Since neither I, Cody, nor Sasha—the chosen ones from the Advertising Department—had brought a car to the office, Lukas generously borrowed us his red Volvo to drive to River Lynch's office."Where is your car anyway?" Cody, who was driving, asked."It's being repaired," I lied, silently signaling Cody not to talk about it further because there was someone else who could hear.Shasa sat in the back seat. She was focused on studying Cody's notes while opening her tablet. She had represented the advertising division twice at the Sèduisant brand anniversary project team meeting. Cody chose the right person. Or maybe it wasn't Cody who chose her? Either she volunteered or the Head of the Advertising Department assigned her.Cody nodded at my perfunctory answer, though even from the side of his face I could tell he was smiling meaningfully. "What's broken?" he asked again, testing. God, I wanted to crack his head!"I don't really know," I replied irritably, then an idea popped into my head

"So, Richard does know about us?" I asked as I fiddled with the buttons on his pajamas. We were on River's bed, lying down with his big arm under my head."Something like that," he replied simply, his hand playing with my brown hair."You could have just sent me a text message to see you. Why did you have to get Richard to lie?""It's you who doesn't want people to know about us, isn't it?" he retorted calmly. I recalled where I had said to River about people in my office not needing to know about my relationship with River—which at the time referred to an on-agreement relationship. However, even though Cody (only Cody) knew about my relationship with River back then, he still didn't know that our relationship was different now. "It would make more sense to your colleagues if I brought up the work thing.""You have a point...," I muttered, looking at his face which was displaying a smug look, as if to say "of course I have". Although a little annoyed, but I didn't mind it, after all i

"Are you okay if I go now?" I asked Addy, feeling bad. "Hey, it's fine, really, the event will be over soon too." Addy rubbed my arm comfortingly. "You should go. River needs you.” Addy said her last sentence while deliberately glancing at Evan.I sighed, knowing she was right. "Alright, thanks.” As if remembering something, I reached into my bag quickly, took out the car keys and handed them to Addy. "Here, drive my car. I'll text you when I get there." I gave her a quick hug and turned to leave after glancing at Cailin who had not only been silent since earlier, as if she was not part of us, as if she was trying to make herself invisible.I made my way out of the gallery and towards Evan's car, feeling conflicted about our sudden reunion. Wait, I didn't know he had a car. Arrgh.Trying to get out of the awkward situation, I started to ask, "What exactly happened? Is she okay?”"Sharon's condition is stable," Evan replied, his voice tense. "But she needs constant care, and River's

Although I tried to close my eyes, drowsiness did not come to me. River's breathing was also irregular, I'm sure she was also still awake despite not making a sound since a few minutes ago. Since then, we've been silent in the darkness, hugging each other and pretending to each other that everything is fine.As the silence lingered between us, I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. I knew that avoiding the conversation was only delaying the inevitable. I turned my head slightly to look at River, his face illuminated by the dim light coming from the kitchen. His eyes were closed, but I could see the lines on his forehead that I knew were a sign of worry."River..." I began, my voice almost a whisper. "I can't take this anymore, I have to tell you something."River's eyes flicked open, his gaze immediately searching mine. "What is it?" he asked, his voice softer than I'd ever heard it before.I took a deep breath, my chest tightening with each inhale. "The girl I saw with Evan at t

I had no idea how long I had been curled up in the blanket, but my eyes could never feel sleepy. As the night stretched on, the weight of Evan's words lingered heavily in my mind.“No matter how hard you or he tries, you won't be able to replace my mom's space in his heart.”The darkness of the room seemed to press in on me, matching the suffocating feeling in my chest. I couldn't shake the doubt that crept in, poisoning my thoughts about River and our relationship. Was Evan right? Was I just a pawn in some twisted game of emotions?I tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable position as my mind raced with conflicting thoughts. The memory of River's casual proposal haunted me, intertwined with Evan's warning like a tangled web. It felt like I was standing at a crossroad, unsure of which path to take.With a heavy heart and exhausted body, I finally succumbed to sleep, though it offered little solace from the turmoil swirling within me.***As consciousness began to find me again