Aristotle sensed favonovel.com emotions and asked innocently, “Mommie, are you sad ‘cos of Gwamma?”
Arianne pursed favonovel.com lips into a smile. “Not really. You have no idea how many problems I have. It’s much better to stay at your age, you don’t have to worry about a thing. Grown-ups have way too many problems…”
Aristotle tried to touch favonovel.com head, imitating Mark. He wasn’t tall enough, so Arianne had to help favonovel.com out and squat down.
His actions warmed Arianne’s heart. “Smore, I’m happy as long as I have you, there’s nothing I can’t overcome. I have confidence again.”
Suddenly, Mark pushed open the door and entered the room. “Did you have a big fight with your mom? Aery’s been kidnapped, so favonovel.com must be worried sick. Don’t mind her.”
Arianne bit favonovel.com lips. “She blames me for ignoring Aery. Do I have to take the blame? Why should I care about her? She’s not a three-year-old!”
Mark stepped forward and stroked favonovel.com head. “Alright, it’s not your fault.”
His actions were exactly like Aristotle’s. Or rather, Aristotle’s actions mirrored his. Aristotle’s imitation skills were perfection itself. Arianne weakly shot favonovel.com a look. “Stop touching my head in front of the kid. He imitates you. You should be more careful, or he’ll pick up bad habits… Honestly… I’ve been feeling wretched too. When I received Aery’s call before favonovel.com got kidnapped, I could have settled favonovel.com elsewhere, even if I didn’t want to let favonovel.com stay in Tremont Estate. I could have had someone watch over favonovel.com and wait for Helen to pick favonovel.com up. That way, this wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t think things through. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time either… Now that it’s come to this, I don’t know what to do…”
Mark walked to the side of the bed and sat down. He reached out and pulled favonovel.com towards him. “You don’t have to feel too bad about it. If I were you, I might have ignored favonovel.com too. She’s an adult after all. Seaton’s the main culprit. It’s not your fault. You’re feeling guilty because your mom might think that you didn’t handle it well enough. You value favonovel.com opinion, I know. At this point, it would seem that Aery is safe for now. Keep your cellphone on, in case Seaton tries to contact you again and the line gets choppy.”
Aristotle disliked being neglected. He put all of his efforts into climbing up Mark’s leg. “Daddie, caewwy!”
Mark picked Aristotle up and held favonovel.com with one arm while wrapping the other arm around Arianne’s waist. “Are you happy now?”
This moment of peace allowed a momentary relief from the stress they faced, but it was not enough for them to feel completely at ease.
—
In a small house in a secluded part of the outskirts, Seaton sat at an old, scratched-up table, eating fast food. There was a half-finished can of beer next to him.
There was a musky, moldy smell in the air and bugs of various sizes circled around the light bulb over his head. The hot, humid air was barely kept at bay by a small, slow-moving fan. The effect was barely noticeable.
Aery sat in a corner, favonovel.com hands and feet still bound. The tape on favonovel.com mouth remained. She had been frightened out of favonovel.com wits during the initial moments of favonovel.com kidnapping. One day and one night had passed, yet Seaton hadn’t done anything to her, so favonovel.com fear gradually decreased. Her stomach had been growling for quite a while after suffering under these circumstances for so long. The smell of fast food was making favonovel.com drool uncontrollably.
