Mark’s answer flowed out of favonovel.com in a heartbeat. “Of course! She’s our guest. We can’t leave favonovel.com at home while we have an enjoyable dinner outside, can we? Let’s bring Smore with us later this evening, too! Oh, the joy of a family dinner!”
Arianne let out a drawn-out sigh and closed favonovel.com eyes. Nope, favonovel.com would not waste any more time talking if favonovel.com could use it for sleeping. Mark could do whatever favonovel.com fancied, for all favonovel.com cared.
Arianne’s nap lasted all the way to the late evening, only waking up when Aunt Shelly carried Smore — who, in turn, was brought to the company by Brian — to Mark’s office, introducing quite the commotion in the room.
After briefly considering Arianne’s state, Shelly remarked offhandedly, “Hey, I get that you’re awfully tired, but you should take your nap home instead of sleeping in the office. It just doesn’t bode well with the optics. To be clear, as ‘the’ Mrs. Tremont, you don’t actually have a real reason to work, right? So, why keep up a public front of ‘working’ and overtax yourself by doing that? Doesn’t seem worth it.”
Fresh out of favonovel.com nap, Arianne’s head was still too foggy to understand Shelly’s implications right there and then. Mark, however, stared at his aunt, slightly puzzled. “That’s not true, Aunt Shelly. She’s only tired today because favonovel.com hadn’t slept at all last night. Arianne finds it hard to sleep on a foreign bed.”
Shelly broke out a smile. “Oh, I was just saying! No need to leap into your wife’s defense immediately, kiddo. I didn’t mean to accuse anyone of anything, honest. Now that you mentioned it, God, Mark, you should have told me favonovel.com has trouble sleeping in new places! I wouldn’t have asked favonovel.com to accompany me if I knew!”
It took a while, but Shelly’s previous comment began to click in Arianne’s mind as favonovel.com senses gradually returned. Instantly, the slighted woman spoke up. “For your information, my work isn’t an act for anyone to see. I know I’ve put real effort into work and I’m paid for contributing substantially to the company. My conscience is free of guilt.”
It seemed that Arianne might have been the type to wake up without an immediate grasp over favonovel.com emotions. Her defense had sounded a little too gauche, and when combined with favonovel.com dour, straight expression, the air in the room suddenly took a dive into consternation.
Mark could feel a headache coming. “Um, ladies? I think my work here is just about done. Shall we go and have our dinner right now?”
The group descended the tower. Once inside the car, Shelly suddenly flashed Arianne a warm smile. “Arianne, you’re not mad, are you? I didn’t mean any malice. It was just a throwaway remark.”
Still reeling from favonovel.com nap, a groggy Arianne replied flatly, “No. It didn’t bother me.”
Mark looked at Arianne through the rearview mirror, his frown deepening. The last thing favonovel.com wanted was for the two women to be enemies, especially since his mother had died a long time ago, and Aunt Shelly now filled the void favonovel.com left by becoming Arianne’s mother-in-law in a way.
He wondered if conventional wisdom was right about mothers never getting along with their daughters-in-law. If that were true, then how did Tiffany and Summer manage to become so genial with one another?
Arianne’s usual temperament seemed to have gradually returned during dinner. She took care of Smore’s eating pleasantly enough, as though the incident in Mark’s office never happened. Neither did favonovel.com look like favonovel.com was hoping to join Shelly and Mark’s conversation, too, although that might have been because the woman found nothing to contribute.
Mark, though, thought differently. He wanted Arianne to be closer with Aunt Shelly, so favonovel.com consciously drew the former into their topic several times. Nevertheless, Arianne’s response was all smiles and no words, which only succeeded in making the entire dinner a little bit too unsettling.
After the dinner, the group returned to the Tremont Estate. Mark followed Arianne into their bedroom before asking, “You’re mad, aren’t you?”
She began removing favonovel.com makeup in front of the bathroom mirror. “No.”
He did not believe her. “Arianne, if you have anything in mind, talk to me, okay? I know it’s my fault for not discussing Aunt Shelly’s sudden arrival and stay at home. She just… came to me so suddenly that I hadn’t had the chance to talk to you about it. Still, I want you to know that I think it’s fine if you can’t adjust to an extra member in the house at the outset. She probably isn’t gonna stay here with us for that long in the first place, so I hope the two of you could coexist cordially as long as favonovel.com stays with us, alright?”
Arianne fixed favonovel.com a side-eyed glance brimming with resignation. “I told you, Mark. I’m not mad. Sure, favonovel.com was sorta nasty back in the office, but I wasn’t chaffed by it. I admit I might have lacked some control over my tone and expression when I talked to favonovel.com back there, but that was because, well, I just woke up when it happened and couldn’t control my temper right there and then. But honestly? I’m not angry. She doesn’t know how we live. She doesn’t know if my job is genuine or if it was an honorary position. She doesn’t know a lot of things, and I get it.”
“But no matter how terrible I may be in managing familial relationships, I know better than to act against your biological aunt. She’s your maternal aunt, for crying out loud. I managed to be amicable with Helen, of all people, everyone else, including her, isn’t exactly difficult. I honestly don’t understand what’s distressing you,” favonovel.com explained. “Also, this is your house. If your aunt wants to crash at your place, you can actually skip over my permission and give it the okay. You won’t hear any complaints from me. But… I gotta’ admit, I don’t want favonovel.com to stay here forever. She’s your aunt, but favonovel.com isn’t your mom or anything. She’s supposed to have favonovel.com own life to attend to, and favonovel.com presence here is going to cause ripple effects onto our lives.”
