"What are you doing here?"


    "Surprise!" ire said, opening her arms for a hug.


    "Of course it''s a surprise."


    Rosalind brought out a fruit tter and asked Noreen, "Is the wedding reception over already?"


    "No, I left early." Noreen opened her mouth, waiting to be fed.


    Rosalind fed her a strawberry, her favorite.


    ire opened her mouth too.


    Rosalind fed her one as well.


    With her cheeks stuffed, ire''s words were muffled. "Why''d you leave early? Did someone piss you off?"


    Noreen was about to deny it, but then decided there was no need.


    She never kept secrets from ire.


    She told her about the unpleasant incident at the wedding reception.


    ire immediately started cursing. "Another scheming snake? Does Dn have


    some kind of trash ma? First that bitch Bianca, and now this two-faced girl. How does he put up with it?"


    Noreen had no answer for that.


    Right now, she was more curious about why ire had suddenly shown up in Rivercrest City.


    Justst night, she had messaged saying she was filming ate-night scene.


    "I rushed through myte-night scenes so I could get a few days off to see you. I actually wanted toe a while ago, but the production team wouldn''t let me go."


    "Wait, were you worried I''d be upset going to the wedding today, so you came all this way just for me?"


    ire was silent.


    Noreen had figured it out.


    "I think you''re overthinking it," Noreen said. "Why would I be upset?"


    She and Dn had never even started anything. Even if they had, she could let it go.


    He was just a passerby in her life.


    That night, ire and Noreen shared a bed. In the first hour, they bad-mouthed about eight hundred people.


    ire also found out about Padgett Novak.


    She thought it was a shame, as she had always been rooting for Director Novak.


    But Noreen didn''t see it that way. "What''s there to be sorry about? I don''t have feelings for him right now epting him would be unfair to his kindness. If bike him in the future, I can just win him back, right?"  s?novels


    These days, she wasn''t afraid of missing out.


    Time has a way of filtering out the people who aren''t right for you.


    Perhaps the ones who stand the test of time are the ones who are truly meant to be.


    ire listened and tutted. "Noreen,


    you''re bing a saint! You''re too moral to fall in love. You need to fall for every guy you see, y the yer and leave men with no game left to y!"


    "I''ve just seen through men as a species."


    There''s no rule that a woman must have a man or a rtionship to be considered sessful.


    "That''s Men are boring," ire


    agregaling closer to Noreen Women are much restin


    They''re soft and smell niceNOS


    hug.


    "Hold on. Have you been sleeping with a man?" Noreen asked.


    How else would she be able to make aparison like that?


    II


    ire immediately pretended to be asleep. "So sleepy. I''m going to bed, honey. Goodnight."


    Noreen was speechless.


    But ire really was exhausted.


    A week ofte-night shoots had given her dark circles under her eyes.


    And on her rare day off, she had flown to Rivercrest City to be with her.


    "Go to sleep," Noreen said, tucking her in.


    Soon, ire''s breathing became soft and regr, and the world fell silent.


    Noreen closed her eyes, just about to drift off, when the phone next to her buzzed.


    Thinking it was hers, she picked it up.


    A man''s voice came through the line. "ire, where are you?"


    Noreen was suddenly wide awake.


    "Who is this?"


    The person on the other end paused, realizing it wasn''t ire''s voice.


    After a moment, he said, "I''m ire''s husband."