Dangerous Love: You Are My One and Only Bride novel Chapter 1543

Mark let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, so that’s why! In that case, it’s fine. Go ahead and rest. I’ll be off to work.”

Everything added up—Shelly’s fib about her buddy-buddy relationship with his mother excluded, of course. Everything else made enough sense, and if Mark was being honest, he did not care to dive deep into the age-old drama between his mother and his aunt. Whatever that was, it was a feud of a generation before him. There was no need to drag it out from under the dust.

Besides, what sort of catastrophic enmity could possibly be bred between an ordinary pair of sisters like them?

En route to the Tremont Tower, Arianne asked while in the car, “So, what did your aunt tell you? If it involves anything that I’m not supposed to hear, you could skip that part.”

Mark turned to face her. “Why do you think there’ll be such a thing? You’re entitled to hear everything, Arianne. Anyway, it turns out that her capriciousness and predisposition for extreme actions are all products of her past trauma. She’s legitimately mentally-unwell, so I’ve left Brian to drive her to the therapist today. The gist? Her actions are born out of her mental illness. She also wanted you to know she’s sorry she can’t really control her behavior. I honestly don’t know just what sort of hellish nightmare her last marriage was, but to warp her mind to this degree alone is pretty… well, spine-chilling,” Mark recounted, “And finally, the wedding photo. She destroyed it out of an intense grudge toward my father and pity for my mother’s fate. It’s why she couldn’t stand looking at a piece of memorabilia that reminded her of their union.”

Arianne sighed. “If that is the case, well… I sympathize, I really do. I understand where her actions are coming from. But damn, her personal issues have really spilled over to mine, you know. Ever since she came here, I felt like I’ve never had a day of genuine peace. And if she keeps this up, Christ, I think I’ll be the next one to see a therapist! But yea, I get it. She’s doing things for your sake, she’s worried that I’m out for blood—all that, I understand. But honest to God, I cannot stand her bare-faced rancor, and I seriously cannot tolerate the way she treats Mary and Henry.”

“There, there. I told her about that too, so we can expect a change in attitude from now on,” Mark replied reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Arianne. I’ll always stand by your side. No one who ever existed could bully my woman—not even my aunt.”

Arianne shot her a mirthless, forced smile. “Damn, you have the instincts for the juiciest tea, don’t you? But yea, at this rate, I seriously envy your relationship with Jackson’s mom. Of course, it helps that Summer always treats you very kindly; she sees you as her own daughter, after all. But Mark’s aunt? Ha, she’s the polar opposite. She’s always so annoyingly wary of me. Hell, she labels me as an outsider and believes that I’m gonna avenge my dad’s death by… harming Mark or something! My God, she’s gonna drive me nuts through all of these torments!

“Here’s the thing, I genuinely believe my life to be pretty damn near perfect. I have a happy, content family, for Christ’s sake, so why would I entertain ideas that could take all this happiness away from both myself and others, huh? What, she doesn’t think I’ll take my son’s life and future into consideration?… But then again, Mark told me that his aunt had lived a very hellish life in Germany. It was so excruciating that it did a number to her mental health, and now, her actions and thoughts could sometimes drift to the extreme. Honestly, I understand and sympathize.”

Tiffany’s eyes widened. “…‘Did a number to her mental health?’ Whoa, whoa; that means she’s actually psychotic, isn’t it?! But she’s an employee of Tremont Enterprise too, right? As some kinda director of some department?— Oh my God, is it even ok for her to have this job…?”