"I love you, Vanessa Hayes-Wong."

The words Ollie just said echo in my ears, pushing my boss' speech and the clicking of camera shutters from the press conference on the other side of the room into the background. Fireworks threaten to explode inside my head, yet I can't help but wonder if I'm only imagining things.

As I pinch myself, the pain assures me that this is 101% real. Still, a sliver of doubt lingers in my mind.

"You love me?" My voice comes out soft, but hope resonates in it.

Ollie shifts his gaze to his feet, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Yeah."

My heart flips. But a nagging suspicion prevents me from reaching the seventh heaven. "You're not just saying that because you're jealous?"

"A bit of that, to be honest, but I mean it." He raises his gaze to meet mine, and the sincerity in his eyes gives me the confirmation I need. "I love you. I've been in love with you ever since we first met—well, not exactly ever since we first met because that'd be creepy. But the point is—"

"I love you too."

His eyes glow with exhilaration. "You do?"

"Mm-hmm." I bite back the grin that wants to split my face in half. "I love you, Oliver Lauren Morrison."

Ollie clicks his tongue in irritation, yet the twinkle in his eyes remains. "You just have to piss me off, don't you?"

He hooks an arm around my waist and yanks me closer to him. A giggle slips past my lips as he leans in to kiss me. Our lips are about to touch when a pesky question buzzes around in my head like the most annoying bee ever existed, forcing me to hit the pause button.

I put a finger on his mouth and draw my head back. As confusion glazes over his face, I ask, "Just so we're on the same page, this means I'm out of The Sister Zone, or The Friend Zone, or whatever right?"

"Huh?" His smile fades into a frown, his grip around me loosens, and his forehead puckers in perplexity. "What are you— "

"Am I officially your girlfriend?"

For seconds that feel like an eternity, he just stares at me as if I've just said the silliest thing he's ever heard. Uh-oh. Am I reading too much into his words?

As panic begins to flutter in my chest, Ollie suddenly lets out a tiny laugh of amusement. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

What is it with guys answering a question with another question? Confused and slightly irritated, I ask, "Do you want me to be your girlfriend?"

He chortles, snorting a little. "I just told you I love you, Ness. So yeah, I want you to be my girlfriend."

A sweet surge of joy flashes through me. But before I can ride the jet to the seventh heaven, a shadow of unease flickers across Ollie's features, keeping me glued to the ground. My nerves tingle with alarm when he starts chewing his cheek and furrows his brow deep in thought. Oh no. He's having second thoughts, isn't he?

I swallow the lump of anxiety. "What's wrong?"

He eyes me with suspicion. "We're not in an open relationship, are we? I mean, you and Lovejoy are 'done' done, right?"

A guilty chuckle erupts from deep within my chest. "Oh, don't worry, Ol. Ryan and I never actually dated. It was just a ploy to get you to realize your feelings for—"

I slap my hands over my mouth to stop myself from babbling any further. But it seems like I'm a second too late, for Ollie is already staring at me with his jaw hanging open so wide Godzilla and his entire family could fly into his mouth.

"L-let me get this straight." He blinks in shock. "You're saying you pretended to date Lovejoy to get me jealous?"

Oops.

"Sorry?" I offer him an awkward, apologetic grin. "I-I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to get stuck in The Sister Zone for good, and I just . . ." I drop my gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Ol."

He's gonna hate me for lying to him, isn't he?

Guilt grips my chest as I wait for Ollie to turn around and leave me for good. My heart throbs almost to suffocation, and before long, a prickle of tears stings my eyes. Yet as tears are about to leak from the corner of my eye, Ollie puffs a breath of relief.

Huh? Is he having a mental breakdown again?

Concerned and a little curious, I lift my gaze only to find him lost in his thoughts. Alarm skitters up my spine when his lips quirk in amusement. Mayday, mayday, mayday! I broke him, didn't I?

"Ol?" I call with a shaky voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." He scratches the back of his neck. "I guess we're even, then."

A guilty smile touches the corner of his mouth, leaving me more confused and worried than ever. That's it. It's time to call an ambulance.

I'm about to fish my phone from my clutch when he blows out a ponderous sigh, his countenance filled with remorse. "I lied to you too, Ness. I never dated Emilia. I just hired her to make you jealous."

Oh, that. "I know."

A surprised frown draws his eyebrows together. "You knew?"

"Well, you're not exactly a good liar."

His cheeks flush with embarrassment, and his adorable expression has me stifling a fit of giggles. The urge to tease him more about it is powerful, but I manage to resist it. Maybe next time.

"No more lying?" I offer a hand for shaking.

"No more lying."

A grin spreads across my face as he takes the hand I offer and seals the deal with a kiss. The fireworks inside my head burst into the most beautiful rainbow shower I've ever seen, drowning out the noises around us. Letting all my inhibitions go, I hop onto the imaginary jet inside my head and soar to a heaven of our own.

Goodbye, Sister Zone. Hello, Girlfriend Zone!

There's something so affectionate in the way his warm lips caress mine, and I can almost hear him whispering another I love you to me. Beaming in bliss, I circle my arms around his neck and kiss him the same way.

I love you too.

He tightens his hold around me and smiles against my lips, a sign that he's received my silent message. Our hearts thud against each other, beating together in the same, joyous rhythm. A tantalizing shiver ripples across my nerve endings when he trails his warm hand up my back and curls his fingers around my nape. But the kiss remains sweet, loving, and tender.

This is hands down the most magical kiss I've ever had. If only I didn't need to breathe to survive, I wouldn't even think of pulling away from him. And judging by the way he captures my lips every time I try to break the kiss, I bet my life he feels the same way.

Unfortunately, we're only humans.

We rest our foreheads together and beam at each other. Then, slowly, reality fades back into my consciousness.

"Ms. Hayes-Wong! Mr. Morrison! Is it true Celia Adams suffers from a psychotic break because you were romantically involved behind her back?" a reporter asks from behind the designated line across the room where Helen is—was—delivering a statement about today's shocking turn of events.

Oops.

"Oh, shit," Ollie mutters, glancing around the room. "Everyone's looking at us."

The team previously in charge of Celia's EP casts us congratulatory smiles from near the buffet table. Zoe even gives me a discreet thumbs-up, making me blush a little. Still, piercing glares of jealousy stab me like a thousand icepicks from some of my other, less friendly co-workers—mainly Rachel.

As the relentless flashing lights from the paparazzi blind me, another reporter asks Ollie and me, "Are you two officially dating?"

On a normal day, I'd run away and lock myself inside my apartment until the tabloids find a fresher, more scandalous rumor. I might even be busy booking the earliest flight to Timbuktu. But today is a very, very, special day.

"You know what?" A wicked smirk slides across my face. "Let them watch."

As Ollie opens his mouth in confusion, I grab him by the collar of his navy-blue shirt and pull him into another kiss—a too-hot-for-the-minors kiss meant to be a declaration to the whole world.

That's right. #MrDumpyAndMissMochiForever. Print that on your T-shirts!

Wrapping his arms around me, Ollie chuckles into my mouth and kisses me back with a great deal of passion that sends bolts of raging electricity through me.

The paparazzi keep calling our names, asking one absurd question after another about how our relationship might've pushed Celia to the brink of insanity. But I couldn't care less. The man I love has finally told me he loves me too—and that's all that matters.

"Seriously though," Ollie pants, "Helen's gonna kill me."

The unamused look Helen shoots us from the stage tells me that option is highly possible. But as I give her an apologetic shrug, a defeated smile flutters on her vermillion lips.

"Wanna get out of here?" Ollie asks.

I nod. "Let's go, Boyfie."

He cringes at the new nickname. "Boyfie?"

"We'll work on that later."

As Ollie shakes his head and releases a soft, light-hearted laugh, I notice something different in his eyes.

Ever since I first met him, he's always had a haunting shadow of pain clouding his face. But now, a beautiful yet unfamiliar spark of joy manages to break free from the darkness. It's as if a small part of a deep wound in his heart has been patched.

While seeing him happy brings a thrill of joy to my heart, a long-suppressed curiosity rises within me. I've always wondered why he always looks as if life has thrown him a basket of rotten lemons. I assume it has something to do with his past—or even his supposedly non-existent family—but I never dare to ask him about it.

And that's when I realize something.

I may have gotten out of The Sister Zone, but our journey has just begun—and it's a journey I can't wait to embark on.

Grinning at my boyfriend, I grab his hand and take my first step into The Girlfriend Zone.

—Vanessa and Oliver will return in Book 2 of the #MrDumpyAndMissMochi series: The Girlfriend Zone—

Author's Note: 

And that's the end of The Sister Zone!

Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read, voted, and commented on this book. Your support means the whole world to me. You guys are AMAZING! *hugs*

Again, thank you for sticking with me through this crazy ride! ❤❤❤