"I will drive you home. Call me when you are done." From: Zach

Sienna reread Zachary’s text message again and again. Her eyes lingered on the short sentence as though the words might suddenly disappear. But, even after reading it several times, she still found it difficult to believe he had actually sent it.

Her fingers tightened slightly around her phone.

’Oh my God... he really wants to drive me home?’ she screamed internally, excitement bursting through her chest so suddenly that she had to force herself to stay seated and act normal.

But almost immediately, another thought followed.

’Wouldn’t I trouble him?’

Hurriedly, she typed a reply.

"Wait! Are you nearby?"

The message was sent before she could overthink it further.

However, as usual, Zachary didn’t reply immediately.

Sienna tried to act calm after that, but it was impossible.

While Ava, Mia, and Riley continued eating and arguing over the last dessert on the table, her attention kept drifting back to her phone every few seconds.

Riley noticed first.

"Sienna," he said casually while pouring himself another drink, "if you stare at your phone any harder, it might fall in love with you."

Mia immediately laughed. "I was thinking the same thing," she said. "You’ve checked your phone like every five seconds in the last five minutes."

Ava narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "...Wait," she said slowly. "Are you texting your boyfriend?"

Sienna nearly choked on her water. "No," she answered.

The three of them stared at her.

Then Riley leaned back against his seat with an amused smile. "That sounded very guilty."

"Yeah, she really does," Mia agreed immediately.

Sienna tried to maintain a calm expression despite the growing heat on her face. "You guys are imagining things."

"Oh?" Riley raised a brow. "Then hand me your phone."

"No," Sienna answered hurriedly while holding her phone tightly.

"See?" Mia pointed dramatically. "He is suspicious...!"

Ava laughed softly. "Sienna, I’ve never seen you this nervous."

"I’m not nervous," Sienna denied, though her tone denied her denial.

Riley chuckled.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, "this is exactly how people act before revealing they secretly have a boyfriend."

"I do not have a boyfriend."

"Yet," Mia added.

Sienna glanced at Mia in disbelief. She sighed deeply, then grabbed a slice of fries from the plate in front of her and tossed it lightly toward Riley.

"Gosh! You guys are so annoying."

Riley caught the fry effortlessly and ate it.

"Thank you."

Sienna stared at him in disbelief.

"You’re unbelievable."

"And handsome," he corrected calmly.

"That part is debatable," Ava muttered.

Before Riley could defend himself, Sienna’s phone vibrated in her hand.

Her heart instantly jumped. She lowered her gaze so quickly that the others immediately noticed.

"Oh, oh!" Mia dragged out suspiciously. "Someone replied." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Sienna ignored her and opened the message.

"Yes, I just arrived in the parking lot. Are you done?"

For a brief moment, everything around her seemed to fade. A smile slowly bloomed on her lips before she could stop it, warmth spreading quietly through her chest.

Sienna looked at her watch and blinked in surprise when she saw it was nearly ten.

"When did it get this late...?" she murmured softly.

Ava sighed. "Sienna, I’m sorry," she said apologetically. "I can’t drive you home tonight."

"No need to feel bad," Sienna replied quickly. "I know you already moved into your fiancé’s apartment—" The moment the words left her mouth, she froze, realizing she had revealed Ava’s secret.

Riley and Mia were staring at Ava with identical expressions of shock.

Ava closed her eyes briefly. Then she saw Sienna in the eyes. "...Girl, you weren’t supposed to say that yet."

Sienna wanted to disappear immediately. "I’m sorry, Ava..."

Mia gasped dramatically and grabbed Ava’s arm. "Oh my god, Ava... You really moved in together?!"

Riley looked equally betrayed.

"And you didn’t tell us?" he asked, placing a hand over his chest as though emotionally wounded.

Ava sighed deeply. "I was going to tell you eventually."

"Eventually?" Mia repeated playfully. "When? After the wedding? After the second child was born?"

Riley nodded seriously. "She was probably planning to introduce us directly to the baby."

Ava grabbed a cushion and threw it at him.

Sienna quietly stood up, gently grabbing her bag.

A relieved smile flashed across her lips when she saw that Riley and Mia were focused on Ava instead.

This was her chance to escape from this place.

"Guys," Sienna said casually while standing up, "I’ll head home now."

Immediately, all three turned toward her.

"Sienna," Riley called suspiciously, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Why are you suddenly in such a hurry?"

"Yeah," Mia added. "Can you stay? We’re still interrogating Ava."

Riley stood halfway from his seat. "Wait a few minutes," he said. "I’ll drop you home."

Sienna shook her head quickly. "No need. I already called a taxi."

"Already?" Mia repeated skeptically.

"Hmm." She nodded calmly. "I have something to do before going home."

The three of them looked at her silently, but their eyes betrayed their suspicion.

"Really?" they asked almost at the same time.

Sienna smiled awkwardly and nodded again, trying her best to appear believable. "Yes. Really."

No one looked convinced.

Especially Riley. His eyes narrowed slightly as though he could already tell she was hiding something big. Still, before he could question her further, Sienna immediately changed the subject.

"Riley," Sienna said quickly, "call me once you return from your overseas ventures, okay?"

That distracted him just enough. He sighed heavily. "Look at this," he complained. "I’m leaving the country, and my friend abandons me for mysterious activities."

"Riley, you’re drunk," Ava said.

"Drunk? Nonsense! I only had one bottle of wine, how could I be drunk already?"

Sienna tries to smile despite her nervousness.

"Goodnight," she said quickly before they could stop her again.

Then she walked toward the door, much faster than usual.

As soon as the VIP room door shut behind her, she exhaled slowly, her heart pounding.

And somehow, she couldn’t stop smiling.