That night, Tessa received a call from Naomi. “Babe, there are only a few days left until the New Year. Do you have anything planned?”

Tessa checked her phone’s calendar and realized that it was already December 28th. Due to her crying for so long, her voice was slightly hoarse as she replied, “I don’t.”

Shocked, Naomi exclaimed, “Babe, what’s wrong? Why is your voice so hoarse?” “I’m fine. I’m just down with a little flu.”

Naomi did not suspect anything. “Oh, alright then. So, how do you plan to spend New Year’s Eve? Will you spend your night at home with Stephen, or will you come spend it with Sienna and me?”

The moment she heard Stephen’s name, Tessa felt tears welling up in her eyes again. “Stephen and I…”

“What? Did something happen between the two of you?”

The room was brightly lit with the snowflakes drifting down silently outside.

Tessa sat up on her bed, held onto her phone, and looked down at her toes. “W- We had a fight…”

She wasn’t willing to admit that they had broken up. In her heart, they merely had an argument.

Naomi replied, “Oh, it’s just a minor argument. I thought something big had happened. Don’t worry. It’s normal for couples to argue with each other.

“I’ll ask Quentin to invite Stephen out during New Year’s Eve. When we gather, we’ll try creating some time for the two of you to talk. There’s no argument out there that a hug and a kiss can’t solve.”

Naomi paused momentarily before chuckling and continuing, “Even if there is such an argument, just take things to bed. Once that happens, every argument will be resolved.”

She had always been bold with her words, often daring to cross the line and voice out inappropriate things.

Although Tessa knew that was merely Naomi’s personality, she still couldn’t help blushing at Naomi’s bold words. Then, she paused momentarily, not knowing what to say next.

“There’s no need to be shy, Tessa. Listen here-men like such things. They won’t listen if you try to reason with them. They prefer much more direct approaches.”

Tessa endured Naomi’s ten-minute rant on relationship advice. By the time she ended the call, her mind was filled with a ton of explicit images.

She regretted venting to Naomi about her argument with Stephen.

At night, Tessa could not sleep. She kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep no matter how hard she tried.

In the end, she decided to go through everything that had happened in her mind. Then, she concluded that Stephen broke up with her because he was afraid that James would continue to hurt the Yates family.

She believed that once Stephen had dealt with James, they would reconcile.

However, Tessa believed that she

could just feign ignorance of the whole ordeal and pretend that she didn’t know him when they were out in public. They could always still keep in touch in private.

At that moment, she really wanted to call Stephen and talk to him. She missed him dearly and wanted to hear his voice.

However, when she looked at the time, she realized that it was already past 2:00 am. After thinking things through, she realized that she should not call him.

He had been so busy for the past few days, so she should not disturb his rest. She could always call him tomorrow.

With that thought in mind, Tessa sent Naomi a message. “Naomi, don’t invite Stephen to our gathering on New Year’s Eve. Things are a little complicated between us.

“I’ll explain it to you when I see you next time. It’s not convenient for us to meet each other now.”

…

Early the next day, Stephen told Ralph that he had already broken up with Tessa. Ralph immediately arranged for people to arrange some gifts. Then, he called Stephen’s parents to accompany Stephen to the hospital to personally apologize to Samuel.

In Samuel’s ward, the Jacobsons’ housekeepers had brought along a bunch of branded gifts, including some fruits and supplements. After arranging everything, they left the ward quietly.

Samuel’s bed was also crowded with people.