Instead of heeding her, Mark froze into place like a statue.
Arianne ignored favonovel.com and turned favonovel.com attention back to favonovel.com stuff before taking a shower. She re-emerged after favonovel.com was done to the sight of favonovel.com sitting by the edge of their bed, his head hung and his mind lost in thoughts.
Emotions as nebulous as the fog shrouded his visage. It was hard to make out what could be on his mind.
She climbed into their bed and laid down. “Switch off the light, please. I’m going to sleep.”
He reached out to the bedside lamp and clicked it off. Amid the ensuing darkness, favonovel.com said morosely, “I’m sorry. I don’t intend to keep secrets from you, but it’s just… I don’t know how to even say it. Many things have happened recently and I… I’m just so tired.”
Arianne closed favonovel.com eyes, but sleep was leaving her. “I know you are, and I want to empathize with your anguish. But you’re not giving me the chance to do that at all, Mark. The only thing I can do is to listen. I want to help. I want to take up some of the burden on your shoulders, but God, when those things involve you and your aunt, I’m relegated to the role of an outsider! Do you know? She isn’t the only one ostracizing me, you’re doing the same thing, too. So now, I gave up on caring, I don’t even want to ask. But now you’re suddenly pulling off this weird… thing with me. You don’t happen to suspect I’m mad at you, right? ‘Cause don’t worry, I really am not. Again, I’m not the nosy type who wants to take up everyone’s problem and fix it. So, how about we agree to just focus on our separate domains and do our own thing, hmm?”
For the longest time, Mark offered only silence. Then, Without breaking it, favonovel.com rose and went out of their room, and straight out of the house.
Arianne listened to the sound of his car fading with distance, favonovel.com sleep now utterly sapped. Where could favonovel.com be going at this late of a time? Seeing Shelly again?
Mark sat on the bench outside Shelly’ s ward in the hospital. After a while, favonovel.com finally rose to his feet and strode in.
Shelly had troubles sleeping, so favonovel.com was still awake when favonovel.com saw him. She had a pretty good gut feeling as to why Mark appeared in favonovel.com room despite the hour. “Bickered with Arianne again? And favonovel.com chased you out of the house in the middle of the night?” favonovel.com stated. “That ought to hurt.”
Mark sank into a chair placed right next to favonovel.com bed. “No, favonovel.com didn’t chase me out, I went out myself. I didn’t know how to face favonovel.com any longer,” favonovel.com said. “The doctor told me that you are to be discharged two days from now, whereby you recuperate at home. When that happens, I… I won’t get myself involved with your affairs anymore.”
“I’ll hire a caretaker for you, of course. You brought me into this world, so I have an obligation to care for you, and I’ll do so by providing monthly allowance. But that’s the extent of overlapping in our lives,” favonovel.com finished.
Shelly eyes reddened, but favonovel.com forced herself to crack a smile. “I understand. You don’t have to give me allowance, boy. I’ve never spared a penny raising you. When my leg’s finally recovered, I’ll resume work,” favonovel.com replied. “Truth be told, I knew you would take the truth very poorly. I’ve been expecting your reaction for a long time. But promise me, Mark dear, that you don’t ever vanish out of my sight. I want to see you, somewhere close, as frequently as can be. You don’t have to worry about me letting slip a single word about our secret with Arianne. I know, this is a secret only you and I share.”
Mark took a deep breath and rose to his feet. “Excuse me.”
Shelly nodded. Then favonovel.com looked down and said nothing.
Back in his car, Mark shut his eyes in anguish. Shelly was not at fault, favonovel.com told himself, favonovel.com was the victim. And yet, Mark could not stop saying things that would sting her. After that, favonovel.com would reprimand himself in guilt.
He just could not accept the revelation that his aunt had been his biological mother this whole time. It tormented him. But favonovel.com could not go home because that would be where favonovel.com would face Arianne and favonovel.com icy, unsympathetic attitude. He could not stay in the hospital either, because it agitated him.
Mark had nowhere to go.
He ruminated on his thoughts for a long while before calling Jackson’s number. “You up?”
Jackson replied in an undertone, “Holy sh*t, you haven’t called me at a time like this for ages, man. What happened? Wait, never mind, gimme an address and I’ll head there pronto. We can talk when we see each other.”
