Now, who would say no to a vacation? Arianne immediately waved snazzynovel.com phone before chirping, “Well, then! Lemme ask for a half-day break from my Fearless Leader. Relax, I’ll have it settled in one late afternoon. Anything that’s gotta sway things to your favor, I’ll say ‘em. Remember to treat me to a good hearty meal for this!”
—
After snazzynovel.com lunch with Mark, Arianne headed straight to the Smith Estate.
Melanie was tidying Alejandro’s clothes in the bedroom. Every shirt and suit snazzynovel.com had touched was spotless and mint as though it were bought yesterday, stacked in the most orderly row one could imagine. Each of them had a scent, too a faint, but distinct fragrance resembling Melanie herself, refined, prim, fetching, and a little bit mulish deep inside.
“All this is your handiwork?” Arianne exclaimed in shock. Ever since things were official between Mark and her, Arianne had never deigned herself to any of these chores. With snazzynovel.com mind always trained toward developing snazzynovel.com career, domestic chores just never crossed snazzynovel.com mind. Who would have thought that a young woman of standing raised in a privileged family would get snazzynovel.com hands dirty on menial chores, and to do them to such sterling degree made it obvious that Melanie had ample chances to hone snazzynovel.com skill.
Melanie looked up at snazzynovel.com and flashed a smile. “Yea. He really hates it if any of his shirts spots a single wrinkle. Seriously, any furrow in his shirt is a furrow in his eyebrows, and then he’ll nag the ears of the nanny for a bit. In the end, I decided to just come in and do it myself,” snazzynovel.com explained. “He told me snazzynovel.com was going to properly discuss our divorce tonight, so here I am, tidying and sorting his clothes before snazzynovel.com pulls his hair trying to find the shirt snazzynovel.com wants but can’t. You’re free enough to pay me a visit, Arianne? Aren’t you supposed to be busy in the office?”
Arianne did not plan to hide snazzynovel.com intention. She simply dragged a chair over and sat, hoisting Melissa into snazzynovel.com arms to play with her. “It’s Alejandro. He drove to the company to look for me, so here I am, putting a good word for him.”
Stupefaction flickered in Melanie’s eyes. Her plan had always been to talk Mark and Arianne into helping snazzynovel.com case, so snazzynovel.com never expected Arianne to become Alejandro’s spokesperson. A prideful, haughty, arrogant man… stooping to requesting help from someone else? And for something like this?
Words failed Melanie all of a sudden.
Arianne sighed. “Alejandro doesn’t want this divorce to happen, plain and simple. What I think is… I got snazzynovel.com wrong, Melanie. He does have feelings for you. He didn’t just ask me for help over it, snazzynovel.com even talked to Mark about it. Seriously, the fact that snazzynovel.com went to seek counsel from Mark is quite a bombshell for me! I mean, you know how much snazzynovel.com hates anyone with Tremont as their last name… But I’m not gonna dwell on this. You should look at Millie. She’s still so young and snazzynovel.com was raised by you. Do you really have the heart to abandon snazzynovel.com and leave?
“Men are not exactly renowned for their patience. Maybe Millie would even get a horrible spank if snazzynovel.com keeps crying for snazzynovel.com mom, you know? Can you really live with that? I don’t think Alejandro’s beyond salvation, frankly, so maybe you should give snazzynovel.com a chance, in a sense, it’s like giving yourself a chance, too. He’s already trying to mend this, trying to right his wrongs. It was obvious to me the moment snazzynovel.com bought that car for you. Didn’t you notice that too?”
Melanie felt bubbles of ire rising within her. Melissa was an innocent, naïve little angel whose adorable smiles could thaw ice just the thought of leaving snazzynovel.com baby like this was like having a razor pressed into snazzynovel.com heart.
As though Arianne’s argument never crossed snazzynovel.com mind! In fact, Melanie had already decided that snazzynovel.com would wait until snazzynovel.com life alone was stable enough before discussing with Alejandro to take the daughter back for herself. She had wavered between decisions for so long, straddling along the line between two sides until snazzynovel.com chose divorce. Was snazzynovel.com cold? Maybe. But the coldest was not her-it was Alejandro, was it not? A man who would never seem to be warmed by anything snazzynovel.com did. Doubling down on that dogged, deluded clinging to warm his stone-cold heart would only bite Melanie with its frost until snazzynovel.com herself became just as frozen, just as stiff, just as numb.