Sadie was unpredictable, and Adele had been sobbing heavily earlier, leaving Ariana concerned about her well-being.

Growing increasingly anxious, Ariana picked up her phone to send a text. But then, she hesitated and set her phone back down.

Just then, a message from Holden appeared.

"I'm staying with Adele tonight."

Ariana quickly replied, “Is Adele okay?"

She sent a few more messages. Then, frustrated with the slow pace of texting, she decided to call Holden directly.

They hadn't been talking long on the phone when Ariana faintly heard Sadie's voice calling out to Holden in the background.

Taken aback and filled with mixed feelings, Ariana barely heard Holden say, "I need to check on this."

Holden ended the call after that.

Putting down the phone, Ariana took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"It's all for Adele," she told herself, trying to find reassurance.

"Trust him. He wouldn't lie to you," she muttered.

She tried to divert her attention to work, yet her thoughts were too scattered to concentrate.

The documents in front of her only increased her restlessness.

Despite her efforts to calm herself, her emotions wouldn't be silenced.

Exhaling deeply, Ariana slumped onto the couch and began scrolling through her phone.

She noticed a notification for an All-Star recruitment competition for a team-based MOBA game she enjoyed.

With the preliminaries approaching, and seeing it as a potential distraction, Ariana shared the link in her group chat, asking, "Who's in?"

Sonia promptly responded, “I'm in."

Tyler also replied, “Me, too.”