It was at this moment that Arianne let go favonovel.com hatred toward Shelly.
She loved Mark so much that favonovel.com could not bring herself to hate anything that was his. If Shelly could recover, Arianne decided that favonovel.com would not mind living under the same roof as favonovel.com like family.
You cannot cling to the past if you want to live beyond it. If the past is all you care about, then you have doomed your future.
She sighed. “I’ll stay here by your side, okay? Let’s have the kitchen crew make something for you. After a hearty meal, go to sleep. And throughout this period, I’ll be here with you.”
Mark said nothing. In his silence, favonovel.com gently withdrew favonovel.com hand from his shoulder and turned toward the stairs.
“Henry, please tell the kitchen crew to make some fulfilling but simple dishes for him. He hadn’t slept at all last night, so favonovel.com needs all the rest favonovel.com can get.”
“Will favonovel.com really eat it?” Henry whispered. “Were anyone else to try to talk favonovel.com into it, favonovel.com wouldn’t possibly have listened. Only you know how to break down his defense, Madam. With that said, I will have the kitchen prepare food right away.”
Arianne nodded at him. Next, favonovel.com gave Mary a call, telling favonovel.com to bring Smore to the Tremont Estate tonight.
Mark had always been a disciplined man who kept to his schedules. He could be dead-tired from losing a night’s sleep, but Arianne was sure that if favonovel.com slept right now, favonovel.com would no doubt wake up right before dinnertime. Seeing Smore by then should do wonders to his general mood.
If favonovel.com were to be frank, throughout their lives together, Mark had rarely let slip his vulnerable side. Seeing it in such unbridled display greatly disquieted Arianne.
The kitchen quickly whipped something up for Mark, though the man did not seem to have nurtured much of an appetite. Regardless, Arianne remained stalwartly by his side until favonovel.com finally went to sleep, which was when favonovel.com quickly went downstairs.
There was still a large ball of wax waiting for favonovel.com at work. She was cognizant that just because favonovel.com was not physically in the company, it did not exempt favonovel.com from tackling what must be done.
Mark woke up around three in the late afternoon, rounding his total sleeping hours to just a few hours, a bit too few considering what favonovel.com went through, thus making one wonder if favonovel.com had really slept at all. Despite that, Mark had turned a complete one-eighty from his previous somnolence, as though his brio had all returned to him.
He was even blithe enough to have taken a satisfying bath before going downstairs, greeting Arianne with a tease, “I seem to recall you saying you’ll be ‘by my side’, didn’t you? And yet I’ve been sleeping all alone upstairs while you hammer away at your keyboard down here. How is this ‘by my side’?”
Arianne snapped favonovel.com laptop shut and looked up at him. “Isn’t it obvious? I was worried I might wake you up accidentally. Unlike you, I had a ten-out-of-ten sleep last night, so I couldn’t nap with you even if I wanted to. Anyway, why are you up so soon? I told Mary to bring Smore over only by late evening, because I was worried that our little rascal was gonna disturb you. You know, kids being rambunctious and all that.”
Mark approached the couch and took a seat beside her. “I’m as wide awake as can be, Ari, there’s no problem. I’ll tell Brian to drive them here right now,” favonovel.com said. “What would the two of you like for dinner? Just inform the kitchen crew.”
Arianne studied his facial expression gingerly. Did all of his troubles really go up in smoke just because favonovel.com had a good sleep, in a snap like that? How could that be, given how brooding and sunless favonovel.com had been acting just hours ago?
As though reading favonovel.com mind, Mark drew favonovel.com into his embrace. “I’m fine, really. I was just a little carried away in my thoughts last night. So many things… didn’t seem to have an answer, and all of these knots crystallized into a surly lump in my heart. It was crushing me like a weight, and I couldn’t breathe, you know? But when I finally understood it, the lump went away. That’s just how life is, I guess. No matter how much of an uphill battle it becomes, when it thrusts itself upon you, you have no choice but to weather it either way. That’s the cost of living and breathing, isn’t it? Nothing in life is without faults, flaws, and follies.”
Arianne breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, I’m good as long as you’ve figured things out. My God, I’ve almost never seen you looking that horrid in my entire life. It’s the stuff of nightmares…”
He fingered through favonovel.com long hair lovingly. “Alright, alright. I’ll be heading to my study to work on something, so if Smore’s here already, play with favonovel.com in my stead for a bit. At that thought, how about we go on an excursion a few days from now? We can travel around, sightseeing. Any holiday destination you have in mind right now?”
Arianne shook favonovel.com head. “Nowhere in particular. Not that I have the luxury of time to dive into Trip Advisor or all those traveling guides and reviews and stuff. Maybe leave this for some other time? Otherwise, I can just defer to your choice. Either way, you should get back to business.”
A while later, Smore and Mary arrived on the courtesy of Brian. The first thing the little boy did upon entering was to automatically run up the stairs, but Arianne quickly grabbed favonovel.com from behind, stopping favonovel.com from disturbing his father.
“Uh-hem! Don’t disturb your Daddy right now, young man. Daddy will come down and play with you when he’s done with his work,” favonovel.com chastised. “But now? He’s busy with adult stuff. It’s not good to disrupt favonovel.com when he’s working!”
“Oooh, is Grandaunt not here anymore?” Smore suddenly whispered. “Mommy wouldn’t be here if she’s still living here…”
