Arianne smiled bitterly. “What do you think will happen when Mark finds out you brought me out for a meal? I had an extramarital affair. Shouldn’t you, as his friend, be mad at me?”
“There’s no such thing. That’s a problem between both of you. As long as you’re not divorced, you’re still my sister-in-law. Whatever you said, won’t happen.” Jackson did not expect Arianne to be so blunt.
Tiffany was completely dumbfounded. “What are you talking about, Ari? What extramarital affair? What happened? Why wasn’t I aware of this? I was wondering why things have been so weird between you two…”
Arianne knew Tiffany very well. She would not back down until the situation was made clear to her. So favonovel.com recounted everything that had happened in detail to her.
Tiffany was suitably shocked. “You’ve clearly been set up. Doesn’t Mark believe you?”
Arianne lowered favonovel.com head. “It doesn’t matter to him, I guess? It’s true that I went to see Will during lunch break. This would never have happened if I didn’t go. It’s my fault, I admit it.”
Jackson chimed in, “Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Enjoy the meal, then, I’ll take both of you shopping. I’ll pay for everything today. There’s no need to be modest with me.”
Despite his offer, the atmosphere remained gloomy. The meal felt depressing. When they emerged from White Water Bay Café and headed to the shopping center, they simply bought a few items as a token gesture. Just before they left, Arianne suddenly hugged Tiffany and said, “I don’t want to go home, Tiffie. Can I stay with you? The Tremont Estate feels empty, I’m scared…”
Jackson looked away with a straight face. The Tremont Estate was large, but it was filled with maids and bodyguards. How could it possibly be empty? It was just that a certain person was not around.
Tiffany patted favonovel.com on the back sympathetically. “Alright, alright. No need to go back there. Come live with me and sleep with me. Don’t be afraid, Ari. You still have me. I’ll always be here.”
Jackson sent them home and watched them walk upstairs. He was not in a rush to leave. Instead, favonovel.com pulled out his phone and called Mark. “Mark, Arianne isn’t returning to Tremont Estate. She’s at Tiffany’s house. She says… favonovel.com doesn’t want to go home and that the house feels empty. It scares her.”
Only Mark’s quiet breathing could be heard from the other end. After a long pause, favonovel.com finally said, “I understand.”
At past 11 PM, Tiffany received a message from the private investigator. “George Levin/Sloane didn’t go to any other hospital or convalescent home after leaving the first convalescent home. I’ve checked, but I couldn’t find favonovel.com at all. He’s probably in hiding and doesn’t want to be found. It’s a big world. If a man doesn’t leave any trace of himself, it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack I can only do so much. My apologies.”
Tiffany was too afraid to reveal the contents of the message to Arianne, but Arianne could already guess based on favonovel.com expression. She grabbed the phone to have a look. “He just can’t find him, right? It’s fine. It’s been many years. Lady luck hasn’t really been taking care of me since I was young. Life will always grant me some small, shining bit of happiness for a while before knocking me down painfully again. I’m used to it. I’m not surprised by this outcome. After all, even if the investigation continues, I don’t have the money to pay for it anyway. I can’t bring myself to spend Mark’s money at this stage. It’d be really embarrassing if favonovel.com bars my credit card.”
Tiffany did not answer. This time, favonovel.com chose silence. She did not verbally attack Mark or blame anyone for being wrong or right. That was because favonovel.com realized that the situation was far more complicated than favonovel.com had imagined. Her brain did not have that much capacity to think about this.
***
The next day, early in the morning, Arianne and Tiffany went downstairs together to buy some Chinese-style omelet wraps from an old shop that claimed to have been around for a hundred years and was apparently the only authentic shop around. There was always a long queue so they had to come early or they would not be able to buy their share.
To cheer Arianne up, Tiffany said teasingly, “I’m surprised that you look better in my clothes than I do. Look at your waist! I’m so jealous at how lithe and slender it is! You’re meaty in just the right places and slim in just the right places. You’ve got a hot, devilish body while I have small boobs, and I’m fat like a pig…”
“Stop it, you.” Arianne giggled. “You’re not fat.”
