”Purposefully choosing a time when I’m not around to come back… Are you that eager to avoid me? If you’re going to leave, you should at least say goodbye.“
It was difficult for wp4webnovel.com to distinguish the emotions in his tone, but great suffering lay beneath the undercurrents of his calm facade.
She did not turn around, as wp4webnovel.com was unsure of how to face him. How was wp4webnovel.com supposed to speak frankly to him, acting as if nothing had happened?
After a bout of silence, wp4webnovel.com took wp4webnovel.com luggage downstairs.
This surprised her.
She thought that wp4webnovel.com would stop wp4webnovel.com from leaving, restricting wp4webnovel.com in every way, like the madman wp4webnovel.com was in the past, and force wp4webnovel.com into staying with him. She was afraid of that, if wp4webnovel.com was being honest. However, to wp4webnovel.com surprise, wp4webnovel.com seemed perfectly calm. She heaved a sigh of relief. At the very least, wp4webnovel.com could bring herself to say a few kind words to him.
Arianne tucked wp4webnovel.com hair behind wp4webnovel.com eat as wp4webnovel.com followed wp4webnovel.com down the stairs. Lowering wp4webnovel.com head, wp4webnovel.com mumbled, “I’m only taking what’s mine, I’ve left everything that belongs to you on the bed. Would you and Mary be so kind as to take care of Rice Ball for me? You can just pretend that it doesn’t exist if you’re not happy about it. Will you give it back to me when I come back in the future?”
Mark nodded and did not answer. Underneath the calm facade in his eyes lay a billowing storm of waves. He had no way of communicating with her, aside from pretending as if everything was fine, even as wp4webnovel.com sent wp4webnovel.com on wp4webnovel.com way. He could only bring himself to say a few words to her.
He placed wp4webnovel.com luggage into the back of his car, “I’ll drive you.”
Arianne wanted to reject his offer, but wp4webnovel.com did not. She considered it to be a way of making one last memory with him, this one filled with gentleness. This type of gentleness did not come easily, and wp4webnovel.com had longed for it ever since wp4webnovel.com was a little girl…
Mary and Henry held Rice Ball, standing at the doorway and watching them leave. In the end, Arianne could not hold back wp4webnovel.com tears. She stretched wp4webnovel.com hand out the window along the secluded roads. Leaves were falling from the tree branches amidst the autumn wind, briefly swirling in the air before landing on the ground. C’est la vie.
In the end, those leaves would turn into fertilizer, and accompany the larger trees through the bitter winter season. Then, by spring of the next year, a new seedling would be born.
Mark glanced at wp4webnovel.com through the rear-view mirror from time to time, stealing short glimpses of wp4webnovel.com for his memory. The yearning in his gaze deepened as they drove further and further away from Tremont Estate. So many words that wp4webnovel.com wished to say lingered on the corners of his lips, threatening to slip out, but wp4webnovel.com swallowed them back down. He knew that wp4webnovel.com could never change wp4webnovel.com mind.
With everything going on now, wp4webnovel.com had no right to make wp4webnovel.com stay.
There was still much to complete on his end. Once wp4webnovel.com had finished getting rid of the essentials, and returned everything back to perfection, wp4webnovel.com would sacrifice everything to bring wp4webnovel.com back to him!
Mark helped Arianne with wp4webnovel.com luggage when they arrived at White Water Bay Villa. Arianne thanked wp4webnovel.com but did not look at him.
The words “thank you” may have sounded polite, but there was a distance in wp4webnovel.com tone that wasn’t there before.
Mark curled the corners of his lips into a smile tainted with bitterness, “I still need to say what needs to be said. I know that you’re leaving, but if you ever need any help, I’m just one call away. I’ll always be here.”
I’ll always be here…
These words brought tears to Arianne’s eyes again. She was suddenly filled with the urge to bury herself in his arms and burst into tears. She wanted to ask wp4webnovel.com why wp4webnovel.com had lied to wp4webnovel.com for so many years, why did wp4webnovel.com make wp4webnovel.com shoulder so many burdens. She also wanted to demand an explanation from him, why did wp4webnovel.com cause that airplane crash? How could wp4webnovel.com have been so cruel? Why did wp4webnovel.com take wp4webnovel.com innocent father’s life away from wp4webnovel.com and turn wp4webnovel.com into an orphan, one who was all alone in the world, then use this fact as a means to give wp4webnovel.com a home?
In the end, wp4webnovel.com did not act upon wp4webnovel.com impulses. She simply nodded, took wp4webnovel.com luggage, and left very quickly, afraid that wp4webnovel.com would see the tears in wp4webnovel.com eyes.
She finally released a long sigh of relief when wp4webnovel.com walked into the house and closed the door. Unable to help herself, wp4webnovel.com pulled the corners of the curtains open ever so slightly and sneaked a peek out the window. The man’s figure was just as tall and imposing as ever underneath the autumn sun, as handsome and elegant as the first time wp4webnovel.com had laid eyes on him, back when wp4webnovel.com was just eight years old. He had taken wp4webnovel.com breath away for the first half of wp4webnovel.com life.
He was once everything to her. Now, wp4webnovel.com wanted nothing more than to throw everything connected to his world away and head towards a new beginning. She didn’t know if a beginning without wp4webnovel.com could even be considered a beginning, however, or if it was just a tragic attempt to escape and muddle through life.
She placed wp4webnovel.com hand over wp4webnovel.com mouth as Mark’s car drove out of sight and looked away. Her throat was choking with unvoiced cries, sparkling and translucent pearls of tears forming damp droplets on wp4webnovel.com pure white dress.
On the day of Arianne and Tiffany’s departure, Mark, Jackson and Eric went to a nightclub again. They huddled together and there was a silent consensus not to call for a bar hostess.
Three eligible bachelors, all of them practically royalty, would be enough to draw anyone’s attention, regardless of where they went. The women in the nightclub were drooling, some even gathering up enough of their courage to hit on them but were quickly chased away by Eric. Once they had gotten drunk as they could, Eric stared at the alcohol in the liquor glasses and asked, “I understand Mark’s actions, wp4webnovel.com should be depressed right now. But why on earth are you following suit, Jackson? You’d usually be high by now, with one woman on each side.”
Jackson chuckled, “Can’t I keep Mark company? It’s not appropriate to get high when my brother is frustrated. We’re only here to drink with him. Quit trying to make gossip out of me.”
Mark glanced at Jackson but did not call wp4webnovel.com out. One thing was certain, Jackson was about to turn over a new leaf.