"Isn''t this guy into Liliana? Why does he keep bothering me?" Amara muttered to herself, staring at the message she wanted to delete. Just as she was about to do it, she hesitated and instead typed back, "I''m still awake. What''s up?"


    No sooner had she sent the message, her phone buzzed with an iing call from Finnian. She looked at the vibrating phone for a moment before answering, keeping silent. Oddly enough, Finnian didn''t speak either. The silence stretched between them, the faint hum of the call the only indication it was connected.


    Amara bit her lip, ready to end the call when Finnian''s voice finally broke through the quiet, "Why are you still up sote?"


    "Not tired. Something on your mind, Mr. Everly?"


    Finnian hesitated, the words "I just miss you" teetering on the edge of his tongue, but he swallowed them back. Standing by his window, he looked out into the still night and said, "Just wanted to remind you to bundle up. It''s getting colder, and you''ll need to wear something warmer during the day."


    The randomness of his words puzzled Amara. She frowned, replied, "I know," and hung up. Clearly, Finnian had no real reason to call. In the middle of the night, it was just a whim, but she had thought he might mention the drama with Elysia and Dorian. If she had known, she wouldn''t have bothered responding.


    Frustrated, she tossed her phone aside and pulled her nket up, trying to sleep.


    The next day, word of the fiasco at Jessica''s birthday party spread like wildfire. It was bad news for the Moon and Hawke families, and not great for the Bishop family either. Sure, it seemed like the Bishops might have forged a connection with the Hawkes, but they had also offended the Moons.


    So, silence fell over all three families. No one came forward to rify anything.


    Dorian and Elysia''s marriage had hit a standstill, plunged into a cold war. They still lived under the same roof but ignored each other, retreated to separate bedrooms, and avoided dining together Life just carried on in this limbo.  s<fn9958> Official source is find~novel</fn9958>


    A few dayster, Amara arranged to meet Elysia for lunch, and they ran into Hogan at the restaurant.


    If Amara had a list of people she couldn''t stand, Hogan would definitely be in the top three. Seeing him now made her day feel unlucky. She quickly pulled Elysia to a table as far from Hogan as possible.


    Hogan noticed Amara too, his eyes fixated on her for an ufortably long time.


    A lot had happened recently. He''d


    seen Amara without her usual mask, and learned about the massive lie Liliana had spun. Since seeing Amara''s face unobscured, Hogan realized his opinion of her had shifted. The woman he once found repulsive now seemed...tolerable.  s


    He pondered this change, wondering if his dislike stemmed from her looks and her unwillingness to relinquish her status as the Everly family''s eldest sister-inw But the more he thought about the more he began to see Amara''s good points-her decent family background, her talents, and perhaps her personality wasn''t as bad as people imed.  s


    Wait, what was he thinking? Hogan shook his head, trying to clear the muddled thoughts.


    During this time, his view of Liliana had also changed. Once he thought her beauty and apparent connection with Finnian made her a suitable sister-inw. But she had lied to Finnian...


    These thoughts had kept Hogan up at night, tossing and turning.


    Lost in his thoughts, Hogan found himself walking over to Amara and Elysia''s table, stopping right beside them, his eyes fixed on Amara.