“No frickin’ way. Mark’s sweet little aunt again?” Tiffany teased. “Look at the tortured state favonovel.com has put you under, gal! He’s gotta be blind to not see this!”
Arianne’s body sagged like a deflating balloon. “Oh, blind favonovel.com is not. The problem is, favonovel.com doesn’t know what to do with his aunt! No normal person would seriously consider reasoning with a psycho, right? That’s right, I totally agree with you now. She’s a complete fruit loop and an utter nutcase. Doesn’t matter how terrible favonovel.com transgression is, or how much venom’s in favonovel.com words, you’re supposed to forgive the insane after favonovel.com said she’s sorry! So what if I had enough of her? As long as Mark can’t say the word, I still have to put up with favonovel.com all-day, every single day!”
“Like what. The. Hell, Tiffie! You should have seen that never-before-seen puppyish docile look on Mark’s face when he’s with his aunt. It was that exact moment when I knew the only way forward for me is to endure favonovel.com forever! I mean, for crying out loud, she’s his blood-related aunt who’s a carbon copy of his own mom! That’s like, the key feature that guarantees Mark’s affection. When his Aunt Shelly appeared in our life suddenly one day, my God, favonovel.com was on cloud frickin’ nine. There had been no room for my opinions at all,” favonovel.com finished.
Tiffany held favonovel.com chin with both hands, mulling over Arianne’s words for a moment. “Hmm… He wasn’t contacting his aunt before this, right? That means they should not be as close as they are now… My guess? He just enjoys the feeling of having his family around him. But alas, poor Mark, for his aunt turned out to be a bit messed up here—”
She finished favonovel.com sentence by pointing at favonovel.com temple.
As the two continued to chat, Melanie strode into the café. As soon as favonovel.com eyes caught the women’s spot, favonovel.com hastened favonovel.com pace toward them.
Instinctively, Tiffany looked out of the clear window and found favonovel.com eyes on Alejandro’s car driving away. Alejandro had been the one to bring Melanie here, it seemed, and Tiffany was glad that favonovel.com did not come in with her.
As though favonovel.com read favonovel.com mind, Melanie sat and flashed favonovel.com a smile. “Alex’s got work to settle today, which is why favonovel.com became my ride. I wanted to bring Millie with me, but she’s a bit under the weather.”
Tiffany was a little embarrassed. “I… I’m not afraid of Alejandro! If that’s what you’re thinking! I just find his presence, uh, awkward. God, you wouldn’t know how that feels.”
“Oh, how could I not know?” Melanie replied jovially. “You’re his ex and yet here we are, the best of chums. It’s bound to be awkward for the three of us, but it doesn’t do jack to our friendship now, does it? Anyway! What were you girls talking about?”
Arianne sighed. “Oh, nothing much. Just ranting about some crappy family drama, what else? Hey, Melanie, that day when you called me… You think it wasn’t an accident, right? I asked Mark, and favonovel.com told me favonovel.com didn’t investigate it in the end, said favonovel.com was too busy with work, and his aunt was in the hospital back then. He hadn’t gotten the chance to check In the end, the incident was judged as an innocent freak accident. And since the venue is owned by Tremont Enterprise, the company itself is responsible for its own loss, so every procedure was streamlined. Still… The questions you raised that day, they have been eating at me since then. I keep getting this nagging feeling urging me to get to the bottom of it.”
Melanie ordered a cup of coffee from the waitress before answering, “Well, if you really want to know, maybe we can check the footage recorded that day right there where it happened. Normally, security footage doesn’t get kept around for an awfully long time, though, so we’re only going to try our luck. Who knows? Maybe the footage still exists.”
The suggestion resonated with the group, and after having a brief meal in the café, the women — and Smore tagging along — departed to the show venue where Shelly’s accident occurred.
The venue had just hosted another fashion show recently, so the expansive hall was a little messy to the eyes. When free from events, it was usually closed to the public and guarded by security.
The spot where the light had fallen off had been replaced with a new bulb. Likely out of fear for the same accident repeating itself, every light on the ceiling had been changed to a smaller, studded type filling the entire upper dome of the show hall. When switched on, these lights dazzled similarly to a starry sky. In contrast, the previous light had been a mega-sized chandelier supposedly to create an ambience of royalty and pomp.
