied, still in a blur. She got up and sat at the dining table before noticing that Mark had left his phone behind. She had not intended on concerning herself with it, but it rang. Furthermore, the screen indicated that Aery Kinsey was on the other end…Mary looked at her and said, “Answer it for him, Mr
”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
Unfortunately, Ethan couldn’t hear her and continued showering; most likely, the bathroom was sound proof.Soon, the bodyguard snatched the room card from Tiffany and unlocked the door. Arianne was now face to face with Mark—it was like looking at a field of snow. The look in his eyes made her feel very guilty, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. She timidly backed away...Tiffany struggled out of the bodyguard’s restraints, rushed forward, and shielded Arianne. “Mark Tremont, if you have something to say, be civilized about it. I’m just as anxious as you are! However, can we wait for Ethan to come out of the bathroom before straightening this out? I’m certain that Ari isn’t that kind of a person, and neither is Ethan!”Ethan finally noticed that something wasn’t right outside. He put on his bathrobe and walked out, only to find a large group in his room. “What’s going on?” he asked, taken aback.Mark’s gaze turned cold. Tiffany snapped irritably, “You’re asking me? How sho
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 didn’t reply. How could Mark Tremont possibly trust her? He’s never trusted her…Mary’s heart ached at the sight of her looking like this. However, she was powerless too.That night, at Arianne’s insistence, Mary went home to rest. There was no need to stay with her at the hospital; she’d simply caught a cold and could take care of herself. At most, she would have to stay in the hospital for one day under observation. She would be discharged the very next day.She couldn’t seem to fall asleep, probably because she had too much sleep in the day. She shut her eyes and lay on the hospital bed, a myriad of thoughts plaguing her mind.“What are you doing?!” someone outside the ward cried out all of a sudden.Arianne jumped in fright. She opened her eyes to catch a quick glimpse of a man’s face disappearing from the small window above the door. Who was spying on her in the dead of the night?!She was too frightened to stay any longer. She packed up her things and left the hospi