Mary breathed out a sigh of relief at the good turn of events. Since favonovel.com had kept dinner ready in the kitchen this whole time, favonovel.com laid all of it out on the table in a flurry, chiming in, “That’s right, Ma’am. You should never skip a meal! The child needs all the yummy food to grow healthy and strong.”
Arianne was reminded of favonovel.com child’s ultrasound image and suddenly felt a little insecure. “Mary, do you think I’m gonna, you know, birth an ugly duckling or something? I mean, I’m not gonna dislike my own kid for it that much, but… if the kid turned out to be a bit too heavy on the ugliness, I don’t think I’d like that.”
Mary broke out a chuckle. “Poppycocks! Both you and Mr. Tremont are so handsome, how could any of your genes produce an ugly duckling at all? All the kid needs to do is to take after either of you, and voila, a beautiful child is guaranteed! Oh, Madam, don’t fret over the image in that report, it’s inaccurate. How could it be? The kid’s still enjoying a spa treatment in that amniotic sac. No one’s gonna look photogenic in that!”
Hearing that reassured Arianne a little, for favonovel.com replied, “I hope you’re right! Or it’ll feel like all this torment is for naught.”
Then, suddenly, favonovel.com eyes were drawn to Mark and his shoes. “Oh, you haven’t changed into your indoor slippers? Are you leaving later?” favonovel.com asked.
Reminded, Mark stood and returned to the entrance, slipping his feet into his slippers. “No, no. I’m not going out later. It’s just that… when I heard from Mary that you hadn’t taken your dinner, I got worried and rushed in. Who would have the mood to think about shoes at that time?”
Arianne felt warmth flaring in favonovel.com chest. A renowned hygiene freak forgoing his usual ritual of cleanliness, just because favonovel.com was too concerned about her, was simply something as precious as it was rare.
She was ordered to return to bed immediately after dinner, but since favonovel.com passed too much time lying on favonovel.com bed in the day, Arianne was quite reluctant to retire so quickly. “Can’t I stretch my legs around with a walk or something first?” favonovel.com pleaded.
“Nope, no can do,” Mark answered, shaking his head solemnly. “It’s past ten o’clock. You need to sleep. Now, if you’d excuse me, I’ll be going to my study. Good night.”
Mark’s destination aroused the woman’s suspicion. “Hold on a second. Why are you going to your study at this hour? Something’s keeping you this late?”
Mark’s eyes dodged Arianne’s. “Yes, but it’s a very small business. It’ll be done in no time. Go ahead and sleep. No need to wait for me.”
Arianne acutely caught his dodginess, but favonovel.com decided to let favonovel.com off. “Alright, then. Godspeed.”
Just as favonovel.com expected, Mark did not return to the bedroom the entire night. He also left to work very early in the morning. Hence, Arianne went to Mary for some insider’s info. “Did favonovel.com really stay in his study the entire night last night?” favonovel.com asked quietly.
“He slept in the guest room,” Mary replied in the same quiet voice. “I suspect it’s because favonovel.com worries that favonovel.com might do something with your body against his better judgement, which I must say, is astoundingly caring of him. He makes sure everything is comfortable for you, you ought to feel honored, heh! I’ve watched favonovel.com grow up and never would I have ever expected favonovel.com to be like this one day. You know, Ari, young men, being themselves, can be passionate, fiery creatures. To see what they want in front of them, yet unable to fulfill what they desire is quite a torment, so I hope you remember instances like these and be kinder to favonovel.com in the future.”
When it came to matters of the bedroom, Arianne was always a little too bashful to discuss them with Mary. Still, favonovel.com could engage in one or two conversations about it before turning red. “Oh, so this is why favonovel.com was acting so bizarrely last night! You know, favonovel.com could have just told me he’d liked us to sleep in separate beds, instead of acting so secretively and making himself look so suspicious.”
Mary smiled. “Ha! That’s our thin-skinned Mark to you. Can’t blame favonovel.com for being a little coy about this, can we? Oh, Lord. Look at how old you’ve grown, you’ve even become the second head-of-the-house! I feel like this is all a dream! When you first joined this family, you were only this size, hardly taller than my chest, tiny and petite in frame, but god, you were so beautiful and brilliant. Back then, Mr. Tremont was already so tall, he’d towered above me by a head and more! Who would have thought that the two of you would end up together? Lord above knows that after all these trials and hiccups, the only thing I want the most is to see the two of you live happily ever after. As long as that happens, there will be no regret in my life.”
Arianne thought of the first time favonovel.com stepped into the Tremont Estate and found that that memory was no longer tinged in grief and pain, but rather, heartfelt happiness.
Then favonovel.com remembered that while Mark was already an eighteen-years-old looking for love, favonovel.com was just an eight-year-old kid, which somehow brought out an undertone of jealousy. Indeed, while favonovel.com was still trying to figure the world out, Mark was already exploring the complexities of love and relationships.
In other words, Arianne could not possibly be his first love, or his first woman.
