His Unveiled Passion

Naomi waved her hand in dismissal and said, "That's fair. You two should head off, then."

"Bye, Henry. Bye, Ms. McKinnon," Sienna chimed in, bidding them farewell with a

wave.

Henry suddenly interjected, "Why are you calling her Ms. McKinnon? We're family. Sienna, you should call her Samantha."

Sienna blinked at him in surprise.

She wasn't the only one surprised by his words. The rest of the group had also paused briefly in surprise.

"Bye, Samantha," Sienna said, changing her form of address obediently.

Samantha turned as red as a tomato from her neck to the tip of her ears. She was so flustered that she pursed her lip slightly and murmured, "It's alright. You can call me whatever you want."

"No, that won't do at all." Henry shot her suggestion down. Then, he pulled Samantha into his arms and said, "Let's go, sweetheart. I'll drive you back."

Samantha murmured softly, still blushing, "Alright."

Once they were gone, Naomi couldn't help but click her tongue in intrigue. Then, she nudged Sienna, commenting, "Sienna, I think Henry's serious about her."

Sienna readily agreed with her, adding in her two cents, "Henry does treat Samantha a lot differently from the women he dated in the past."

Naomi tugged Tessa along. "Come on. Off to the bar we go. Let's party!"

Sienna cut in, "You guys go on ahead. I have to go home."

Sienna had always been the model daughter and was never one to indulge in alcohol. So, Naomi didn't force her to stay. Instead, she just said, "Sure, go on home."

Then, she asked, "Are you two coming, Stephen, Tessa?

Stephen turned to look at Tessa, a silent question hanging in the air.

Tessa understood the look he was giving her. He would only go if she did. Naturally, he wouldn't if she didn't.

Frankly, she wanted to go to the bar so she could spend more time with him.

Unfortunately, her alcohol tolerance was terrible. The last time she had gone to the bar for a drink, she had become so wasted that she started rambling all sorts of nonsense. To make matters even more humiliating, she had ended up clinging to Stephen like a koala.

They had been a couple at the time, so it was perfectly fine for her to cling to him as he carried her home.

That wasn't the case now. She couldn't bring herself to fall into his arms, utterly drunk.

So, Tessa ended up declining Naomi's invitation. "I'm a little tired, so I'll have to pass."

Naomi let out a disappointed groan. "What's the point of me going if none of you are going to join me? Oh, fine. I guess I'll just head home too."

Tessa returned to the Yates residence for dinner the following day.

When they were enjoying their meal, Samuel asked casually, "Tessa, how are things going between you and Mr. Cooper?"

Tessa's cutlery froze midair as she asked, "What do you mean by 'how things are going between us'? We're just friends."

Marianne smiled and said, "Just friends? Can't you tell that Lester is interested in you romantically?"

Samuel added calmly, "Lester's a good kid."

Tessa couldn't help but look at them in amusement. "Dad, Ms. Connors, what are you two on about? There's nothing going on between Lester and me. I have no idea how he feels, but know I'm not interested in him that way."

Samuel took a sip of his soup and said lightly, "Tessa, you're already 27. It's aboutnoveldrama

time for you to consider marriage."

Tessa thought wearily, "Here we go again. Yet another marriage pep talk."

She curled her lips into a wry smile "Dad, all have in mind right now is my career. I want to focus on expanding my law firm dont have time for romance." fo

Marianne shot Tessa a look, words threatening to bubble from her lips.

However, she remained silent. After all, she was only Tessa's stepmother. It wasn't appropriate for her to pressure Tessa about something like this.

Samuel's tone remained even despite Tessa's answer. "You could

get married and still focus one

career. They aren't mutually exclusive things. You could alway get married before planning for kids."

Tessa's voice turned cold. "No, thanks. I've got a plan in mind and am going to

stick to it. Romance isn't a part of it right now."

Samuel glanced at Tessa before replying genially, "Alright, then. I was just making

a suggestion. Let's eat."