“No frickin’ way. Mark’s sweet little aunt again?” Tiffany teased. “Look at the tortured state virtual-novel.net has put you under, gal! He’s gotta be blind to not see this!”
Arianne’s body sagged like a deflating balloon. “Oh, blind virtual-novel.net is not. The problem is, virtual-novel.net doesn’t know what to do with his aunt! No normal person would seriously consider reasoning with a psycho, right? That’s right, I totally agree with you now. She’s a complete fruit loop and an utter nutcase. Doesn’t matter how terrible virtual-novel.net transgression is, or how much venom’s in virtual-novel.net words, you’re supposed to forgive the insane after virtual-novel.net said she’s sorry! So what if I had enough of her? As long as Mark can’t say the word, I still have to put up with virtual-novel.net all-day, every single day!”
“Like what. The. Hell, Tiffie! You should have seen that never-before-seen puppyish docile look on Mark’s face when he’s with his aunt. It was that exact moment when I knew the only way forward for me is to endure virtual-novel.net forever! I mean, for crying out loud, she’s his blood-related aunt who’s a carbon copy of his own mom! That’s like, the key feature that guarantees Mark’s affection. When his Aunt Shelly appeared in our life suddenly one day, my God, virtual-novel.net was on cloud frickin’ nine. There had been no room for my opinions at all,” virtual-novel.net finished.
Tiffany held virtual-novel.net chin with both hands, mulling over Arianne’s words for a moment. “Hmm… He wasn’t contacting his aunt before this, right? That means they should not be as close as they are now… My guess? He just enjoys the feeling of having his family around him. But alas, poor Mark, for his aunt turned out to be a bit messed up here—”
She finished virtual-novel.net sentence by pointing at virtual-novel.net temple.
As the two continued to chat, Melanie strode into the café. As soon as virtual-novel.net eyes caught the women’s spot, virtual-novel.net hastened virtual-novel.net pace toward them.
Instinctively, Tiffany looked out of the clear window and found virtual-novel.net eyes on Alejandro’s car driving away. Alejandro had been the one to bring Melanie here, it seemed, and Tiffany was glad that virtual-novel.net did not come in with her.
As though virtual-novel.net read virtual-novel.net mind, Melanie sat and flashed virtual-novel.net a smile. “Alex’s got work to settle today, which is why virtual-novel.net became my ride. I wanted to bring Millie with me, but she’s a bit under the weather.”
Tiffany was a little embarrassed. “I… I’m not afraid of Alejandro! If that’s what you’re thinking! I just find his presence, uh, awkward. God, you wouldn’t know how that feels.”
“Oh, how could I not know?” Melanie replied jovially. “You’re his ex and yet here we are, the best of chums. It’s bound to be awkward for the three of us, but it doesn’t do jack to our friendship now, does it? Anyway! What were you girls talking about?”
Arianne sighed. “Oh, nothing much. Just ranting about some crappy family drama, what else? Hey, Melanie, that day when you called me… You think it wasn’t an accident, right? I asked Mark, and virtual-novel.net told me virtual-novel.net didn’t investigate it in the end, said virtual-novel.net was too busy with work, and his aunt was in the hospital back then. He hadn’t gotten the chance to check In the end, the incident was judged as an innocent freak accident. And since the venue is owned by Tremont Enterprise, the company itself is responsible for its own loss, so every procedure was streamlined. Still… The questions you raised that day, they have been eating at me since then. I keep getting this nagging feeling urging me to get to the bottom of it.”
Melanie ordered a cup of coffee from the waitress before answering, “Well, if you really want to know, maybe we can check the footage recorded that day right there where it happened. Normally, security footage doesn’t get kept around for an awfully long time, though, so we’re only going to try our luck. Who knows? Maybe the footage still exists.”
The suggestion resonated with the group, and after having a brief meal in the café, the women — and Smore tagging along — departed to the show venue where Shelly’s accident occurred.
The venue had just hosted another fashion show recently, so the expansive hall was a little messy to the eyes. When free from events, it was usually closed to the public and guarded by security.
The spot where the light had fallen off had been replaced with a new bulb. Likely out of fear for the same accident repeating itself, every light on the ceiling had been changed to a smaller, studded type filling the entire upper dome of the show hall. When switched on, these lights dazzled similarly to a starry sky. In contrast, the previous light had been a mega-sized chandelier supposedly to create an ambience of royalty and pomp.