Ariana was taken aback when she heard Sonia's words.

"What do you mean?" she asked, staring blankly at Sonia.

"Wasn't it you who brought me back last night?"

Sonia's face wore a befuddled expression as she fixed her gaze on Ariana.

"You must have been truly sloshed. When I got to the bar last night, you were nowhere in sight.”

Sonia didn't appear to be jesting. Slapping her forehead in frustration, Ariana realized something wasn't adding up.

It couldn't have been her who brought herself home. She had no memory of it, and in her inebriated state, navigating the road home would have been as easy as finding a needle in a haystack!

At that very moment, Ariana's phone rang, drawing her attention to an incoming spam call. She promptly ended it and blacklisted the number.

Yet, as she did so, her call log from the previous night caught her eye — an incoming call from Holden, spanning five long minutes.

Ariana was utterly thrown off. Fragmented memories began to resurface, and she dimly recollected that it was indeed Holden who had come to her rescue last night.

Ariana stood there, her mind spinning, piecing together pieces of the prior evening. She recalled playfully ribbing Holden about his mysterious mask and inquiring about where it was. Later on, it seemed she was in an unfortunate bout of vomiting and a tantrum on the ground.

The more she remembered, the redder her face became. It was as if her cheeks were aflame.

Incredibly, she had subjected herself to two bouts of inebriated absurdity before the same stranger. It was not just embarrassing; it was downright mortifying!

She tried her best to recall, but many of these memories remained shrouded in haze, and she couldn't quite conjure up Holden's face.

Ariana promptly checked Holden's social media profile and removed his account from her blacklist.

She had impulsively banished him from her digital realm, spurred by the knowledge that he was currently assisting Sadie in selecting a wedding gown. She had intended to maintain a safe distance, but hindsight now rendered that decision irrational. Holden, in all likelihood, remained oblivious to her discovery of his true identity as her affluent online confidant.

As soon as she unblocked him, a smiling emoji popped up on the chat box from the other side.

This only deepened Ariana's discomfort. She surmised that he knew she had unblocked him, but she remained uncertain about how to proceed.

Should she confess, saying, "I know you're Holden," or should she continue to feign ignorance?

Just as Ariana wrestled with this decision, the other end sent a message.