Just as she said that, her phone beeped twice. Ariana checked it.

There were messages about the gaming event tomorrow. Sonia had said in the group chat, “I'm going! I need this game to mend my broken heart!"

The group started teasing Sonia a bit, and soon, Tyler tagged Ariana.

"I'm free tomorrow afternoon. I can go to the event."

"What about Cole?" Ariana asked.

"I'll ask him about it," Tyler replied. Soon, Tyler sent another message. “He's free. He'll come."

Now that everyone was on board, Ariana got ready for the event, not noticing the sad look on Holden's face as he watched her get absorbed in her messages.

Seeing Ariana making plans without asking him, Holden finally spoke up. "You aren't even going to check if I'm free tomorrow?"

Ariana looked at him, a bit surprised. "Wait, you're free? I was just about to ask someone else."

Holden felt a little hurt. "You're kidding, right? You wanted to ask someone else? What? Am I not good enough?"

Ariana saw his pouty expression and couldn't help but laugh. She pinched his cheek playfully. “I'm just teasing you! I already checked with Devin about your schedule. You've only got a morning meeting tomorrow, right?"

Holden was comforted by her words, and Ariana moved closer, ruffling his hair. She showed her phone to him, a game strategy guide on the screen. "Look, I've been studying the characters you play. I'm learning them so that I can teach you."

That cheered Holden up, and he smiled. “Sounds great. Why don't we practice tonight? Learn as we go?"

“Let's do it," Ariana agreed, and they started playing the game together. They kept at it until late into the night, with Holden getting the hang of his new role as a support player. He and Ariana quickly synced, and he became a master at setting her up for epic kills.

The next afternoon, the group met at the spot they had planned.

Sonia showed up first, keeping a head count.

When Sonia saw Holden standing beside Ariana, she couldn't contain her laughter. “You're the ‘Suicidal Baboon'? The noob? I knew that was you! I've been trying to figure out who would use matching usernames with Aria. I totally called it!"

Sonia's teasing landed hard, and Holden just stood there, feeling resigned.

Tyler was taken aback at the sight of Holden. Although he understood that Theodore was Holden, seeing him in the flesh evoked a range of emotions in him.

He was also surprised that Holden, the formidable leader of the Fredrick Group, managed to fit in a gaming session despite his busy schedule running a major company.