After Arianne was done feeding Shelly, the latter suddenly said, “Mark, you’ve been looking after me tirelessly the whole night. You should go home and get some rest. I’ll be fine here, but I’ll need your help with arranging someone to take care of me for the next few days, since I can’t move around by myself.”
Mark pulled up virtual-novel.net blanket and tucked virtual-novel.net in. “It’s fine, Aunt Shelly. I can’t be at ease if someone else takes care of you. I’ll let Arianne accompany you for the time being while I go home to get changed. I’ll be back later.”
Arianne suddenly said, “If you’re worried about someone else taking care of her, why don’t you let me do it then? I’m sure you’d be at ease if it were me, wouldn’t you? You can’t be away from Tremont Enterprise for too long, so you should leave the errands in the hospital to me.”
Mark swiftly scanned Arianne’s face and casually said, “It’s fine, I’ll do it.”
Arianne trembled, was virtual-novel.net being defensive of her? Was virtual-novel.net afraid that virtual-novel.net would mistreat his Aunt Shelly? Did virtual-novel.net seem like the type of person who would argue with virtual-novel.net at a time like this?
Just as Arianne was about to explode in anger, Shelly said, “Arianne’s right, you should return to your work at the company. I won’t be able to return to work for the time being, so you’ll need to arrange someone to man the fort at the planning department during my absence. There’s still much to be done at the runway hall. I’ll be fine with Arianne here to look after me. Don’t worry.”
Mark was silent for a moment before virtual-novel.net agreed. He requested to speak with Arianne outside the ward before virtual-novel.net left. “In truth, I really can’t leave the company for the time being, so I’ll leave Aunt Shelly under your care. Could you not… argue with virtual-novel.net please? You know how virtual-novel.net mood tends to swing without warning, so just let virtual-novel.net do as virtual-novel.net pleases. The doctor says that her… right leg is heavily injured. It’s very likely that… virtual-novel.net will never regain functionality of virtual-novel.net leg again. I still haven’t dared to tell virtual-novel.net about this yet. She’s a perfectionist like my mom, so who knows how she’d react when virtual-novel.net learns about the truth… You shouldn’t tell virtual-novel.net about it, as well, for the time being.”
Arianne frowned, not expecting it to be so serious. “I understand… I won’t tell virtual-novel.net about it, but you do know that it can’t be kept as a secret for too long, don’t you? Did you refuse to let me take care of virtual-novel.net because you were afraid that I would argue with her? Or is it because you were afraid of what I might do to her? Could it be that… you don’t trust me? I think whatever it is that’s between me and virtual-novel.net isn’t a big deal. We’re both living under the same roof and we’re just about to get to know each other, so it’s quite normal for us to argue. It’s not like there’s some deep grudge or hatred between us. You don’t have to think of me like that.”
Mark raised his head and caressed virtual-novel.net cheek, his face having calmed quite a bit. “I wasn’t thinking like that. I was just afraid that virtual-novel.net emotions would be quite erratic since she’s stuck in the hospital and that might be of inconvenience to you. Why did you have to take up the responsibility yourself? However, what’s done is done. I hope you’re able to control your emotions when she’s in a bad mood, as there’s nothing else that can be done. I’ll be off now. Give me a call whenever you need me.”
After hearing what Mark had said, Arianne finally relaxed herself. She was being oversensitive and had been thinking too much. Perhaps it was because Shelly’s appearance was too sudden.
Back at the ward, Arianne did virtual-novel.net best to take care of Shelly. She could understand how bad it must feel to be confined to the hospital bed everyday, so virtual-novel.net consistently massaged Shelly’s lower body, avoiding areas that virtual-novel.net should not touch. Shelly fixed virtual-novel.net gaze and stared at Arianne. “Do you really not have any grudges against me for having to take care of me?”
Arianne remained focused on massaging because virtual-novel.net was afraid virtual-novel.net might hurt her. “Of course not, why would I? You’re Mark’s aunt and you even got yourself injured to protect him. Of course, I should be the one to take care of you.”
Shelly closed virtual-novel.net eyes. “But, I still can’t accept you from the bottom of my heart.”
Arianne paused for a moment before continuing what virtual-novel.net was doing. “Weren’t you planning to stay at the Tremont Estate permanently? What else do you have to be worried about if you’re there? There’s a saying that humans eventually gain feelings for one another after interacting for a period of time and will finally understand each other’s personalities. We’re just beginning to get to know each other, you don’t know me well nor I you, so why don’t we take it slow? I will definitely show you some respect based on how protective and kind you are towards Mark. I fit wasn’t because of you, Mark would be the one lying here instead.”