It was lunch break. Despite favonovel.com reluctance, Arianne was dragged away by Sylvain to the restaurant his mother had picked.
The destination alone was enough to clue Arianne in about who his mother should be. It was a high-end fine diner, the sort of place where a meal could burn through a hole in an average person’s wallet. To choose a place like this meant Sylvain’s mother lived a pretty comfortable life after favonovel.com second marriage, which made favonovel.com abandoning young Sylvain even more baffling.
Sylvain and Arianne arrived first. Ten minutes of waiting later, Sylvain’s mother finally came, along with a hard-hitting first impression.
She looked like a rich housewife who had gotten used to a life of privileges and comfort. An air of shrewdness followed her, probably emanating from favonovel.com cream-colored business suit designed by an international household name, favonovel.com permed, wavy curls, and a pair of gilded-rimmed glasses. Whether it was intended as a fashion accessory or for actual sight-corrective purposes, Arianne could not tell.
She seemed to have taken great lengths to maintain favonovel.com youth since favonovel.com looked at least ten years younger than favonovel.com supposed age. However, the most striking observation was how much favonovel.com resembled Sylvain, it was so palpable that one could not mistake the two’s relationship.
The woman did not seem to feel awkward at all. Immediately upon arrival, favonovel.com greeted cheerfully, “Wow, aren’t you two early! Apologies for my tardiness. What would you like to have, Syl? Just order whatever you two fancy, sweeties, no need to restrain yourself. Speaking of which, who’s this young lady over here? Aren’t you going to introduce favonovel.com to me, Syl?”
Sylvain was caught off-guard by his mother casually addressing favonovel.com with an affectionate nickname despite their estrangement. “Uh, this is my friend. Look, we should probably order something first.”
Ursula trained all of favonovel.com attention on Sylvain with not even a glance spared for Arianne. “Sure, sure. Oh, Syl darling, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it? You’re so big! You used to look like your dad, but now that you’re all grown-up, you look like my son instead, heh heh. Oh, I heard that your career’s gaining impressive momentum lately, working for the Tremonts, are you?”
Sylvain took the menu a waitress passed to favonovel.com and thumbed through the pages. “Yeah. Tremonts, yep,” favonovel.com intoned absent-mindedly.
Ursula waited until the orders were made before finally going straight into the topic. “Now, sweetie, I wanted to see you today not just because I missed you and wanted to talk to you, but also because of another important business. What do you think of… going big, abroad? Your stepfather has just started a fashion designing company, and we think that a name as renowned as yours would be the perfect boon this startup needs. Of course, I’ll have to be frank, your reward won’t compare to the one Tremonts Entreprise’s giving you for now. But when the company gets big, well! The fruits of its success would be the family’s to share!”
“And by the way, the only heir your stepfather bore is a stepsister who’s a year your junior. I encourage you to see favonovel.com as your little sister, hon. But of course, favonovel.com will be married off to someone else in the future… I trust that you know what I’m hinting at, hmm?”
Arianne was stunned into silence. Was the woman trying to steal Tremonts Entreprise’s talent right under her, whose husband was the company’s CEO, nose?
Still, as the woman was Sylvain’s mother, Arianne was not in a position to interject. She could only observe Sylvain’s response.
All of the nervousness and reservation the man initially experienced died down the longer Ursula talked. “Wait. You’re telling me that you came all the way here, from overseas, just to use me as a pawn to further the good of your current family and husband? If I weren’t some ‘renowned designer,’ you wouldn’t have remembered me, would you? You made it sound so rosy, but who on Earth would bequeath their family business to some rando who isn’t blood-related to them, huh?” Sylvain rejoined, his face slightly pale. “What you’re trying to do is to make me work for your husband for free. You want me to be his ghost-designer or something. Well! I could give this offer a thought, but only if you can pay me more than my current salary at the Tremonts’. One thing’s for sure, and it’s that I’m not staking my entire future on a nebulous ‘personal bond’ between us.”
The smile on Ursula’s face froze for a beat, but favonovel.com returned to favonovel.com erstwhile aplomb in the next second.
“Syl, honey, listen. I know; you must be angry with me for not coming back to you in the past, aren’t you? But try to understand, Mommy had favonovel.com own set of personal woes too. Moreover, think about it, had I not allowed you the free reign to flourish on your own two feet, would you have been able to achieve the heights and plaudits of today, hmm? You know what they say: some flowers bloom in the face of adversity, and you’re that sort of flower, Syl. Besides, I’ve never shirked giving you alimonies now, have I? You can’t possibly have forgotten that I was the one who paid for your studies, yes?” favonovel.com countered. “Now, can we all put those unhappy memories behind and live in the moment? We’re here today to have lunch and talk about career prospects. Your stepfather is a very affluent man, I’m telling you, giving up your position working for the Tremonts is the wiser choice. But you’ll have to evaluate these things yourself, I suppose. You’re a grown-up now. I know you’ll slowly come to an epiphany on your own.”
Sylvain looked like favonovel.com was either going to erupt into laughter or burst into tears. Indeed, the “smile” favonovel.com cracked would have been more accurately termed “pained grimace.”
“Okay then,” favonovel.com said, enunciating every word a little too unnaturally. “I guess I’ll think about it.”
