August raised an eyebrow. "Nope. But even if I don't tell her, she should remember. If she can't, then she doesn't have to come."

"What nonsense!" Suzanne glared at him. "Remember to let her know! I want her at my birthday celebration."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I will," August promised, reassuring Suzanne.

A few days later, with Suzanne's birthday approaching, Gwenda had already prepared a gift and cleared her schedule. Worried she might forget, August repeatedly called her.

"You have to be there tomorrow, or Grandmother will kill you!"

"I know," Gwenda said, multitasking. "August, you've reminded me four or five times already! Do you think I have dementia? I can remember this!"

"Grandmother asked me to! Do you think I want to remind you constantly?" August snorted, in a characteristically tsundere fashion.

Gwenda laughed. "I'll be there. I've got her a gift, and I'll be on time."

"Good. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up."

Gwenda stopped him. "Wait! How's the project with Mr. Petit going?"

August chuckled. "Concerned about the project, or Olivier?"

Gwenda paused, stammering, "Of course the project! I didn't ask about Olivier."

"Oh, so the project," August raised an eyebrow. "It's going well; they're satisfied, and we signed the contract."

Gwenda paused again. August rolled his eyes. "Just ask if you want to! Don't be hesitant."

"I wasn't going to ask anything. Bye."

"Wait!" This time, August stopped her. "Olivier's on a business trip. An overseas project has problems, so he's gone to handle it. Don't worry." Gwenda felt relieved.

After dinner, noticing Olivier's lack of calls or texts, Gwenda initially blamed herself, but now realized she'd overreacted.

"What stage of your relationship are you at? Are you together? You seem to care about him so much."

"Who said I cared about him?" Gwenda pouted. "I didn't ask about him; you told me."

August scoffed. "Sure, sure, I told you. Keep pretending, Gwenda, you brat." He hung up.

Gwenda didn't bother explaining. She checked Olivier's WhatsApp; five days since their last conversation. The issue must be serious. She sighed, closed the app, and returned to work.

The next day, Gwenda arrived early at the Reed family mansion with her gift. The mansion buzzed with wealthy guests celebrating Suzanne's 80th birthday.

August and his mother, Macie Wong, greeted guests. Seeing Gwenda, August simply said, "You're here."

Gwenda gave her gift to a housekeeper and approached Macie. Macie's face darkened; a flicker of displeasure crossed her eyes. Remembering past disagreements and recent rumors, she expected Gwenda to ignore her. Instead, Gwenda greeted her respectfully: "Hello, Aunt Macie."

Stunned, Macie quickly smiled. "Welcome."

"It's Grandma's birthday, so I came early. If you need help, just let me know," Gwenda said calmly and respectfully, a far cry from her usual spoiled demeanor.

Macie stared, surprised. "You"

August intervened. "We don't need help. Go inside. Grandmother's waiting." A maid guided Gwenda inside.

Gwenda nodded at Macie. "I'll go in then."

"Okay."

After Gwenda left, Macie muttered, "Is something wrong with Gwenda's brain?"