"Aren't you Cynric's bodyguard!?" Aria yells excitedly. My eyes almost pop out of my skull! What is Cynric doing here!? All color in my face drains as suddenly, the ordeal between us sparks up again. Since the last two weeks, Cynric and I have been engaging in very sensual acts. I'm bound to perform according to his rules. Maybe that is why he always busts under three minutes, every time.

A shudder runs down my spine as I pull Aria away from the hunk! If the bodyguard is close by, he must be here somewhere as well!

"Hey! What are you-" I tug on her shirt as she stumbles backwards. Cutting our awkwardness, I quickly say,

"I need to find something in there!" Mentioning a shop commodity a little far away from us. I pull her into the wedge between two buildings. Aria is confused. Moreover, annoyance is spread across her features as I calm myself down to explain.

"We...shouldn't ruin Cynric's vacation. Remember? It's a family thingy for us Frostbites, too. Let's not add more people." I say to Aria. She folds her arms over her chest. Her aura is shifting between annoyance for me and scepticism.

"I understand that. But what you did was really weird, Amy. I could've at least said 'hi' to my neighbor! And he's your friend too, right?" Aria points out. But I shake my head.

"It's not a big deal. I know that he's leaving by tonight and I...I just don't want to face him, okay?" I try to lie but fail miserably. Hence, the truth comes out.

"Is something going on between you two?" Aria rests her hand on my shoulder to ask. Her eyes show genuine concern for my 'friendship' with Cynric. Out of the blue, I break into cold sweat.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Within a few seconds, beads of sweat form over my forehead.

"Oh, haha! It must be because we ran over here. I'm one to sweat very easily." I lie, hiding the shudder under my thick clothes.

"You're acting really weird today, Amy. Should we go back to the hotel? I'm fine with it." Aria is such a sweetheart. I'm forced to agree with her because I don't want to bump into Cynric even accidentally.

We head back to our hotel, making our way to our room. I bump into Nick in the hallway as he asks us, "Any idea where's the buffet for this hotel?" He asks, holding his phone and wallet in his hands. I flash him a weird look, replying,

"No idea."

"You're useless as ever, Amy. Well, you two can join me there if you want to. I heard they're serving cheese for free!" Nick invites us. I roll my eyes and look at Aria if she'd agree.

"Sure! Why not!?"
Haa...what else could I expect? Aria would never say no to an invitation. She's too pure-hearted to turn down anyone's insistence.

We head down to the lavish spread of dishes. Nick takes it on his account to pay our bill as we enter after. "Oh gosh, it smells heavenly in here."

I say as the smell of warm cheese infiltrates my lungs. If there's any better smell than the smell of sex, then it'll be cheese.

"Oh? Personalized cheese wheel for each of the guests? No wonder the bill skyrocketed like that." I stand by Nick's side and say. He hums to agree. The waiter assigns a seat for us and takes our orders.

"Half dozen par-boiled oysters and lime on the side, caviar sprinkle on the sushi, please," I say as I give out my special main course to the waiter. He seems to judge me as I ask for oysters, caviar and sushi - all said to be aphrodisiac.

Nick and Aria are eyeing me too! They clear their throats and give out their orders before we head to the buffet.

"Half a pound of steak and soft, creamy mashed potatoes. Don't overdo it with spices. Thank you." The man orders. He looks at me and raises his eyebrow mockingly. I grunt under my breath.

"Um...a small portion of fries?" Aria asks, unaware of what she can order from the huge menu!

"Alright. Please enjoy your buffet while we make the orders and get it to the table." The waiter chirps gently and walks away. We then leave our mufflers and other stuff at the table, to pick out expensive dishes to fill out plates!

"Whoa...that's a huge fill, Amy. I didn't know you could eat that much! And you have more coming!" Aria comments, impressed over my size of one sitting!

"Thank you! But why aren't you eating much!? It's an all-you-can-eat buffet, babe!" I call her out. Suddenly, pink dusts over her cheeks as she shyly replies, "I'm a very picky eater. And my mom's a great cook. So..."

"Ah. Haha! That's so cute, Aria!" I say out loud. Out of the blue, Nick gulps his bite of food and points his fork towards her,

"I never realized I don't know your last name." He asks, his eyes narrow and piercing. At this moment, both Aria and I are too engrossed in the cheesy dishes as she blurts out. I couldn't have stopped her either...

"Aria Chen." She says.

At once, Nick drops his fork to his plate. Food splatters around his plate as I almost yell at him. That's when I realised what had just happened.

'Oh....shit.'

I turn to face Nick, ever so slowly. I've never felt my heart race like this ever before. The cold sweat comes back again to coat me with fear.

"You...knew?" He asks.
Should I tell him the truth? That Aria Chen is Gina Chen's daughter? I understand where his reaction is coming from. I was in his place, a few weeks ago too. But his perspective is entirely different to mine. That's because...he's still single and an easy target.

I can see it's going down south from here! I should find a way to console Nick, somehow! I need him to understand that Aria bears no ill will towards our family!