---- That evening, Thalia was FaceTiming with her friends Victoria and Charlotte. ---- Victoria, usually bubbly and talkative, was unusually quiet tonight. "Victoria, what''s wrong? You''re so quiet tonight," Thalia asked. Charlotte had also noticed Victoria''s unusual behavior. "Yeah, is something bothering you?" Victoria pursed her lips and sighed. "Why all the sighing? What happened?" Thalia asked. Victoria''s face drooped as she said glumly, "You know Irene Hildago, right?" Charlotte nodded.


    "The younger Hildago daughter? I ran into her at the mall a few days ago. What about her?" Victoria dropped a bombshell: "She has a thing for Sebastian." "What?" Thalia and Charlotte eximed in unison. [just found out yesterday," Victoria said dejectedly. "She suddenly came to me asking if Sebastian was home and what he''d been up totely. After some questioning, I discovered she''s been secretly in love with him for over a year." ---- Charlotte frowned. "That''s surprising.


    Irene doesn''t seem like the type to pine away in secret. Hasn''t she had several boyfriends already?" Victoria replied, "ording to her, she only dated those guys to make Sebastian jealous." Thalia and Charlotte exchanged nces through the screen. Why did it sound like Sebastian had feelings for Irene? What made her think dating other men would make Sebastian jealous? Victoria must be feeling terrible hearing this.


    Sure enough, Victoria continued, "I confronted Sebastian, asking if he had feelings for Irene. He denied it, but I was still furious. We had a huge fight." "Irene''s trying to use me to get closer to Sebastian. She even gave me a Louis Vuitton bag to bribe me," Victoria scoffed. "As if I can''t afford my own bags. I couldn''t care less about her stupid bribe." Charlotte tried tofort her. "Sebastian probably has no interest in Irene. If he did, they''d be together by now.


    I think Sebastian is serious about you. You two should talk things ---- through-don''t let an outsidere between you." Thalia agreed. "I second what Charlotte said. You know how Sebastian treats you, right? You can feel it every day." Victoria snorted, "Men are all talk. Anyone can spout sweet words. As for treating me well, how do I know if it''s genuine or just an act?


    Look at James-he treats that college girl he''s dating really well too, but he admitted he''s just ying around." Charlotte pressed her lips together. Her brother was indeed a bit of a jerk. He''d been dating that college girl for over six months but never introduced her to any of them-a clear sign he had no intention of integrating her into his social circle. In other words, he wasn''t serious about her. After Victoria''sment, Charlotte didn''t know what to say.


    Thalia stepped in with advice: "Sebastian is different from James, and you''re different from James''s girlfriend. Sebastian has only ever dated you, right? At least as far as I know, Sebastian isn''t the type to y around. Besides, you''re part of our social circle-you''re not just some ordinary college student without a family background. How can you even ----pare the situations?"