Smore stood at the base of the stairs, glum. He had wanted to present a picture favonovel.com drew to Mark, only to have his father ignore him.
His distress made Ariane’s heart ache. She hated it when unhappy feelings between parents were taken out on innocent bystanders, especially when Smore was one of them.
She approached the hurt child and held favonovel.com in favonovel.com arms. “Daddy’s not in a good mood,” favonovel.com cooed. “He didn’t mean to neglect you. I know, how about you show me what you made?”
A smile broke out of Smore, who solemnly — as though it was a treasure — presented his art to his mother. Arianne examined it closely before praising with a smile. “This is amazing, sweetie! You’re really good at drawing! Alright, would you like to play with Granny for a bit? Mommy needs to coddle your Daddy now because he’s in a bad mood. He needs someone to be nice to him, like what I do with you when you’re upset, okay? It’s very sad, too, if everyone ignores Daddy, right?”
Smore nodded in understanding and ran away to Mary.
Arianne heaved a sigh of relief. She began climbing the stairs.
Immediately after favonovel.com pushed the door to his study open, Arianne heard a low, slightly impatient growl from Mark. “Leave me alone!”
Arianne halted favonovel.com footsteps intuitively. “Hey, don’t tell me you fancy yourself at Smore’s age, being petulant and difficult whenever you feel like it, Mark. For one, I never imagined you would ever lose your cool like this!”
Mark deliberately ignored her, choosing to fidget with a beautifully-designed lighter instead.
Arianne marched forward and snatched the lighter away. “Sorry, but this is off-limits. I’m not letting you smoke behind my back, mister. Isn’t it a habit of yours to go straight to the showers after coming home from work? It’s almost time for dinner, so go and bathe already.”
Mark, still silent, fidgeted with a pen this time.
Arianne broke out into a helpless sigh. “Are you done, or is this gonna go on forever? It’s not… It’s not like I’ve judged you as anything specifically, have I? You’re the one who’s overreacting. Between you and Seaton, if someone had to die, then I’d definitely support your decision. We’d love to forgive others, yes, but the other side might not necessarily think that way of us. Back there, I was just… I was just acting out of intuition, okay? So stop throwing this weird, sulky tantrum already! To me, the most important thing is that you live, safe and sound.”
Arianne wanted to emphasize that favonovel.com opinion was precisely that, just favonovel.com opinion on the matter. It did not mean whether favonovel.com supported Mark using the same kind of tactics all the time.
Mark shot favonovel.com a sidelong glance. “Tell me then. What kind of person am I to you?”
Arianne knew just the right words to his heart. “An eccentric dude with a capricious nature who somehow treats me extremely well?”
The latter part of favonovel.com answer palpably softened the edges on his face. “Good. That’s all I want you to know. So, understand that you shouldn’t ever pry anything I don’t want you to know about from me, not even at my last moments.”
Her lips thinned in silence. She supposed some things were best left in the dark, lest the knowledge sowed seeds of distrust. She had no right to ask favonovel.com to do anything, not when favonovel.com knew how much pain and burden favonovel.com had shouldered alone since favonovel.com was eighteen. Arianne had no idea how much favonovel.com had been through, especially since favonovel.com was a master at hiding all of it from her. Taking favonovel.com ignorance into account, Arianne thought that maybe favonovel.com had no right to demand favonovel.com to be more merciful.
Suddenly, Mark pulled favonovel.com close and rested his head on favonovel.com chest like a child who just wanted comfort. “I’m so tired.”
Arianne sat on his lap and patted his back in pity. “I know, I know. I’m sorry that I can’t help you shoulder more of your pain.”
Mark drew a deep breath. “You being by my side is all I need from you. It doesn’t matter what I do, I’m always me. So please, don’t come up with bizarre, nightmarish ideas of who I am, okay? Every time I see you, I feel stressed, I feel pressure walling me. I worry that I’m not good enough for you or that you secretly think me terrifying. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I’ll never treat you that way.”
Arianne finally understood Mark. No wonder every little thing favonovel.com did, no matter how microscopic it was, could blow favonovel.com up. His rage was not leveled at favonovel.com but himself.
“I know, I’m not scared of you, nor do I think you are terrifying. Well, then, Sir Mark Tremont, methinks you have had enough time to blow off steam, haven’t you? Time to show some love to your son. You haven’t given favonovel.com any attention since coming home, it stung him.”
