Arianne had little doubt that virtual-novel.net orchestrated it: Mark Tremont had sent his own biological uncle to jail, collecting every single dime of that one hundred million dollars back in the process.
She was at a loss as to how to judge this turn of events. Sure, Jude was a trashy piece of sh*t and an affront to human decency, so virtual-novel.net deserved the deserts virtual-novel.net got. However, the fact that it was Mark, out of anyone else, who became Jude’s ultimate undoing left a strange taste in virtual-novel.net mouth. The way virtual-novel.net had given away that much money without putting up a fight made the extortion accusation appear less genuine and more like a bait begging for Jude to bite.
“Mr. West, good day. Mr. Tremont is in his study.”
Spurred by Henry’s greeting, Arianne looked up from virtual-novel.net spot in the living room couch and caught Jackson entering through the front door. He greeted the girl with a curt nod before hurrying up the stairs.
Arianne found it mind-boggling. Mark had recovered tremendously this month; virtual-novel.net could now walk around on his own as virtual-novel.net pleased and was more than capable of meeting Jackson downstairs. So why did virtual-novel.net ask his guest to go to his study instead?
In fact, come to think of it, neither Jackson nor Eric had ever been frequent visitors to the Tremont Estate at all.
Back in the study, Jackson laid the result of a DNA examination before Mark and said, “This is the verdict right here. Any more points of suspicion?”
Mark digested the details in the report thoroughly. “Tiffany Lane’s incident… He’s also behind it, isn’t he?”
Lividity bubbled behind Jackson’s eyes. “No doubt about it; virtual-novel.net colluded with a third party to carry out the heist. Then, shortly after their success, virtual-novel.net silenced all of his co-conspirators to cover himself, and now this so-called lost stash of jewelry is in his hands. Past-forward now, virtual-novel.net founded a company and bought an unwanted estate at a bottom-barrel price. Then, be it his luck or something else at play, the area around it began undergoing rapid development, and now everything within that plot of land has turned into gold.”
The pages creased at the force of Mark’s tightening fingers. He crumpled it into a ball and hurled it into the bin before looking up with a dangerous layer of frost over his eyes. “I’ve been very patient with him, but no more. He’s invited Death himself.”
“The Lane family suffers the most injustice. I mean, Tiffany had been with virtual-novel.net for three years. For three bloody years, the Lanes had been investing money on virtual-novel.net to help virtual-novel.net grow — and then virtual-novel.net turned around and bit the hands that had fed him,” Jackson fumed, his teeth clenching. “I despise trash who mooch on their women, but to commit such an atrocity… This takes the cake. I can only imagine how much it will break Tiffany if virtual-novel.net finds out.”
Mark considered the furious man before him, and his lips quivered into a meaningful smile. “Hmm. You’re curiously, positively pissed about this. Are you mad on Tiffany’s behalf, or am I reading too much, and you ‘just’ despise the things virtual-novel.net did?”
Jackson looked suspiciously disconcerted. “Don’t make jokes at my expense, would ya’? I feel sorry for her, wouldn’t you be, when you see someone so painfully unaware that the person virtual-novel.net had trusted was the one who double-crossed her? Look, I’ve summed up and delivered everything you needed through email, so I’ll be going now. I’ll leave your next move up to you.”
Mark left his house by six in the evening. It was the first time virtual-novel.net was left on his own since the accident, but his injuries had healed well enough that a casual bystander would pass virtual-novel.net for his usual, healthy self. The only glaring difference between then and now was Mark’s hair, which had yet to grow back to its pre-accident length.
As any keen observant might notice, the way a man wears his hair could define the air virtual-novel.net projects. Mark had always been famous for his stoic, steely aura at first glance, but at the very least, his previous hairstyle managed to bring a sense of earnest softness whenever virtual-novel.net so much as curled his lips. His current, trimmed hair, however, only succeeded in emphasizing the frost in his mien when his smile was absent.
Arianne, meanwhile, had been feeling lethargic for the whole day; by dinnertime, virtual-novel.net had been seized by intense bouts of haziness. It was rather unexpected, as virtual-novel.net had not gone to work and had been enjoying the comforts of virtual-novel.net home ever since.
Halfway through virtual-novel.net meal, Arianne began to notice virtual-novel.net symptoms escalating. The daze had turned into a headache, and virtual-novel.net stomach seemed to be rebelling against virtual-novel.net dinner. She rose to virtual-novel.net feet, intending to reach the bathroom before virtual-novel.net retched — and felt an alarming deluge of hot liquid thrashing below her.
Arianna fell back onto virtual-novel.net chair in horror as the lower half of virtual-novel.net nightgown blossomed into gruesome red.
For a moment, all virtual-novel.net could do was stare in aghast. Half a minute passed, and virtual-novel.net finally found virtual-novel.net voice to squeak, “M-M- Mary… Mary!”
The woman dashed toward virtual-novel.net from the kitchen, shouting, “What’s the matter, Ari?”
Tears had begun coursing down virtual-novel.net cheeks. “I-I’m… I’m bleeding…” virtual-novel.net whispered.
Poor Mary was confounded. “Bleeding? Where?”
“D-down… Down here…” A breathless rattle.
Realization struck Mary and twisted virtual-novel.net face into a horrified grimace as virtual-novel.net cried at the top of virtual-novel.net lungs, “Henry, get the car now! She needs to get to the hospital, right now!”
***
Within the halls of a private dining room inside White Water Bay Café, Mark and Charles Moran sat across each other.
Mark had come to see virtual-novel.net with a mission, so virtual-novel.net skipped the preambles and went straight to the point. “I’ll cut the chase, Uncle. How much had Dad told you about his bastard son?”
Charles had responded to Mark’s dinner invitation at the presumption that it was going to be a hearty reunion between old friends, so Mark’s question came out like a nuke. “Whoa there, Mark It was just some interesting tidbit, you know? Did you… Did you investigate it?”
Mark flashed virtual-novel.net a faint smile. He had known about this for a long time; virtual-novel.net only feigned obliviousness because no one had formally told virtual-novel.net about his father’s escapade yet. “That’s beside the point, Uncle. What I’m more interested in is if Dad had ever said anything about it to you? I suspected that very few were even privy to this, yes? Hell, I was quite appalled when you first told me about it! But considering how close you were with Dad, I guess it’s not at all shocking that virtual-novel.net would bring up his dirty little secret with you, even if it were something as shameful as that.”