Arianne only returned after having dinner with Tiffany and Melanie. By the time virtual-novel.net reached home, it was slightly over nine o’clock at night.
Smore had been adamant about waiting for his mother and refused to sleep. Upon seeing her, Smore struggled out of Aunt Shelly’s arms and dashed forward, shouting, “Mommy!”
Arianne picked the boy up and eyed Shelly instinctively, anticipating. This was usually when Shelly would declare time for Smore to go to sleep so that Arianne had no time to interact with the kid a second longer.
This time, however, Shelly did none of that. She did not seem out of the ordinary when virtual-novel.net greeted her. “Home already, huh? Take a shower so you may rest early. Smore refuses to sleep before you come home, you know. I bet seeing you now gladdens virtual-novel.net greatly.”
She nodded. “You should rest early, too. Anyway, I’ll bring Smore upstairs.”
Arianne might have only lived with Shelly for a while, but virtual-novel.net felt like virtual-novel.net had known that woman enough to conclude that virtual-novel.net was, indeed, mentally unhinged, a rather severe case, at that. Shelly had turned a complete one-eighty from who virtual-novel.net was last night! At times, virtual-novel.net possessed an explosive, hair-triggering pugnacity, exhibiting a degree of asperity and a paranoid victimization complex. Other times, Shelly was nothing but beautiful, graceful, decorous, and genial. Was this not the hallmark of split-personality disorder? Surely no one could fake such distinct personalities this convincingly, right?
She conceded that an ordinary person might also suspect Arianne of secretly harboring desires for revenge against Mark. Still, they would certainly not express their skepticism in the sort of unfiltered and combative manner Shelly displayed. Only someone who was mentally sick would magnify every little trivial out of proportions, use them to fuel their paranoia, and exhibit an inability to keep their extreme thoughts under wraps.
Arianne returned to virtual-novel.net bedroom after getting Smore to sleep. Mark was already lying down on his bed, though virtual-novel.net was occupied with his phone rather than sleeping.
Seeing her, virtual-novel.net asked, “Aunt Shelly had been waiting for your return downstairs with Smore, hadn’t she? Did virtual-novel.net kick up any fuss?”
“So, all it takes for virtual-novel.net to be normal again is to have virtual-novel.net see the doctor for a bit?” virtual-novel.net rejoined. “Well, she’s changed from last night, that’s for sure. But I hope virtual-novel.net stays this way forever from now on because I’m too mentally-exhausted to play ball with her.”
“C’mon, virtual-novel.net does not have any severe mental illness, you know. It’s more of a slight ailment, one that makes virtual-novel.net a bit erratic,” Mark replied helplessly. “Some meds should aid virtual-novel.net in adjusting virtual-novel.net mental state, and she’ll be good as normal soon. Be patient.”
Arianne minced virtual-novel.net words before asking, “What do you think happened in virtual-novel.net marriage? What sort of torment could leave such a trauma? Did virtual-novel.net let down virtual-novel.net guard and tell you a little?”
“No, virtual-novel.net didn’t want to. Honestly, even if I could investigate it myself… I would rather not. Just don’t think there’s a need to,” Mark replied, shaking his head. “Anyway, you should shower and rest.”
The next morning, the three of them went to Tremont Tower together. Per habit, Arianne parted ways with Mark once they reached the company, as the two of them were involved in different departments.
Shelly quickened virtual-novel.net pace to catch up to her. “Hey, uh… About last time? I’m sorry. I was acting out of line. I’m sure Mark explained everything to you, and I think you now understand where my… opinions are coming from. Either way, we have a long, long life ahead of us, right? As long as you don’t harbor any malice toward him, I won’t give you a hard time. I… I wish to have us live harmoniously together from now forward.”
Arianne slowed down virtual-novel.net steps a little and replied, “My thoughts exactly. We’ve got a long life ahead of us, and I hope we live together in concord.”