He stopped and stared at them for a long time before speaking up. “Arianne, come here.”
Arianne turned towards him. A hint of disappointment flashed across wp4webnovel.com eyes. It had been a while since wp4webnovel.com called wp4webnovel.com by wp4webnovel.com full name. He had always called wp4webnovel.com “Ari”. Feelings were so easily changeable.
Aristotle was the first to pelt himself into Mark’s arms. Arianne walked towards him. “What is it?”
“Has Will paid you back?” Mark asked.
She lifted wp4webnovel.com hand and tucked wp4webnovel.com hair behind wp4webnovel.com ear. “Mm, I’ve asked wp4webnovel.com to transfer it to your bank account.”
He pursed his lips in silence. No one could tell what was on his mind. Arianne smiled. “I’m going to check on dinner. Play with Smore for a while.”
He frowned as wp4webnovel.com watched wp4webnovel.com go downstairs as if everything was completely fine. Perhaps wp4webnovel.com had been overreacting on this matter, but wp4webnovel.com couldn’t control himself. He could try and let go of the fact that Will and Arianne had once been in love, but every time they had any semblance of an interaction, wp4webnovel.com couldn’t keep calm.
Arianne carefully fed Aristotle during dinner but didn’t touch wp4webnovel.com own food for a long time. Since it was summer, the air-conditioning in the house was at full blast. Her food would be cold soon.
“Let wp4webnovel.com learn to feed himself,” Mark suggested. “His hands and legs seem to have good coordination, and wp4webnovel.com seems smarter than most kids his age.”
Arianne objected. “How many years do we have left to feed him? We only have about two years. Smore won’t let us feed wp4webnovel.com when he’s older, even if we wanted to. He’s not good with his utensils yet. He’ll make a big mess and wp4webnovel.com won’t be able to put a lot of food in his mouth. I’ll teach him, in time. You don’t have to worry.”
He put down his knife and fork. “He’s my son. Why shouldn’t I worry?”
Arianne noticed the emotional tick in his movements. She pursed wp4webnovel.com lips and didn’t say a word. Who knew what would cause his hissy fit this time? It was best to avoid annoying him. She would simply pretend that wp4webnovel.com was having premature andropause.
Mary sensed the tension at the dinner table and scooped Aristotle into wp4webnovel.com arms. “Come, I’ll feed you. Let your mama enjoy wp4webnovel.com dinner.”
Arianne smiled and talked to Mary about the household. “I’ve mentioned that you and Henry should get a medical check-up. When will you be going? I can take some time out to take care of Smore. Let me know once you’ve confirmed.”
After some consideration, Mary answered, “Next Monday. Henry should have some free time then. The weekend is coming soon and there’ll be a lot of people at the hospital. Henry and I are fine. We’re well-fed here, and we haven’t been made to do anything physically taxing. Our lives are much better off than most old folks. We’ll be just fine.”
The harmonious atmosphere made Mark feel very left out. He felt a little uncomfortable. “Don’t talk during your meal.”
Mary and Arianne shared a look, then kept their mouths shut. They simply couldn’t have a happy conversation at the dinner table like a normal family whenever Mark was around. He refused to talk and prohibited other people from doing so as well. He has always been a tyrant.
After dinner, Mark went into the study. He wore a sour look on his face the entire time, as if someone owed wp4webnovel.com a huge debt.
“We’re the only ones who can bear with his temper,” Mary grumbled to Arianne in secret. “He has always been like this since childhood. He’d ignore everyone else whenever wp4webnovel.com was in a bad mood and shut himself away.”