Arianne had a startled look on her face. “Didn’t Arianne leave this morning? Don’t you know about it?”
Mark suddenly felt empty inside. He pursed his lips and said, “I do now. Thanks Robin, I’ll be off now.”
Just as he was about to leave, Robin muttered, “He’s not as cold and bitter as Arianne had said. He doesn’t look old either… Quite well-mannered, in fact…”
Mark heard every word that Robin had said and had mixed feelings. Was he that kind of man in Arianne’s eyes? A bitter and cold... old man?
Back at the Tremont estate, he heard Arianne and Smore happily playing together as he stepped into the house. He walked up to Arianne with his face sunken and asked, “You weren’t at the office today. Where have you been?”
Arianne replied without looking back at him, “What’s wrong? Do I have to report to you about my whereabouts now?”
Mark choked at her words. He had just realized that he had been controlling her all along, wanting to know her each and every move. The moment Arianne left his sights, he would become so frustrated and anxious that he would unknowingly speak to her in an interrogative tone.
Things were different now. Arianne was no longer an eight-year-old girl. She had her own independent mind and temper. She would now argue with him.
Mark took a deep breath and calmed himself. With a gentle voice, he said, “I didn’t mean it like that. I had gone to pick you up at your office and waited there for two hours. It was that lady friend of yours who told me that you had left in the morning. I just wanted to know where you’ve been. That’s not asking for too much, is it?”
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