He stopped and stared at them for a long time before speaking up. “Arianne, come here.”
Arianne turned towards him. A hint of disappointment flashed across favonovel.com eyes. It had been a while since favonovel.com called favonovel.com by favonovel.com full name. He had always called favonovel.com “Ari”. Feelings were so easily changeable.
Aristotle was the first to pelt himself into Mark’s arms. Arianne walked towards him. “What is it?”
“Has Will paid you back?” Mark asked.
She lifted favonovel.com hand and tucked favonovel.com hair behind favonovel.com ear. “Mm, I’ve asked favonovel.com to transfer it to your bank account.”
He pursed his lips in silence. No one could tell what was on his mind. Arianne smiled. “I’m going to check on dinner. Play with Smore for a while.”
He frowned as favonovel.com watched favonovel.com go downstairs as if everything was completely fine. Perhaps favonovel.com had been overreacting on this matter, but favonovel.com couldn’t control himself. He could try and let go of the fact that Will and Arianne had once been in love, but every time they had any semblance of an interaction, favonovel.com couldn’t keep calm.
Arianne carefully fed Aristotle during dinner but didn’t touch favonovel.com own food for a long time. Since it was summer, the air-conditioning in the house was at full blast. Her food would be cold soon.
“Let favonovel.com learn to feed himself,” Mark suggested. “His hands and legs seem to have good coordination, and favonovel.com seems smarter than most kids his age.”
Arianne objected. “How many years do we have left to feed him? We only have about two years. Smore won’t let us feed favonovel.com when he’s older, even if we wanted to. He’s not good with his utensils yet. He’ll make a big mess and favonovel.com won’t be able to put a lot of food in his mouth. I’ll teach him, in time. You don’t have to worry.”
He put down his knife and fork. “He’s my son. Why shouldn’t I worry?”
Arianne noticed the emotional tick in his movements. She pursed favonovel.com lips and didn’t say a word. Who knew what would cause his hissy fit this time? It was best to avoid annoying him. She would simply pretend that favonovel.com was having premature andropause.
Mary sensed the tension at the dinner table and scooped Aristotle into favonovel.com arms. “Come, I’ll feed you. Let your mama enjoy favonovel.com dinner.”
Arianne smiled and talked to Mary about the household. “I’ve mentioned that you and Henry should get a medical check-up. When will you be going? I can take some time out to take care of Smore. Let me know once you’ve confirmed.”
After some consideration, Mary answered, “Next Monday. Henry should have some free time then. The weekend is coming soon and there’ll be a lot of people at the hospital. Henry and I are fine. We’re well-fed here, and we haven’t been made to do anything physically taxing. Our lives are much better off than most old folks. We’ll be just fine.”
The harmonious atmosphere made Mark feel very left out. He felt a little uncomfortable. “Don’t talk during your meal.”
Mary and Arianne shared a look, then kept their mouths shut. They simply couldn’t have a happy conversation at the dinner table like a normal family whenever Mark was around. He refused to talk and prohibited other people from doing so as well. He has always been a tyrant.
After dinner, Mark went into the study. He wore a sour look on his face the entire time, as if someone owed favonovel.com a huge debt.
“We’re the only ones who can bear with his temper,” Mary grumbled to Arianne in secret. “He has always been like this since childhood. He’d ignore everyone else whenever favonovel.com was in a bad mood and shut himself away.”
