Steven Davis tried to keep his cool, but his voice was clipped and sharp. "Tristan Davis, where did you disappear to? There are so many guests here, and you just walked out. What do you think that looks like?"

Tristan took a shaky breath. “Grandpa, someone drugged me. I need to get to the hospital."

"Drugged? Is it serious?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Tristan said.

Steven's tone changed, suddenly more serious. "No wonder Cynthia said you weren't feeling well. Where are you? I'll send someone to take you to the hospital.”

"That won't be necessary. Emily's with me. She can take me."

There was a pause. "Tristan, you and Emily Blair..."

"Yeah," Tristan replied. He turned away, covering the phone for a second as he tried to catch his breath, then spoke again. “Grandpa, can you help me? Check the hotel cameras and the kitchen. Find out who did this. Don't let them off the hook, especially my assistant, Hilaria Vargas. Focus on her."

"I understand," Steven said, his voice heavy.

"Don't worry about me, okay? Please help explain things to the guests, and ask my parents to do the same. I can't go back to see everyone right now, I have to get to the hospital. I'm sorry."

"Are you sure you don't want me to send someone to be with you?" Steven asked. Tristan's tone was firm. "No, it's fine. Emily's here. I trust her, she'll take care of me." Steven went quiet for a long moment. “Tristan, are you mad at me for what I did tonight? I honestly don't know if I made the right choice for you."

Tristan let out a slow, tired breath. His voice was a little rough. “Grandpa, please don't do this kind of thing again. I don't agree to the engagement. Please handle it with the guests. As for the Rivera family, I don't owe them anything. I'm innocent in all of this, and so is Emily. I never wanted to be engaged to anyone else. Now it's all a mess and I can't even explain myself. I'm being polite enough just by not demanding an apology."

Steven sighed. "You and Cynthia grew up together. Do you really dislike her that much?"

"I've told you before,” Tristan said, glancing at Emily, "I only like Emily Blair.”

Emily lowered her eyes, feeling a bittersweet ache in her chest.

Steven was silent for a while, then finally let out a long sigh. "Go to the hospital. I'll handle things here."

He hung up. Tristan shoved his phone in his pocket, then quickly reached out for Emily's arm, pulling her closer to him.

Emily helped him into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed and they were alone, Tristan wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "Emily Blair, feel terrible, Can you just hold me for a minute

He'd figured out that whenever he let down his guard and showed he was hurting, Emily would always soften toward him, no matter how cold she tried to be.

Emily patted his back, muttering, “Idiot."

Tristan smiled, hugging her even tighter. "No matter how much of an idiot I am, you always end up softening toward me."

Emily gave a small sigh and ran her fingers through his hair. “You know, the first time we met, you were drugged then, too."

Tristan rested his hands on her shoulders, looking at her with bright eyes. "You remember that? You took me to the hospital that time, too."

She shot him a look. “Of course I remember. Some random guy saying all sorts of weird things to me... how could I forget?”

Tristan's eyes crinkled with laughter as he slid his arms around her waist. "You were soft on me even back then said things that should have made you mad, but you still took care of me."

Emily cleared her throat. "That was just because you were good-looking."

Tristan hugged her even closer, burying his head in the curve of her neck. My face is part of me If you like my face, you like me: So,at was love at first sight for you, wasn't it?"