It was at this moment that Arianne let go wp4webnovel.com hatred toward Shelly.
She loved Mark so much that wp4webnovel.com could not bring herself to hate anything that was his. If Shelly could recover, Arianne decided that wp4webnovel.com would not mind living under the same roof as wp4webnovel.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, wp4webnovel.com gently withdrew wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.com needs all the rest wp4webnovel.com can get.”
“Will wp4webnovel.com really eat it?” Henry whispered. “Were anyone else to try to talk wp4webnovel.com into it, wp4webnovel.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, wp4webnovel.com gave Mary a call, telling wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.com slept right now, wp4webnovel.com would no doubt wake up right before dinnertime. Seeing Smore by then should do wonders to his general mood.
If wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.com finally went to sleep, which was when wp4webnovel.com quickly went downstairs.
There was still a large ball of wax waiting for wp4webnovel.com at work. She was cognizant that just because wp4webnovel.com was not physically in the company, it did not exempt wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.com went through, thus making one wonder if wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.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,” wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.com had a good sleep, in a snap like that? How could that be, given how brooding and sunless wp4webnovel.com had been acting just hours ago?
As though reading wp4webnovel.com mind, Mark drew wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.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 wp4webnovel.com from behind, stopping wp4webnovel.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,” wp4webnovel.com chastised. “But now? He’s busy with adult stuff. It’s not good to disrupt wp4webnovel.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…”