The cake war finally ended.
The private room was a disaster. Everyone was covered in frosting.
Once the noise died down, Evelyn and Noah crawled out from under the table.
“You two hid under there together?” Zoe grinned, slinging an arm around Noah’s shoulder. “Doing something secret?”
“We were dodging your cake fight!” Noah shot back, half-joking. He glanced around the room. “The boss is definitely putting you on the blacklist.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.” Zoe winked.
“You two are so in sync!” Charlotte laughed. “Hiding under the table like that.”
“Our clothes are ruined,” Evelyn said seriously. “Our parents will yell at us when we get home.”
Everyone froze for a second. Then they pointed at Evelyn and burst out laughing.
Later, to avoid getting blacklisted, they left in small groups.
Evelyn, Charlotte, and Noah stayed behind to clean up.
Charlotte looked around nervously. “Are we really going to get blacklisted?”
“If I were the boss, I’d definitely ban you,” Evelyn said bluntly. “Forget how hard it is to clean up. You shouldn’t waste food like that.”
“Oh, come on!” Charlotte laughed.
Just then, Evelyn’s phone rang.
“Sorry, I have to take this!” Evelyn said.
She stepped aside to answer.
“So mysterious about a phone call?” Charlotte teased.
Noah just smiled.
Evelyn came back a moment later. “We’re almost done. My ride is here.”
“Almost done? Is your sister or your dad picking you up? How close are they?”
“About fifteen minutes,” Evelyn said vaguely.
“Let’s head out too,” Charlotte said, standing up.
The three of them left the private room. Charlotte and Evelyn walked in front. Noah followed behind.
Charlotte leaned in and whispered to Evelyn, “Don’t you think Noah seems different today?”
“Different how?” Evelyn asked.
“You’re so clueless. Didn’t you think it was weird when he said that during the game?”
“No. What else was he supposed to say?” Evelyn replied.
Noah rolled his eyes behind them.
He couldn’t tell if Evelyn was pretending not to know or if she was really that dense.
Everyone knew Noah liked Evelyn. And everyone knew Evelyn wasn’t as indifferent to him as she acted. But those two just kept dancing around each other.
It drove everyone crazy.
The emperor wasn’t worried, but the eunuchs were dying of anxiety.
When they reached the lobby, Charlotte turned to Noah. “Noah, how are you getting home?”
“I’ll drop you off first,” Noah offered.
“Drop me off? I don’t need that. I’ve had a lot to drink, but I’m not drunk. Why don’t you take Evelyn home?” Charlotte waved him off with a smile.
“Don’t bother with me. I have someone picking me up,” Evelyn said quickly.
“Evelyn, are you sure you’ll be okay alone?” Noah asked.
“I’m fine,” Evelyn said, shaking her head with a smile. “You take Charlotte home.”
“Alright. I’ll take Charlotte first. Be careful.”
“Okay. Drive safe with Charlotte. Call me when you get home,” Evelyn said.
“I will.” Charlotte felt a flicker of confusion but didn’t say anything. She waved goodbye to Evelyn and walked out of the lobby with Noah.
Evelyn sat down on the sofa in the waiting area, waiting for Alexander.
Once they were outside, Charlotte turned to Noah. “Why didn’t you take Evelyn home?”
“She has someone picking her up,” Noah said flatly.
“So what? You could still take her. Tell her to call her family and tell them not to come,” Charlotte insisted.
“Evelyn doesn’t want me to take her,” Noah said quietly.
His voice was calm, as if his heart held no ripples at all.
“I really don’t get you two. Didn’t you come back today just to celebrate Evelyn’s birthday? So why don’t you just tell her how you feel? All this brother-sister stuff is so boring!”
“Charlotte, do you know about Evelyn?” Noah asked.
“Know what?” Charlotte frowned.
“Nothing,” Noah said, looking at her.
“Don’t start something and not finish it,” Charlotte protested. “I hate it when people do that.”
“Let’s sit here for a bit,” Noah said, sitting down on the edge of a flower bed.
Charlotte looked at him, confused, but sat down beside him.
She felt completely lost when it came to Noah and Evelyn now.
It was like they were both changing, and she was stuck in place, unable to keep up.
“Noah, are you hiding something from Evelyn?”
“No,” Noah said calmly.
“So you mean Evelyn is hiding something from me?” Charlotte stood up, suddenly alert, staring at him.
Noah looked up at her. Her gaze made him uncomfortable. “Charlotte, there are some things that might not be convenient for you to know. It’s not that we’re deliberately hiding them from you,” he had to say.
“What kind of things?” Charlotte demanded, her eyes fixed on him.
Just then, Noah reached out and gently pulled her back down to sit. A car pulled into the hotel’s porte-cochere.
The doorman opened the door. A man in the back seat got out, buttoned his suit jacket, and walked into the hotel lobby.
“See that man?” Noah asked.
“I know him. Alexander Sterling, CEO of Sterling Group. He’s a good friend of my cousin’s,” Charlotte answered, puzzled.
“You know he’s connected to Evelyn, right?” Noah replied.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s Evelyn’s husband.”
“What!” Charlotte’s eyes went wide. She stared at Noah in disbelief, sure she had misheard.
“Evelyn is married. Her husband is Alexander Sterling, the CEO of Sterling Group.”
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte shot back immediately. “Evelyn couldn’t get married without telling me. We promised each other that whoever got married first, the other would be their maid of honor!”
“Evelyn really is married. The wedding was at the end of last year,” Noah said calmly, staring at the distant traffic.
“Then why didn’t Evelyn tell me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she has her reasons. Actually, none of our classmates were told,” Noah said slowly.
“What reason could she have for marrying Alexander Sterling?” Charlotte retorted. “And how do you know all this?”
“I didn’t know until I saw their wedding photos. The photographer they hired happened to be the older brother of one of my classmates. He’s a very talented photographer. One day, my classmate took me to see his brother’s portfolio. One of the sets was their wedding photos,” Noah explained.
“Maybe… maybe it just looks like her,” Charlotte stammered.
“Would you mistake Evelyn?”