"Nick! Wait!" I get up from my chair in haste. Aria has her head held down while I try to get Nick to stay and hear her out. What Aria wants is our friendship and nothing else.

"She's Gina Chen's daughter. Our ex-stepmother. You knew all along and still tried to get her on this trip?" Nick has never been this cold to me. Ever! I'm taken aback as I shake my head.

"Like I said, you're assuming. Hear her out first! She's got nothing to do with our will or whatever comes of it." I say. While greed and pride exist abundantly in this world, I believe that Aria has none of them in such amounts to go against us.

I watch Nick tilt his head to the side, "Why are you defending her so badly? What is she to you, Amy?"

"What a thing to ask!" I whisper shout at him, knowing Aria would have heard it but I want to keep our conversation low. There are other guests in the room as well.

"You think I'm acting out now?" I sigh at his words. "Nick, listen to me. She's not a threat to us and her friendship is towards us as humans, not as some money-minters for her. I've seen it up close. And she's Gina Chen's daughter as you pointed out. She's worth millions herself at the moment." I assure Nick in hopes of getting him to calm down. But the irony turns towards me - because inadvertently, he uses the words against me.

"Exactly, Amy! Millions. We are worth billions and more!" He whispers, almost mouthing the words to me. I look back and see Aria looking at us with wide eyes.

Oh no. No, no!

"I'll...I guess I shouldn't have come by." Those words pierce through my heart as I quickly grab her by her wrist.

"I'm leaving." As I leave Nick's side to hold Aria, Nick starts to walk away. What a mess!

"Fucking hell!" Grunting under my breath, I drag Aria back to our room, abandoning our buffet abruptly. The waiter tries to ask for a reason for our hasty leave, but I accidentally glare at him as he steps back.

"Ugh! That asshole!" I grunt louder than before, anger pointed towards Nick. "He's right, however, isn't he? I'm worth way less than all of you. I don't even match by a fraction."

Aria murmurs diffidently, breaking my heart. My annoyance and upset turn into concern for her. She, who is sitting on the edge of the bed, starts crying softly. This is the first time I've ever seen her cry in our three weeks of friendship. Immediately, I fall close to her knees before her and console her.

"Hey, hey! I'm sorry that you had to hear that. You're stronger than this, Aria. You swept me off my feet and made me trust you. You can do that again with them-" I say, but am cut off when Aria speaks up with a heavy heart.

"Do I appear that untrustworthy? That I have to keep proving myself as a good friend to you? You know, this is the exact reason why I didn't want to come along." Between sobs and stutters, she says.

"Oh lord...I can't fix this the way I normally can. But I promise, I promise that they'll see the good friend you are without you having to do anything, Aria. I promise." I assure her and wipe her tears with my sweater paws.

A few moments pass, and she calms down. Claiming to have developed a headache, Aria calls it a night early at eight in the evening. Meanwhile, I'm tugged between Nick and her. Chances are, he must've told Alex, Crystal and Dane about Aria already. Dane would react the most explosive of all the others, followed by Alex naturally.

Well...

"Nick. I know you're in there." I've been knocking for a minute. I understand that he has reasons to be upset at me, since 'I knew'. But he's sulking like a baby and not being an adult.

"What?" He, at once pulls the door open as the gush of cool wind from his room hits me. My hair flows back from my face, and I use all my force to push past him and enter the room.

"Quit it, Amy. I'm not in the mood to talk." He says assertively, almost in an annoyed tone. I sigh, walking closer to hold his chubby face in my hands.

"Nick, baby, listen to me. She's nothing but a friend to us. Haven't you seen how she was so grounded and excited throughout? She seems innocent." I defend Aria.

"Amy, this world is full of excellent actors. You have to have some trust issues to survive in this world filled with snakes." Saying, Nick pulls my hands away from his face.

"That's true, but she's different," I argue again.

"Fine. I agree. But I won't speak to her much. Forget about even becoming friends with her, it won't happen." Nick says and plops onto the bed. With a heavy sigh, I reply,

"Fine with me. As long as you don't tell the others. Not just yet." I make another condition. Disgust and annoyance are floating in his eyes. And I will be quick to dismiss it.

"Not...just...yet..." dragging my words out, I straddle his thick thighs as he sits on the edge of the bed. His hands involuntarily start running down my curves.

"Is this redemption?" He asks, his plump pink bottom lip tugged between his teeth. Through that, he smirks and stares at my lips. How dare he be so hot...?

"No. Consider this a command." Playfully, I reply and palm his growing bulge in my smooth hand. We quickly undress, having promised to spend the night together on the first day of our trip.

"Fuck...your pussy grips me so good, baby girl." His voice comes out muffled; it's almost inaudible to me since I'm indulging in my own pleasure. His legs sprawl open as I ride him. He's hugging me close to his chest, his hands all over me. I swear...I haven't felt this sensual touch in a long while. I hope this closes our deal.