"That's strange. Who is this person, then?"

Hudson asked me, genuinely puzzled, so I found a way to turn the question back on him.

"How many people did you set up dates with today?"

"Just you!"

Hudson looked a little indignant, and a little bit adorable.

"You're the only girl I've talked to in years. Everyone else in that group is an idiot. I've got nothing in common with them."

I had nothing to say to that. The tech-geek energy on this man was overwhelming.

"I'll ask her right now who she is and what she's up to."

And with that, Hudson moved to reply to my cousin.

I wanted to stop him, but there was no time, because the next moment Hudson passed out cold.

"Give him mouth-to-mouth! Hurry! Come on, hurry!"

Seeing me hesitate, the Lucky Coin kept pressing me.

"Come on, his claustrophobia can actually kill him!"

Left with no choice, I bent down and gave Hudson mouth-to-mouth.

I couldn't say whether it was seconds or minutes later, but the instant Hudson opened his eyes, every light in the villa blazed back on.

His eyes went wide, and I froze right where I was.

"Heh heh… heh heh…"

The Lucky Coin kept snickering.

I cursed it in my head.

"What are you snickering about…"

Before I could finish, Hudson kissed me, then pulled back just as fast.

"Alberta, thank you. You saved me again."

His voice was so low I didn't catch it.

I scrambled to my feet in a panic and fled his villa.

By the time the cab dropped me home, my heart was still pounding.

I walked into the living room, and a flicker of anger rose in me.

My aunt Eva Whitney and my uncle Ivor Pruitt were sitting in the living room watching TV, and Viola was curled up on the couch bingeing a show on a livestream.

This wasn't the first time they'd let themselves into my home without asking.

I used to think of us as one family, so I never paid it any mind.

"You're back, Alberta. Where'd you go?"

Viola gave me a sweet little smile.

I swallowed my anger and smiled back.

"I went and hung out at the corner coffee shop for a while."

"Aunt Eva, Uncle Ivor, how do you two have time to come over today? Isn't the company keeping you busy?"

When my parents died when I was seven, Eva and Ivor became the only elders I had.

I'd always believed they were good to me.

After all, they hadn't seized the house my parents left behind, they'd paid for my schooling, and I'd never gone without food or anything else.

"So it was coffee. Here I was thinking you'd ignored what we said and run off to some blind date."

Eva looked at me kindly and spoke with the weight of good intentions.

"Hurry up and quit that group of yours. Your uncle looked into it thoroughly, and it's full of playboys who do nothing but freeload and waste their lives."

I nodded without saying anything, and Ivor gave a dry cough before he spoke.

"Alberta, sweetheart, how has your uncle treated you?"

"You've been very good to me. So has Aunt Eva, and Viola too. Aren't we one family?"

Something unnatural flickered across Ivor's face, but it smoothed over quickly.

"Your uncle's company has a loan with the bank, and now it needs a guarantor."

"But don't you worry, paying it back won't be a problem, so could you help your uncle out and sign for it?"

Then he added one more thing at the end.

"Your uncle promises you, it's purely a formality. I've already taken care of every step."

The Lucky Coin started throwing out frantic warnings.

"Here it comes! It's happening! Whatever you do, do not agree!"

"Alberta, honey, your uncle would never cheat you."

Eva scooted closer and took my hand, rubbing it between hers.

"It's only because your cousin's my own flesh and blood that she can't be the co-signer. Otherwise, believe me, we'd never dream of bothering you."

"That's right, Alberta." Viola glanced over long enough to chime in, then went straight back to her phone.

The three of them had their little routine down cold. I nodded, playing the wide-eyed innocent.

"Aunt Eva, Uncle Ivor, could I have a few days to think it over? The company's doing well enough, so there's no real rush, is there?"

Ivor blinked, thrown for a second, then recovered with a smile.

"The bank's practically begging to lend to us. They want the numbers on their books, so of course there's no hurry."

He rambled on for a bit, then pivoted.

"But we can't keep them waiting forever either. My company deals with banks all the time, you understand. Say we go sign in a week. How's that sound?"

I said nothing, and he took my silence for a yes.

Eva and Ivor left, but Viola stayed behind.

"Change your phone password. Otherwise the moment you fall asleep, that cousin of yours will be snooping through your messages again."

The Lucky Coin's warning again. Without letting anything show on my face, I changed my password and turned off the fingerprint and pattern unlock.

"Alberta, I'm craving that spicy hot pot bowl you make."

Viola stuck out her tongue at me and pulled a silly face.

That bright, innocent look of hers threw me for a moment.

"I'll go make it now."

I put on a happy smile and headed for the kitchen, leaving my phone lying on the table.

When the food was ready and I carried it out to the living room, sure enough, my phone had clearly been moved.

"So good! Alberta, you're just too sweet to me!"

Viola kept the compliments coming between mouthfuls.

I smiled and said nothing, opening my phone just as a message from Hudson came in.

【Had a new idea today. I'll build it tonight and show you.】

Followed by a little heart.

The corners of my mouth curved up, and Viola caught it.

"What's got you smiling like that, Alberta?"

I pulled up a short drama on TikTok and shared it to her.

"This is fun to watch while you eat. Go on, finish up."

I'd been done for a few minutes before Viola finally set down her bowl.

"I met this really good-looking guy online. He goes by Hudson. Do you know him, Alberta?"

She dropped it on her way out, all fake nonchalance.

I looked up at her, blinking, playing lost.

"Hudson? I think he's in one of my group chats."

"He's not your matchmaking date, is he? You two really didn't meet today?"

Viola was getting a little too anxious. The second the words were out, she realized how they sounded and backpedaled.

"That's not what I meant. I just mean this Hudson I met seems really easygoing to talk to. Not like those creeps out there."

I held my smile in place.

"Then maybe you should get to know him. You're twenty-three this year, after all. It's about time you found out what dating feels like."

"Oh, I couldn't do that."

Viola said it, but she practically skipped out the door.

An hour later, Hudson called.

"Somebody named Viola added me on WeChat. Says she's your cousin. Do you know her?"

The Lucky Coin panicked the second it heard.

"First she's messaging Hudson in broad daylight, now she's adding him on WeChat. What's next, showing up at his door to steal him?"

"Alberta Henson, don't you dare play dumb about this! Ivor already dug into Hudson's background ages ago. He's been trying to marry Viola into the James family this whole time."

"Getting close to Hudson is only step one. Step two is leaving you penniless with nothing. Step three is dragging your name through the mud."

The Lucky Coin was underestimating me a little.

To my cousin and her family, I was just a shut-in.

But to everyone in the group chat, Hudson included, I was the undisputed coding genius.

"Viola's my cousin. Do you two know each other?"

"I don't know her!"

Hudson answered in a rush.

"This woman who calls herself Viola. During the day she said she was Alberta Henson, and now she's saying she's Viola. I have no idea what she's playing at, so I figured I'd ask you directly."

"She's your cousin. Should I accept the request or not?"

I let out a soft laugh.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Of course it has to do with you. You saved me again today."

He said it in complete earnest, but it left me confused.

If I remembered right, today was the first time we'd ever met. Where did "again" come from?

I didn't ask. I just left him with one line and hung up.

"Sort out your own business. You and I are nothing to each other."

Back in the bedroom, the Lucky Coin clicked its tongue.

"Kissed him hard enough during the day, and now you're saying you two are nothing. Ooh, ooh, ooh..."

Burning with embarrassment, I yanked the Lucky Coin off and pelted it like mad.

"That'll teach you to talk. That'll teach you to talk..."

"Hahaha! Doesn't hurt, doesn't hurt, doesn't hurt one bit..."

I hadn't figured on the little thing having such a sharp tongue. In the end I only bruised my own hand on it.

Before dawn the next day, I woke to frantic pounding on the door.

Still in my pajamas, I brought the Lucky Coin along to answer it.

"Who is it? This early, is a person not allowed to sleep?"

I ignored the Lucky Coin's griping. After last night, I'd had plenty of its running mouth.

When I opened the door, I was a little startled.

Hudson was standing outside, a laptop clutched to his chest.

"What's this about?"

Honestly, I didn't feel much of anything toward him yet.

Yesterday had only been about saving someone. Nothing more.

"I had some ideas yesterday and built them out overnight. Please, take a look for me."

He said he wanted my help, but the excitement all over his face gave him away, like a kid who'd rushed over to show off.

I let him in without a word. He sat down on the couch, and his face went red.

I took the laptop, not paying his expression any mind.

The moment I saw the program running on the screen, I was pulled straight in.

When I started hammering away at the keyboard, Hudson didn't think much of it at first, but the longer he watched, the wider his mouth fell open.

Half an hour later, I stopped and handed the laptop back.

"See if I fixed it right?"

Hudson tapped out a few keystrokes, then snapped his head up to look at me.

"Are you some kind of god, or a demon? No, wait... I mean, how are you this good?"

He set the laptop on the table, eyes shining.

"The people in the group know their stuff, but at most they're at the level of engineers at a big firm. You're on another level entirely!"

"I'm formally inviting you to join my studio. Name your terms. Whatever you ask for, I can cover it."

The words had barely left him when there was another knock at the door.

Hudson frowned and got up to answer it himself.

Watching him do it, I didn't know what to say.

"Hudson?"

Viola gazed at him, delighted, and nearly threw herself into his arms.

Hudson caught her by the forehead with one hand, holding her off, and asked coldly.

"Who are you?"

Viola's body went stiff for a second, then broke into a radiant smile.

"Hudson, do you really not remember me? When we were little, in that cellar on Chestnut Lane, I saved your life!"