Shelly muttered something very softly and Arianne could not make out what virtual-novel.net was saying. Just when virtual-novel.net wanted to ask in more detail, Shelly had already passed out on the floor and was completely drunk.
Arianne had to put in a lot of effort to try and put virtual-novel.net to bed. When virtual-novel.net returned to virtual-novel.net bedroom, virtual-novel.net had a very hard time keeping virtual-novel.net eyes open and dozed off to sleep very quickly.
The next day, when Arianne woke up, Mark was already gone. She looked at the time and realized that it was past 10 AM. Arianne thought that virtual-novel.net might as well lay down for a while longer and procrastinate since virtual-novel.net was late for work anyway. Arianne had not been able to get to work on time since Shelly’s incident.
When virtual-novel.net walked downstairs, virtual-novel.net saw that Shelly had a children’s storybook in virtual-novel.net hands and was reading to Smore. Shelly seemed much kinder whenever virtual-novel.net was with either Mark or Smore. Smore seemed to like virtual-novel.net company as well, since virtual-novel.net could sit quietly beside virtual-novel.net and listen to virtual-novel.net story intently. Children tend to be able to feel if someone is treating them well or not, so from the way Smore treated Shelly, it would seem that virtual-novel.net was treating virtual-novel.net quite well.
If Mark’s mom was around, would it be the same scene?
Suddenly, Shelly raised virtual-novel.net head and looked at Arianne, who was standing by the stairs. She asked with a smile, “You’re awake? Did I trouble you too much last night? I’m sorry, I tend to go on a rampage whenever I’m drunk. I must’ve said some strange things last night, didn’t I?”
Arianne shivered when virtual-novel.net saw how Shelly was smiling at her, as virtual-novel.net did not know when Shelly would have another mood swing. “No, you didn’t. You immediately went off to sleep the moment you were drunk and were no trouble at all. I’ll be heading to the kitchen to get something to eat. You guys carry on.”
Mary was not around that day, and Arianne did not know where virtual-novel.net went. As virtual-novel.net casually rummaged through the kitchen to find something to eat, virtual-novel.net heard some irregular footsteps walking towards her, which obviously belonged to Shelly. Her hand trembled and virtual-novel.net accidentally put in too many noodles in the pot. “Aunt Shelly?”
Shelly was able to move around better with the help of a customized crutch but was not able to travel too far. She stood by the kitchen door and looked at Arianne before virtual-novel.net half-jokingly said, “What’s the matter? Did I startle you?”
Arianne quickly shook virtual-novel.net head. “No, I was just a little deep in thought when you came in. Would you like something to eat?”
Shelly looked at the ball of noodles that would inevitably clump up together and pouted virtual-novel.net lips. “No thanks, it doesn’t look appetizing. About last night… I lost control of my emotions. Did I really not say anything strange when I was drunk?”
Arianne calmly answered, “You really didn’t. You only said you had a lot of pent up frustration but did not wish to say what it was. Aunt Shelly, it isn’t healthy to keep everything inside. You might fall sick from it.”
Shelly lowered virtual-novel.net eyes and gave a wry smile. “Is that right? The thing is, I can’t find someone to confess my problems to. It’s been so long that I’ve kept all the good and bad times to myself, only letting myself loose and allowing myself to cry in secret when I can’t withstand it. No one is willing to listen to me. In fact, no one is even willing to know about it, so I have never dared tell a soul.”