The outdoor spring was the largest hot spring in the resort and had the best view. From there, one could see fireworks bursting in the sky and towering mountains in the distance.

Ariel quickly sensed something was off.

She was wearing a swimsuit underneath. If she took off the bathrobe, it might be a bit inappropriate with Perry around.

So she simply sat on a chair at the edge, watching to see which side Perry would choose.

Perry hadn’t guessed what was on her mind. A staff member had already brought over a beautifully arranged fruit platter and drinks.

As he glanced over, he caught sight of Ariel’s long legs under the bathrobe.

Her posture was perfect. As she sat with her legs naturally crossed, the long lines of her legs looked even more striking.

Perry abruptly looked away and cleared his throat before stepping into the water. Turning his back to Ariel, he avoided looking again.

He pulled out his phone and started replying to a few holiday greetings on WhatsApp.

Ariel didn’t notice Perry’s reaction.

She also received holiday greetings from Chad, Janice, and the Faye Technologies team she’d recently been getting along with.

Ariel replied sincerely to every one of the messages.

Meanwhile, Perry had just finished replying when a notification popped up about Freya’s new Instagram post. Out of habit, he tapped on it.

Her caption was simple. “Happy holidays! I’m still wishing for the same thing. When is my brother going to bring home a sweet wife?”

Perry couldn’t help but chuckle.

He swiped through the photos and landed on the last one–a shot of him and Ariel from behind, both in bathrobes.

His expression darkened. He sat up straighter, fingers tightening around his phone.

He stared at the photo for a few seconds, then quickly opened Freya’s chat.

“Delete the last photo from your Instagram post. People will misunderstand. Ariel might be uncomfortable too.”

Freya sensed his seriousness and replied with disappointment, “Fine…”

Just as Perry sent that message, Ariel also stumbled upon Freya’s post.

She was a little surprised. But since her face wasn’t visible, it wasn’t a big deal.

Perry had already gotten out of the hot spring and walked over in his robe. Noticing Ariel looking at the photo too, he said, “Sorry, Freya didn’t mean any harm.”

Ariel wasn’t about to reprimand Freya. She shook her head. “It’s fine.”

Seeing no trace of anger on her face, Perry finally relaxed a little. He sat down on the chair next to her. “I already told Freya to delete the photo. Don’t worry about it.”

He figured that even if Ariel didn’t say anything, she’d probably be bothered. She still cared about Jayson and wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

“Okay.”

Ariel didn’t look up. She stayed focused on replying to messages.

Perry glanced at her but said nothing else.

Just as he was about to stand up, his phone suddenly buzzed several times in a row.

He looked down. It was their private friend group chat.

Matt had taken the lead, firing off several messages in a row.

“Who is this woman?

“Perry, are you dating someone behind our backs?

“I knew I heard a woman’s voice on the phone just now! What are you hiding from us?

“Freya just deleted the photo, but I definitely saw it!”

Nancy wrote. “Is it true?”

Jayson hadn’t said anything, but he’d definitely seen it.

Frowning, Perry looked up instinctively at Ariel.

Ariel had a sharp sense for stares. She looked over too. The indoor lighting was dim, making the glow from Perry’s phone screen especially eye–catching. She couldn’t help but catch a glimpse.

It was a group chat.

She couldn’t make out most of the content, but she clearly saw the group chat name–The Great 4. It was obviously a group chat with four members