Björn and Ava ate breakfast in complete silence. He read his newspaper, took the last bite, and spoke. "How are you feeling?" Björn asked without taking his eyes off her. Ava cleared her throat. "Well, thanks for breakfast. The headache is gone. I have to go to the house to take a bath and get ready for..." She stopped her words. Then she stopped her words. "Of course, if you still..." He didn't finish the sentence when he saw Björn's gesture. "Let's talk about what happened hours ago," Björn said. Ava tensed. He noticed how her cheeks flushed. "First of all..." Björn interrupted her, waving his hand to stop her from saying anything else. "What was the last thing she remembered?" Ava took a sharp intake of breath, held it for a few seconds, and then slyly blew it out between her teeth, remembering almost nothing. Again she cleared her throat and stirred in her chair. "I accompanied my friend to homecoming, but I don't usually go to parties and stuff," she paused briefly. "I don't

Ava came out of her room dressed in her gray executive suit and a white dress shirt, with her hair pulled back in a bun at the bottom of her head. She checked her watch. It was ten minutes to eight in the morning. She went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Alice and the kitchen girl had already left for work. When she finished drinking her glass of water, there was a knock on the door. Ava hurried, thinking that her boss might have sent for her. When she opened the door, the man who had accompanied her earlier appeared, holding a black bag with the "Seasons" hotel logo on it. "It's for you, Miss Gray," the man said. Ava's brow furrowed. "Mr. Hoffmann sent it to you. When you're ready, we can leave." She took the bag and looked inside, pulling out a box. To her surprise, she discovered it was a new cell phone. She looked up, almost refusing to accept it. "I..." Ava started, but the man interrupted her. "When you're ready, we can leave. I'll wait in the buggy," he nodded. Then t

"Another view..." whispered Björn, leaning back in his chair and looking carefully at Ava, who was oblivious to his gaze. "Impressive..." said Ava without looking away, then looked back at her boss. "Is the food here good?" she asked as she felt a little more relaxed. Björn nodded slowly. "Quite good. Years ago, I used to come here all the time. To make a reservation at this place, they take up to six months to give you one. "Oh, that's quite a long time," Ava murmured, surprised by what he was telling her. "Yes," she accepted the menu the waiter handed them. "Good afternoon, I'm Ever, your waiter. Would you like something to drink? An appetizer? "I want three glasses and the best vintage of wine you have. I'm waiting for someone else," Ava didn't know. "Perfect," Björn nodded, and the waiter left. "Are you expecting someone else?" she asked without a filter. "Yes, my guest we're bringing to the hotel. "Oh," then Ava looked at the scenery, lost herself in it for a few more mi

"I'm not going to answer that question," Björn answered sharply, and that didn't surprise Carter. "Fine, have it your way," he got up and poured himself more whiskey from the cabinet, then returned to his seat. There was a long silence in the suite, with only fleeting glances, until finally, Björn decided to break the silence. "I have discovered things that I didn't like at all," he said, rarely opening up about personal matters to anyone, not even Oscar, who was part of his family and the only person he trusted. Carter paid close attention, knowing this was significant. Björn finished his drink in one gulp and left the empty glass on the glass table in the center of the room. "Is it something here at the hotel?" Björn nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" Björn shook his head. "It's better to stay out of it, but it's been bothering me since yesterday. Somehow I have to talk about it, not all of it, but voicing it might help me stop feeling this way," Carter frowned. "It must be

Ava glanced at herself from head to toe in the mirror. With Alice's help, her hair had been perfectly straightened, giving her brown locks a longer and sleeker appearance. "I can't believe how much my appearance has changed," Ava murmured, unable to tear her eyes away from her reflection. Her fingers ran through her newly straightened hair. She was already wearing makeup and only needed to put on her outfit to go to the nightclub in town. "What do you need?" Alice's voice echoed from a distance as she walked towards the living room in her high heels. Upon entering, she noticed her friend. "You look stunning," Ava remarked, taken aback by the dramatic transformation. She had never seen Alice dressed like that before—wearing a short golden sequined dress, her hair also straightened, and elongating her legs with platform heels. "I just need to get dressed, and then I'll be ready." "Come on, it's a two and a half-hour drive to the city," Alice urged. Ava hurriedly put on a black dress—