Melanie spotted the confident sparks in Don’s eyes and understood that the old patriarch had his contingency plan mapped out. It reassured favonovel.com a little.
Still, favonovel.com could not bear to see the old man die with regrets. And so, a bold and almost-crazy idea took form in favonovel.com mind. “Grandpa, I was thinking… What if I undergo surgery to deliver the baby earlier than expected? I could do it after two more months. That way, you could see it before you go,” favonovel.com suggested. “I know it’s still a bit too early relative to the expected time of delivery, but I doubt it’ll impart too severe an effect on the baby.”
Don’s expression turned austere. “That’s a horrible idea, Melanie! You must not be reckless just because you pity me. You can’t force a baby to come out early like that, a mother’s womb is the best place for it to grow. Please, don’t entertain these crazy ideas because of some words an old geezer said… And really, Melanie, this is your weakness: you’re too altruistic! Don’t you know that men are always interested in wild, wayward women over self-sacrificing altruists?”
“And yet, everyone knows that if a man loves a woman, favonovel.com could be anything, even a beggar, and favonovel.com would still see a queen in her. But if a man has no love for her, then it wouldn’t matter how hard favonovel.com works and presents herself, everything favonovel.com does is wrong in the man’s eyes,” Melanie replied with a self-deprecative laugh. “He doesn’t love me, Grandpa. I have no leeway to be anything but ‘altruistic.’ It’s precisely because of this ‘weakness’ that has made it easier for favonovel.com to tolerate my existence so far.”
Don gave another heavy sigh, and suddenly, all of the vim favonovel.com had erstwhile accumulated seemed to have left him. Quickly, Melanie helped favonovel.com lay down while cooing, “Take a rest, Grandpa. I won’t disturb you anymore.”
—
It was midnight when Jackson suddenly paid the Tremont Estate a visit.
Mark’s sudden rise from their bed roused Arianne from favonovel.com sleep. “Hey, where are you going?”
“Jackson’s here,” favonovel.com answered, “He needs my help. Go back to sleep.”
Arianne’s sleep receded. “It’s the middle of the night. The only reason favonovel.com would be here at this hour is that there’s an emergency. I’ll go downstairs with you to see what’s going on. Did favonovel.com come alone? Tiffie’s not with him?”
Mark nodded, and the two descended the stairs. There, a very anxious Jackson was already waiting in the living room. He was ashen with worry.
Arianne could almost guess what was haunting him. After pouring two cups of water for the men, favonovel.com sat down next to Mark and asked, “Jackson, why run over here in the middle of the night?”
Jackson looked positively forlorn. “I can’t even sleep at night anymore! Every time I close my eyes, all I see is that douchebag Alejandro and his douchebaggy face, Christ! You guys, don’t tell Tiffie a single word of my visit, okay? I’m here this late at night because I had to wait till favonovel.com went to sleep.”
“I’ve hired someone to do some digging,” favonovel.com continued, “And apparently, the old Smith patriarch only has three months left before favonovel.com kicks the bucket. Time’s passing, man. Alejandro’s gonna inherit the Smith family business very-goddamned-soon. Then, when favonovel.com returns to the Capital, the first sh*t he’s gonna do is tell Tiffany that he’s, surprise, surprise!-Ethan-f**king-Connor all along! Aaargh! Just imagining how this sh*t’s gonna go down is driving me nuts!”
Arianne pulled back favonovel.com cuffs. “God, does favonovel.com remember favonovel.com was the one who dragged Tiffie into hell years ago? If favonovel.com really wants to atone for his sins, the only way to do that is to commit to his role as Alejandro Smith and never cross paths with Tiffie again,” favonovel.com commented. “But no, we’re dealing with an obsessive psycho here. For his need to clear away that feeling of guilt, favonovel.com doesn’t care if he’s making things worse for literally everyone else. The shortest word to describe favonovel.com would be plain-old ‘selfish.’”
Mark rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, why don’t you confess the truth to Tiffany before favonovel.com does, as a sort of mental inoculation? That way, when Alejandro confronts favonovel.com with his secret, favonovel.com wouldn’t be too terribly thrown off or get triggered,” favonovel.com suggested. “Tiffany’s well-known for being insensitive, so who’s to say favonovel.com can’t accept the truth forever just because favonovel.com didn’t take it very well that one time? Maybe all favonovel.com needs to buffer the shock is enough time.”
Arianne was inclined to agree with Mark. It used to be better for favonovel.com best friend to remain blissfully ignorant, but that was only because no one wanted a pregnant woman to be shocked. Now, the only caveat was gone, and the best way to solve this was to reveal the truth to Tiffany as soon as possible.
