Rita took her promise seriously and beamed with joy. “Then, it’s settled. I’ll see you next time. We’ll be heading off now. Goodbye!”

Tessa smiled and waved at them. “Bye.”

Tessa only turned to her best friend, Naomi, after Lester and his family had left.

She crossed her arms and scrutinized Naomi. “Alright, spill it. What’s going on between you two?”

Naomi gulped nervously, her cheeks still flaming red as she bit her lower lip. “Tess, I…”

“Cat got your tongue, huh?” Tessa jerked her head to the side and glared at Quentin sharply. “Quentin, care to enlighten me?”

Quentin scratched his nose awkwardly. “Tess, don’t look at me like that. That look of yours is terrifying.”

Tessa ignored him and said, “This isn’t a good place for us to talk. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Quentin gave her a sheepish smile. “Naomi and I were planning to have dinner together here. We’ve booked a private room. Why don’t we go there instead?”

“Fine.” Tessa nodded.

So, Tessa followed Naomi and Quentin back into the elevator. She had no idea what she was feeling at the moment. It was all a mess.

She had known Quentin for years. Frankly, she’d always treated him as though he was her brother.

Quentin’s father had later married Naomi’s mother. As a result, Naomi became his stepsister.

Quentin had initially disliked Naomi. Eventually, their relationship evolved to him taking Naomi everywhere he went. Still, Tessa had assumed that they merely had a close sibling bond.

So, she’d never imagined that they would be romantically involved.

They eventually arrived at the private room.

Tessa couldn’t help but frown at the sight that greeted her. It was painfully obvious that this private room was meant for couples.

The decor was beautiful and tasteful.

The staff had placed a vase of roses on the table and scattered rose petals across it. There was a flickering candle placed right in the middle, too. The atmosphere in the room was as romantic as it could get.

Tessa let out a sigh, plopped herself unceremoniously on a chair, and began, “When did this start?”

Personally, she thought her less-than-stellar attitude was warranted.

Naomi was closer to her than her own sister was.

Plus, she viewed Quentin as her brother. Therefore, she never once imagined he would date her best friend! The very same best friend who was also his sister, no less.

Tessa’s emotions were in utter turmoil.

She felt as if someone had pulled the rug from under her feet after stealing her prized possession.

Sure, Quentin was handsome, hailed

from a good family, and wasn’t like those good-for-nothing scions.

..still,

it was weird. Their entire relationship was weird from start to finish.

Naomi couldn’t meet Tessa’s eyes. Her gaze flitted around uneasily before dropping to look at the ground. She muttered, “It’s… It was pretty recent.”

Tessa pressed, “How recent are we talking?”

Naomi chewed on her lower lip before continuing, “It started that time at the bar. You know when I said I wanted to call for a couple of strippers for you to fool around with? Quentin got jealous. When we got home, he…”

Tessa felt her blood pressure rising the longer she listened to the tale.

Her eyes instantly shot daggers at Quentin. “Am I right in assuming that you forced yourself on her? Did you take advantage of her?”

Quentin scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Well, I suppose you could say that. Still, Naomi has feelings for me! It was definitely consensual!”

Tessa turned her gaze back to Naomi. “Is that right?”

“Yes,” Naomi answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Tessa rubbed her temples as she tried to stave off her headache. “How did this happen? Aren’t you afraid of what your parents will think?”

Quentin looked at her solemnly. “They have no idea about our relationship. I’ll take responsibility if things blow up.”

Tessa snapped at him, “You’ll take responsibility? How? Do you have any idea how vicious rumors can get? How are you supposed to. when

shoulder any responsibility net

that happens? Do you know what

they’ll say when they find out? They’ll say that Naomi was shameless enough to seduce her own brother!”

Tessa couldn’t continue talking about the potential disaster that awaited them.

They all knew that the things people in their circle would say behind closed doors would only be far worse than what she’d just articulated.

She couldn’t bear the thought of her best friend ever falling into such a situation.

Quentin lowered his gaze as a flash of hurt flickered in his eyes. “I know. I’ll find the time to talk to our parents about this.”

“Quentin, didn’t we agree not to tell our parents about this?” Naomi blurted as she looked at him in disbelief.