The next morning in the hotel, Eva walked through the hallway with a few emails in her hand. She checked them one by one until she saw one envelope that caught her attention, so she quickly went to her boss' suite.

Inside, Leon was having a quiet breakfast until she came in. "Eva, come join me, I saved some breakfast sausages for you," he said to her.

"Thank you, but you should see this." The woman handed him the mail that she had already opened the mail.

Leon began reading it while chewing on his waffles. "Of course, he's going to sue me. He can be very relentless."

"When you say he's cocky, you weren't kidding. This man has the gull to file a case against after everything he did."

"He's a rare breed. He and his wife. I hope their son is not acquainted with my daughter. The idea of him in the same school as Odette truly disturbs me. I'll have to pull her out if I had to."

Eva became uneasy since the man had no idea that his daughter and the enemy's son were more than acquaintances. "Let's not worry about that. Do you want me to call your lawyer?" She asked as she began eating with him.

The CEO tossed the document at the side of the table. then let out a smirk o n his face. "Please do. If he wants war, then I'll give him war."

"Alright then."

"But like a chess piece, I want him to make the first move."

----

Oddey felt good as new like she was fully charged since the previous night. It could be from having to sleep early or that her boyfriend took great care of her. Either way, the art student could do everything in just one day.

Her best friend woke up. "Morning," Oddey chimed to her.

"Oh, someone is happy," Rita teased as she stretched her body. "Does that mean you and your Romeo worked things out?"

"Yes," Oddey confirmed by grinning. "He took care of me last night even though I told him he didn't have to."

"Aww... so sweet. He has a soft spot for you, no matter how much he... you know."

The Juliet became ashamed again. "Yeah," She sighed. "That's the problem."

"Something wrong?"

"The reason why Gage hadn't been talking to me is because he was starting to doubt me."

"So Gage almost found out about you, and Mr. Magnum?" Rita gasped.

"Yup. Keyword: almost."

"I assume you still haven't told him."

"Nope." Oddey shook her head. "I told him another lie, though a bit closer to the truth. Still. It's a lie."

"What exactly did you say?" The best friend questioned.

"That my mom works in Magnum Tradings as a personal assistant, and she's sorta dating the CEO."

"That's not far from the truth."

"I hate this."

"Well, don't let it ruin your mood," Rita said. "Now that you and Gage are okay."

"You're right." Then the Juliet looked back to the previous night. "You know, Gage was so kind to me last night. I don't want to lose him."

"It's gonna be okay, Bestie," the roomie replied.

"I hope so," Oddey sighed. "Anyway, let's get ready for class."

"Hold up! You are not going anywhere. You nearly passed out yesterday," Rita nagged her like she was a kid.

"I'm fine. I feel energized," the art student claimed as she jumped out of her bed.

"Wow, Nurse Gage must've taken good care of you. Still. Don't push it, or else, you might get sick, then you won't be able to finish the set on time."

"Oh! alright, but I'll just attend two of my classes. There's a bio quiz today. After that, I'll get my rest."

"Fine," Rita grunted, knowing that nothing could stop her best friend from doing what she wanted.

Later, the girls walked to their classes. All of a sudden, Gage emerged right in front of the young ladies to stop them, "I thought I told you to rest today," He confronted his girlfriend.

"Don't bother, I told her that," Rita interjected bluntly.

"Relax. It's just two classes," Oddey said to them. "The morning ones."

"You could get sick," Gage reminded him.

"I told her that too," the bestie added, then crossed her arms together.

"Guys, I'm okay. I can rest later. Plus, I have two quizzes today. I just can't miss it," the art student replied.

"Alright, that's it," the Romeo exasperated. "And you better go straight to your room after that."

"Yes, yes, I will."

Gage put on a gentle smile on his face. "Good, but since you're here. I was going to your dorm after my first class to give you this." He took out another paper flower and gave it to her. "I just thought it could make you feel better."

The girls were touched by this. "It does. Thank you, my Romeo," Oddey said to him and held it tightly close to her heart.

The architect student loved seeing his Juliet smile. "Anyway, I should go to class. I'll check on you later, my Juliet." Then walked away from them.

"Okay, see you later." The two ladies continued heading to their class.

"He is so sweet," Rita commented, especially when she watched her best friend admiring a flower that was made out of paper waste and metal wire. "You two are perfect for each other."

----

Later, in the auditorium. Gage was reading his line for a new scene while the other actors rehearsed on stage. He noticed the design crew working without their leader around, so he decided to approach them. "Hey, you guys doing okay?" he asked.

"Yup, I think we will be done earlier than expected," said one guy. "Thanks to Oddey."

"Yeah, we heard what happened yesterday," said one female member. "How is she doing?"

"She's better but not entirely. I told her to break for a while," Gage replied to them.

"Oddey deserves a break after everything she did here, and let us take care of the rest here," another guy told them.

Courtney was not far from the group and was annoyed from listening to them talking about Oddey even though she was absent.

"Mr. Munro." Madame Vestia went to Gage. "Where's your Juliet?"

"Over here, Madame, do you need anything?" Courtney said as she walked over there.

"Sorry for the confusion, my dear, I mean his Juliet. If I'm not mistaken, these two are an item," the professor clarified then turned to the architect student.

"Right." Gage nodded.

"I always thought you two make such a lovely couple. I think it's what you kids call: I ship you two together," Madame Vestia added.

It made the Romeo blush while the sour theatre actress feeling even more agitated stormed off. "Give me a break," Courtney muttered her frustrations.

"By the way, I heard from Seth what happened yesterday. How is Ms. Empirio?"

"She'll be fine. She just needs to rest for a day."

"I understand, Ms. Empirio worked so hard for our set anyway," Madame Vestia said. "She does deserve a breathing spell. Anywho. Come on, people, let's do a dry run on the next scene."

When rehearsal was over, Courtney decided to talk with her crush. "I thought you didn't trust her after what I showed you," She confronted him. "How are you okay with that?"

"Because we worked things out," Gage answered. "It's a good thing I followed Felix's advice, or else I could've lost her."

"Well, you shouldn't have listened to Felix because she's just gonna lie to you."

"Court, it's cool. Just let it go," the guy sighed, knowing that the frustrated actress wanted to make a big deal out of this. "What's important is that Oddey and I can now trust each other."

"What happened?" She interrogated him. "She just became vulnerable, and you forgive her."

"I didn't forgive her because she fainted. Oddey explained everything to me. If you want to know, her mum works in Magnum Tradings, and she's dating the CEO."

The actress could feel the anger boiling inside her. "That's so not true! She's lying to you."

Gage had enough and was getting tired of arguing with her. "I don't want to hear this. I have an assignment to work on."

"No!" The girl whimpered and stopped him by grabbing his arm. She was getting very aggravated that he was not listening to her. "So you believe her over your best friend whom you know your whole life?"

"It's not like that, Court. I just want to give her a chance because she's my girlfriend."

"So it doesn't matter what I say anymore?"

Gage shook his head at his best friend's accusation about his Juliet. "Okay. You know what, I get it, you don't like Oddey, but I love her."

"But..." The poor girl got hurt by his words, and also that he did not listen to her. "You have to believe me. She's lying to you. She's a liar and a faker. Open your eyes, Gage!"

The Romeo had enough. "Stop it, Court. If you don't want to try to get along with Oddey, I'm not gonna force you, but I'm not gonna stand here and listen to you talk about her like that."

"But it's true, she's a liar. I know what I heard. I'm your best friend, you know I would never lie, especially to you."

"If you really are my friend, why can't you just be happy for me and Oddey?" Gage snapped back.

Courtney's heart sank after hearing him defending Oddey to her face. She wanted to cry, yet she held it in instead, "Fine, don't believe me," she told him, then stormed off.

"Court..." he sighed while watching her, walking further away and feeling so dismayed that he had a heated argument with one of his best pals.

At night, Gage came in a huff while his roommate was startled by his sudden change of mood and watched him throw his bag on his bed and drop himself to lie down, then covered his face.

Felix had to stop what he was doing to talk to his troubled friend, "You okay? Did you and Oddey argue again?" he asked.

"Not Oddey and me, but Courtney and me," the architect student answered in a frustrated tone.

"What about?"

"About me and Oddey. She's mad that we're okay now," Gage complained. "It's like she wants me to break it off with her."

"That's Courtney for you." His buddy understood his pain over their demanding friends.

"I don't get her sometimes. Why does she have to be so annoying?"

"No clue, I've been asking that ever since we became friends," Felix muttered with that last part. "So what happened next?"

"I think... we're not friends anymore." Gage let out a heavy sigh.

"Oohh... Dude, I'm sorry. Maybe it's for the best."

"How? My friendship with her is over. She and I have... had been friends longer."

Felix patted his sad friend's shoulder to comfort him. "I'm sure you guys will be okay tomorrow."

"I hope so," the Romeo sulked.