Even if Aria and Owen were to get married someday, it seemed the Saxons would have no ce in her life.


    Gloria looked at her and sighed again. “That girl… oh well. She’ll never acknowledge us as family. Let’s just pretend the baby mix-up never happened. Having Silvia is enough.”


    “Still…” Gloria hesitated, recalling the recent events at the hospital, then asked, “Does Caleb have any idea where Aria was during those missing ten years?”


    Zoe shook her head. “No leads at all-not a single trace. She was most likely overseas.”


    Gloria frowned. “She must have suffered terribly.”


    Aria was abducted at ten.


    Neither of them dared to dwell on the thought any further.


    **


    On ck Friday, to do something different, Johnny didn’t make his single employees work overtime.


    Someone wailed, “Ohe on, Mr. Oconnor, you’re such a double standard!”


    A girlined, “Yeah! By the time we get off work, all the restaurants will be full. I still need to have dinner with my boyfriend!”


    After sending out the notice, Johnny asked his assistant Tilda Enoch to fetch thetest mock-ups from the advertising department.


    When the team couldn’t decide between the two versions they’d created, Johnny went down personally.


    As soon as he arrived, the employees with significant others started protesting.


    Johnny snorted, “Well, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”


    An employee protested, “Then you can’t leave either, Mr. Oconnor! You have to dy your departure by an hour.”


    Johnny put a hand on his hip and replied cheerfully, “I’m single, so I get to leave early.”


    The employee swept his eyes over the youngdies and teased, “You all heard that, right? Mr. Oconnor is single!”


    Tilda pressed her lips together, stole a cautious nce at Johnny, then blushed and lowered her head.


    Johnny rolled his eyes at the employee. “Quit joking around. Let me see the mock-ups.”


    A girl said, “Alright, Mr. Oconnor. Which one do you want to see first?”


    As Johnny lowered his head to look over the designs, the office fell silent.


    “Let’s go with this one,” Johnny said, pointing to the lower left corner. “I like the way this element was added.”


    The employee who heckled chuckled and looked at Silvia. “That was Silvia’s idea,” he said.


    Johnny nced at her with an approving look. “Good work.”


    Silvia felt her cheeks flush. “It was a team effort.”


    ?????


    Team One looked a bit deted, though they kept quiet.


    Tilda gave them a pep talk. “We’ll nail it next time!”


    Johnny waved his hand. “All right, single folks-you’re dismissed!”


    He was about to leave when he got a call from Aria.


    Aria said, “I’ming by to check on the project. I’m almost there.”


    Johnny sighed. “I was literally about to clock out.”


    Aria was puzzled. “Isn’t there still an hour left?”


    “Well, you know, I told the guys the single ones could leave early today, so I’m included. Not everyone is in a rtionship like you,” Johnny grumbled. “Hurry up. I’ll only wait ten minutes.”


    Aria said, “Just leave someone to show me around, then.”


    “I’ll wait for you in the advertising department.” With that, Johnny hung up.


    Someone asked, “Mr. Oconnor, aren’t you leaving?”


    Johnny replied, “The big boss ising. I’ll stick around for a bit.”


    Silvia paused mid-way through packing her things and sat back down.


    “Aren’t you leaving?” her colleague asked.


    Sivia said, “I’ll leaveter.”


    Everyone at the Stars Group knew about the strained rtionship between Aria and Silvia. They expected Silvia to make a quick exit, but to their surprise, she stayed put.


    Strangely enough, not a single person in the advertising department left-the entire team remained behind.


    When Aria arrived, Johnny stood with his chin lifted in a smug, proud manner.


    Just then, someone walked right past him.