A Ruling Passion – Chapter 1533

That's what she said, yet Mark could not help but suspect Arianne for being insincere.

Still, it was not like he knew any brilliant way to mediate between the two women, so he gave up with a sigh. “Alright, then. I hope you mean what you said. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that, well, we ought to communicate if we want to stop things from going awry, right? If you’ve got anything you’d like to talk about, just tell me in private. Most importantly, we, uh, should refrain from starting any sort of fights with Aunt Shelly as much as we could, got that? You’re my woman, Arianne, so it goes without saying that I’ll stand with you. But she’s my aunt, too, and someone I highly respect, at that.”

Arianne cocked her eyebrow. “Mm-hmm? You don’t say, Mark. I’m not obtuse, you know. Alright, you done being jittery and hinky now? Then go and chat away with your aunt, lest she starts hounding for you. I’m not good at socializing with people of older generations, so I’d appreciate it if you could save me from making the two of us talk. And yep, that includes the whole ‘being her bedfellow’ business, as that thing makes every fiber in my body tense as heck,” she admitted. “God, I think I understand how Sylvain feels about his current arrangement a little bit better now. Being all antsy and under high pressure when you’re at your mother-in-law’s place? Having no way of unsubscribing to that torment because, well, for Robin’s sake? And then adding in the arrival of a blight known as ‘Sylvain’s Mother’... Oh my God, I’m quaking.”

Mark promised her what she requested before quickly going downstairs.

Like most recent nights, a relentless storm had made landfall, punctuated by streaks of lightning and thunder. Despite the weather, Shelly had not come to fetch Arianne to sleep with her.