Chapter 11

Theodore sat behind the desk in his office. Documents spread open before him, yet he could not take in a single word. He had assumed that once Clarisse cooled off, she would reach out. But five days had passed, and her phone was still off. Every message he sent vanished into the void. A suffocating frustration simmered in his chest. They had agreed—once he came back, he would take her on a trip to relax. In the end, she walked away without a word, clearly expecting him to coax her back. Everything that had happened recently was her fault to begin with. She was too jealous to accept Bianca and Caleb. All Clarisse had to do was keep calm and wait for him to finish his duty. Then, he would send the two of them away, and life would return to how it was. But she refused to learn and kept making the same mistakes over and over. If he really gave in and went after her this time, would that not make her think she could always get away with this? She would just get even more immature and m