Ariana massaged her temples and revealed, "To make time for this ball, I stayed awake for two nights straight to finish the project proposal. I haven't had much sleep in the past couple of days."

"What?!" Sonia's eyes widened in surprise and concern.

"Oh no, this won't do. What if you exhaust yourself and collapse? Quickly, go rest now. I'IL look after the little one.”

Feeling utterly worn out, Ariana accepted the offer with a nod. She informed Melon about the change in plans and slowly headed to her room.

The relaxation area was on the third floor of the cruise ship. Upon reaching the third floor, Ariana found herself struggling to recall the room number written on Sonia's invitation card.

Given that they had used Sonia's invitation to board the ship, they shared a room, Sonia was with the invitation, but fortunately, Ariana had the room key card.

Taking out the room key card, Ariana peered at it. Unfortunately, the corridor on the third floor was dimly lit, and the room key card had intricate details with minuscule letters.

Squinting under the dim lighting, Ariana struggled to distinguish the small numbers on the card's surface. She wasn't certain whether it displayed 306 or 309.

Coincidentally, she was passing by Room 306 at that precise moment. Deciding to try, she gently swiped the card on the door's sensor.

The door emitted a faint sound and glided open.

Ariana was oblivious to the abnormality. She sighed inwardly, impressed by the cruise ship's sophisticated technology that allowed her to access the room without having to push the door.

Ariana's exhaustion was so overwhelming that she lacked the energy to overanalyze the situation. She stepped into the room and instinctively closed the door behind her.

The room's atmosphere exuded exquisite luxury. There was a faint and pleasant fragrance in the air.

The sight of the bed proved too tempting for her already sleepy state. After a quick wipe of her face, she collapsed onto the bed, and slipped into sleep.

Meanwhile, Sadie managed to regain her composure and returned to Holden's side.

Feigning concern, she extended a cup of tea to him with a smile.

"Try this, it's a new specialty drink I had someone bring for you."

Seeing Holden's lack of response, she presented him a dessert.

"This one was specially made by their head chef. I urge you to taste it and share your thoughts about it.” Holden continued to ignore her, while she persistently tried to engage him.

Growing irritated by her persistence, Holden abruptly snapped his laptop shut, stood up, and readied himself to take his leave.