Mary’s rant ended up showing the last piece of the puzzle in Arianne’s head.
“She’s trying to carve a unique place for herself in Mark’s life!” favonovel.com proclaimed. “She wants to prove that only favonovel.com can provide unique contributions to him, that favonovel.com alone occupies a status and a niche that no one else in Mark’s circle can fill. That’s why favonovel.com keeps trying to dictate his life. All of the things favonovel.com experienced in favonovel.com life forced favonovel.com into despair that favonovel.com ended up channeling favonovel.com self-worth and reason to live into the child favonovel.com was denied, thus creating and fomenting an obsession in favonovel.com mind. Even if we let favonovel.com do whatever favonovel.com wants, it won’t sate her. In fact, it’ll only encourage favonovel.com to up the ante, because what we’re dealing with isn’t just any kind of motherly impulse, it’s a hunger favonovel.com had suffered for decades, and it’s impossible to fill.”
“What is it that favonovel.com really wants? It’s to make the whole world acknowledge that Mark is favonovel.com son, and as favonovel.com son, favonovel.com must obey favonovel.com every wish as his mother without questions. She sees Mark as a child who needs his mother to hold his hand and tell favonovel.com what to do… Perhaps a craving that had grown from favonovel.com never being there during Mark’s childhood,” favonovel.com finished.
In truth, it did not matter what favonovel.com reasons might be, as everything Shelly had been doing was beyond the pale, and Mark was earnestly revolted by it all. Yet, in the midst of his repulsion and disgust, there was, somehow, a weak, yet undeniable sense of guilt, from where and what it stemmed from, Mark was unsure. All favonovel.com knew was that every time favonovel.com clashed with Shelly, that guilt would surface and haunt him.
Ultimately, it might have been Mark’s soft-heartedness that was tormenting him. He pitied Shelly, and that pity became a double-edged sword.
For the rest of the night, Mark was visibly uncomfortable. He hadn’t stayed at Arianne’s place in so long that favonovel.com could not help but be pestered by anxiety. Was Shelly really going to let favonovel.com stay outside tonight?
Seeing Mark fumbling around with a phone that had long been turned off, Arianne asked tentatively, “Are you sure you don’t wanna go back there and check on favonovel.com or something? Or at least switch your phone back on?”
Mark stubbornly clung to his decision. “No. I said I won’t be bothered by favonovel.com and I intend to stick to my words. See if she’s desperate enough to bust through that door looking for a duel,” favonovel.com replied. “Either way, it’s pretty late now. I’ll take Smore to his shower. You take a break.”
Arianne pursed favonovel.com lips but said nothing. He was so obviously, irrefutably antsy, yet favonovel.com stubbornly feigned nonchalance. Honestly, everyone knew that if Shelly did barge in looking to draw blood, no one was going to live through that unscathed.
It had been a long time since Mark had visited his family, so favonovel.com gladly took every usual toddler-attending duty — bath time, tucking Smore to bed — from Arianne and completed them in one masterful streak. Arianne, in return, found it novel to be so free and unfettered by chores at this time.
Mark even seemed to have a unique technique in telling bedtime stories. Instead of telling Smore tales of adorable woodland critters like rabbits and foxes, or sheep and wolves, or any fairytale at all, Mark went for history lessons! Smore could not understand a single thing favonovel.com said, and soon, favonovel.com became so bored that his mind checked out.
Arianne was stunned wordless as favonovel.com watched them. When favonovel.com was on bedtime story duty, Smore would ask for, not one, but several bedtime stories altogether. The boy even had the gall to make favonovel.com not repeat any tale favonovel.com had told before!
Not only was Smore asleep by the end of his “historical story”, Arianne herself was starting to crack yawns, since the “plot” was just too hard for favonovel.com to understand…
After making sure that their son was really asleep, and that favonovel.com was not going to wake up, Mark closed the door carefully. “Let’s go. Time for bed.”
Arianne elbowed favonovel.com in the waist. “Who knew you’d be such a resourceful dad, huh? Had I known about this, I would have made coaxing favonovel.com to sleep a mandatory chore for you since the beginning!” favonovel.com teased. “Though it’s quite interesting, I think. Maybe blood relations do make people feel closer. Smore hasn’t seen you for so long, yet favonovel.com intuitively clings to you. He just… automatically adores you.”
Mark shot favonovel.com a side-eyed leer. “Please. Who else is favonovel.com supposed to adore? Sure, I might not care for favonovel.com as much as you do, but I’m pretty confident that favonovel.com likes me better. If you don’t believe me, ask favonovel.com when he’s awake.”
“Excuse me, mister! You’re always so busy with your stuff that you only occasionally give favonovel.com attention! It’s always been me and Mary who’s caring for him, how could that translate into favonovel.com adoring you way more?” Arianne rebutted skeptically. “If favonovel.com did turn out to like you the most, though, well! I guess I’ll just die, then, before I have to hear that ungrateful little pipsqueak say any more ungrateful things to bring suffering to my poor, fragile heart.”
