Noticing subtle footsteps behind her, Angela turned around and found her brother, Oliver, by the door. She let out a sigh as she headed inside the mansion and gave her brother a cold stare. "You set me up," she scolded, her shoulder brushing his as she walked past him.

"I didn't know Dad did that. I swear," Oliver promised, following his sister up the stairs. "I was just told that dinner was canceled. I ended up eating the leftover cold sandwich from lunch today. I only knew where you were when I arrived here earlier."

She rolled her eyes, still feeling salty about the whole thing, so she refused to say anything and ignored her brother. As she stepped inside her room, Angela immediately removed her shoes and massaged the balls of her feet while her brother leaned against the door frame in front of her.

Seeing as she was ignoring him, he tried to make small talk. "How was your date?"

"It was okay." She sighed, glancing at her phone before tossing it on her bed. It had only been a minute since she checked and she was still upset. 'You've got to stop checking,' she told herself. Today was August 30, his birthday—maybe he's out partying with his family and friends, maybe even with women. Who knows? It's not like they were together anyway—she also went on a date just now, so Gael could do whatever he wanted. She huffed, clearly feeling the opposite of what she thought.

"I didn't see who your date was. Who was it?"

"Vincent Stone," she casually answered. Walking towards her dresser, she removed her earrings before picking up a tub of cleansing balm. She rubbed the product in the palms of her hand, and then massaged it onto her face to remove her makeup.

A look of surprise painted Oliver's face when he heard her. "Wow… Dad really went all out on the first try, huh?"

"Do you know him?" Angela went inside her bathroom, rinsed her face after emulsifying, and then washed her face with a mild cleanser for the second cleanse. Skincare was essential for her, so as much as she could, she would follow her regimen.

"Let's just say, he's Samantha Kim of California—well, he's one of Samantha's competitors. He has several big-name clients in several states but none in Esmea yet. It's why he came here and stayed for a while."

Oliver kept talking about Vincent while she decided whether she would take a quick shower or not as she leaned against the counter and removed her contact lenses. Apparently, he had only met Vincent once and didn't really know the guy personally.

Having had enough, Angela turned to face her brother and told him, "I'm tired, Oli. I want to wash up and go to sleep now. I'm leaving early tomorrow."

"Where are you going?"

"I want to go back to my apartment." She's mad at her father for the setup. Instead of staying in the mansion for a couple more days like she initially planned, she would leave early.

"I see. I can give you a ride if you want, but I'm leaving early as I have a meeting at eight."

"You're still staying here?" she asked. Her brother also has an apartment in the city proper.

"I think I'll stay here for a few more days. Dad keeps calling me a lot more lately… If I go home, Dad just calls me in the middle of the night, asking about random stuff. Do you think he's getting old?" Oliver sighed. "Anyway, maybe he'd stop doing that if I'm nearby…"

Angela stared at him for a bit, thinking if she should do the same, but she was already dead set with her decision. "Suit yourself. Close the door on your way out, please," she requested before closing the bathroom door on his face and stripping out of her dress, and then she heard the door to her bedroom close soon after.

Finally ready for bed, she put on her wireless earphones and played a soothing podcast to help her fall asleep, then slipped on a sleep mask after turning off her bedside lamp. A lot of things ran through her head, but because she was so tired from the lack of sleep and moving about the whole day, Angela fell asleep a few minutes later.

…

August 31—Friday

~I drive the streets when you told me your secrets.

We made mistakes, but we both didn't mean it.~

The sound of Angela's alarm woke her up at six in the morning. Her hand waved at the nightstand, patting for her phone and turning off the alarm. She groaned as she removed her mask and earphones.

The first thing she did was check her phone, and her face darkened when she realized that apart from some work emails and texts from Nina, it was still zero calls or texts from Gael.

Her eyes reddened, and she squeezed them shut while breathing in and out to compose herself. 'I told you. Stop expecting!' she scolded herself in her thoughts.

Swinging her feet off the bed, she walked over to the bathroom sink and splashed her face with cold water. Angela stared at herself in the mirror and her stare was sharp when she looked at her reflection. "We don't need men like him anyway. Now, go put on your big girl pants and stop wasting your time thinking about him."

"Anj?" Oliver appeared by the door. "You talking to someone?"

"No, just… giving myself a pep talk," she answered as she walked out of the bathroom and saw her brother already dressed up in a tailored suit and fixing his tie.

"Well, tell yourself to hurry up. You need to finish packing and be out by seven. I'm leaving with or without you."

Oliver left to give her time to prepare, and so she quickly moved about, and she was done in thirty minutes.

Angela came down the stairs and joined her father and her brother for breakfast. Mr. Su asked her about last night's dinner with Vincent Stone, and she answered without sass. At this point, she had given up fighting about what she didn't want to do. So when her father told her that he had arranged for another date tonight, all she could do was say 'Okay'.

Mr. Su and Oliver exchanged looks, wondering why she was being cooperative, unlike usual. But since his daughter no longer objected, he smiled triumphantly as if he just won a long battle.

On the other hand, Oliver stared at his sister—a part of him could sense that something was going on with her, but he didn't bother asking.

Letting out a small, suppressed sigh, Angela tried her best not to sneak a peek of her phone despite the constant itch that she felt in her hands.