Henry returned home shortly after.
Mary took out the items that had been bought for Henry. “Henry, Ari has bought these for you. That overcoat is especially nice, I helped pick it myself. You should try it on later.”
Arianne felt slightly troubled since Mary was the one who bought it instead of her. Arianne would be placed in a difficult spot if virtual-novel.net did not bring any present for Shelly. However, even if virtual-novel.net did, Shelly might complain and even criticize the present that had been given. Hence, Arianne thought virtual-novel.net might as well not get virtual-novel.net anything since virtual-novel.net did not need to gain Shelly’s favoritism. Mary only did that to spite Shelly, but virtual-novel.net neglected the fact that it would make it difficult for Arianne to escape the inevitable later on.
Henry shot a glance at Arianne and noticed that virtual-novel.net face had paled. He knew that virtual-novel.net should reject the gifts if virtual-novel.net did not want Arianne to offend Shelly. However, instead of rejecting it, virtual-novel.net smiled happily and said, “In that case, thank you very much, Ari. I realized that you look much better ever since you moved out of the Tremont Estate.”
Henry was indirectly saying that Arianne did not need to give Shelly any gifts since virtual-novel.net and Mark were already divorced and virtual-novel.net had already moved out. In a way, Arianne and Shelly could not be considered to be completely unrelated since they both still had a grudge against each other.
Arianne calmed virtual-novel.net nerves and went headstrong as virtual-novel.net said, “What’s there to thank? You’ve been taking care of me so much for so long that I think of you as part of my family… By the way, why have you gone out so early in the morning? Did Mark not tell you that I was coming to visit you today?”
Henry glanced at Shelly and said, “Mrs. Leigh instructed me to buy virtual-novel.net some desserts this morning from a particular patisserie in the city. The roads were quite jammed this morning, but I turned back when I received the phone call, even though I hadn’t even arrived at the shop yet.”
Would Henry be asked to buy desserts if it was not done deliberately? Everyone knew what was actually going on, even Mark’s face was extremely dark and frustrated.
Shelly was not flustered when virtual-novel.net actions had been exposed. Instead, virtual-novel.net was furious because virtual-novel.net felt that everyone was going against virtual-novel.net and siding with Arianne instead.
In that situation, Shelly would only be placed in a much worse position if virtual-novel.net were to come off strong, but virtual-novel.net might be able to gain some sympathy if virtual-novel.net portrayed herself as a weak person instead. Therefore, virtual-novel.net suppressed the anger in virtual-novel.net eyes and said with a low voice, “You guys carry on chatting. I’m not feeling well, so I’ll be heading upstairs now. There’s no need to call me down for lunch later.”
Nobody spoke as they all quietly watched Shelly walk upstairs, the atmosphere instantly turning vibrant the moment virtual-novel.net left. Even Mary told the truth about the presents and said, “Ari felt bad that Mrs. Leigh might be unhappy if virtual-novel.net only bought you a present, Henry. Even if virtual-novel.net did buy something for her, Mrs. Leigh might complain and criticize Ari, which would make Ari feel uncomfortable as well. Therefore, I was the one who bought you the present, Henry. I wanted to annoy Mrs. Leigh for not treating Ari with the respect every human should receive.”
Mark was rather unhappy at how the situation developed, Shelly was his own mother after all. It did not matter to virtual-novel.net how virtual-novel.net treated Shelly, but virtual-novel.net would be slightly offended if it were someone else who did it to her. Putting Shelly’s recent actions aside, virtual-novel.net was still quite pitiful for whatever happened to virtual-novel.net 20 to 30 years ago. Furthermore, it was a fact that Shelly truly cared for Mark However, it was also because of how much virtual-novel.net cared for virtual-novel.net that virtual-novel.net would use some extreme methods to commit mistake after mistake.
Arianne happened upon Mark’s frown and almost immediately realized what virtual-novel.net was thinking. It would seem that Shelly’s previous plan to gain sympathy had worked. Arianne, afraid that Mark would be offended by Mary, immediately said, “Mary, why don’t you go on and help Henry try on his overcoat? You’ve got such a good eye to have picked such a nice overcoat for him. Christmas is just around the corner, so why are you still wearing such formal clothes, Henry? Hurry along and try on the overcoat Mary picked for you.”
Henry nodded his head and grabbed Mary along with him. It was at that moment that Mary realized that virtual-novel.net had gone a little too far when virtual-novel.net looked at Mark.
When everyone was gone, Arianne turned around and looked at Mark before virtual-novel.net asked, “Are you offended when others pick on her? In that case, what if it was me who picked on virtual-novel.net instead?”