Felicity's POV.
Before Penelope and I could escape, Alex spotted me.
"Sunshine!" he called, making his way toward me like he owned the entire event.
Chris followed right behind him. Noah stayed where he was, but his eyes never left me. All three of them, again.
I sighed. "I just wanted one peaceful day."
Penelope leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Wrong story."
Alex stopped in front of me and grinned. "You look amazing."
Chris's gaze swept over me, slower and quieter. "You do."
Noah didn't say anything, but his eyes said enough. My heart instantly betrayed me by skipping a beat.
I looked between the three of them and shook my head. "Can we just have a nice dinner? Can we all sit down and eat?"
They answered at the same time, and somehow all agreed. A few moments later, we took our seats at one of the long tables stretching across the hall.
I sat down first. Noah took the seat on my left. Dressed in his dark blue suit, he looked annoyingly handsome beneath the warm candlelight.
He turned toward me and gave me a small, warm smile. "You look beautiful, Felicity," he whispered.
My heart felt like a warm blanket, safe and comforting. Then the chair to my right pulled back. It was Christopher. He didn't whisper or smile. He took his seat with quiet confidence and natural authority. The candlelight caught his sharp jaw, making him look less like a student and more like a prince preparing to defend something precious.
"Nice of you to join us," Chris said to Noah, his voice like a low growl.
Noah looked completely unbothered. "I'm having the Grand Dinner, and I'm on a date with Felicity, so why wouldn't I be here?"
I smiled despite myself. Chris rolled his eyes. Across from us, Alex dropped into his seat and raised his water glass with a grin. Beside Alex, Penelope slipped into her seat with a satisfied smile and immediately reached for the bread basket, looking far too pleased with herself and completely uninterested in the chaos around her.
"Well, look at this," he laughed. "The Saint, the Prince, and the girl in the middle. This is better than the food."
I immediately looked down at my plate. I wanted to disappear. Chris and Noah both turned to him with matching frowns.
Alex blinked. "What?" He looked between them before throwing his hands up. "I'm just kidding. Loosen up, will you?"
He pointed at Christopher. "You look like a prince because of your outfit."
Then he pointed at Noah. "And you look like a saint, just say."
His grin widened. "I'm just calling it how I see it."
"Can we just eat?" I asked.
"I'm not hungry," Chris said, his eyes fixed on me.
"I'm only here for you," Noah said softly.
Alex pointed at both of them. "And I'm here for you and the show."
His grin widened as he looked at me. "Mostly you."
"Can we please not do this again?" I asked, looking between all three of them.
Alex leaned back in his chair, clearly entertained. "Do what?"
I waved my hand between them. "This. Whatever this is."
Christopher's gaze never left mine. "It ends when you make a choice."
The words hit me harder than I wanted them to. My heart ached because I loved him so much, but he had no idea how I truly felt. I quickly pushed my emotions down and looked at the three of them. Then I groaned and buried my face in my hands for a second.
"Oh, my God. Can we just eat in peace? We are having dinner, and that is final."
For a moment, all three of them stared at me. Then, somehow, they answered at the same time. "Fine."
The three of them sounded so reluctant that it only made it worse.
I pointed a warning finger at them. "No arguments."
"Fine," Alex repeated.
"Fine," Noah agreed.
Christopher simply nodded.
At last, we turned our attention to the food. We all ate in silence. At least, we tried to. The heavy quiet at our table felt completely different from the loud music, laughter, and conversations filling the rest of the Grand Hall. For a few blessed minutes, everyone focused on eating. The only sound between the four of us was the scraping of knives and forks against the porcelain plates.
I thought maybe, just maybe, I was going to get through the night. Then the breaking point came. Suddenly, I felt a pair of eyes on me. A strange feeling crawled down my neck, like someone was watching. I looked up and turned toward the entrance. Standing near the door was Laura. She wasn't looking at the food or the crowd. Her eyes were fixed on our table, on Noah and me.
Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, and her expression was hard to read. Her bottom lip trembled slightly as she gripped the fabric of her dress so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes stayed fixed on our table, following every move Noah made toward me. Beside her stood Mia, and my stomach tightened. That alone was strange because I knew Mia, unfortunately.
But Laura? What was she doing with Mia? The two of them stood side by side as if they had known each other for years. I frowned. Since when were they friends? Then Mia leaned closer and whispered something into Laura's ear, pointing directly at our table. I watched Laura's expression change. Her face darkened, and whatever Mia had said, Laura clearly didn't like it.
Her jaw tightened, and her shoulders stiffened. A cold feeling settled in my stomach. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know why Mia was talking to Laura, and I definitely didn't know why both of them kept looking at our table. I frowned. Something felt off, though I couldn't explain why. Laura and Noah weren't even together anymore, so why was she staring at us like that?
Then Mia lifted her head, looked straight at me, and smiled. Not a friendly smile, but the kind that felt more like a warning. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my food. I knew Laura was just Noah's fake girlfriend. The whole thing had been a silly act to make me jealous. So why was she looking at me like that? I didn't understand it. Laura and Noah were never supposed to be real. Yet the look on her face didn't seem fake at all. Her eyes were filled with something raw and painful, and for a brief moment, she looked less angry and more hurt. Something about this was starting to feel far more complicated than I thought.
Before I could take another bite, Mia grabbed Laura's arm and marched her straight toward our table. My stomach immediately tightened. Mia stopped right behind Christopher and crossed her arms, a nasty smirk spreading across her face. Just like that, the old tension between us came rushing back. Her eyes flashed with jealousy as she looked at Christopher sitting right beside me. Mia had always made it painfully obvious that she wanted him, and seeing me next to him clearly wasn't making her happy. I didn't know what Mia was planning, but the look in her eyes told me one thing. Whatever happened next was going to change the entire night. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.