CHAPTER 73: ASK YOURSELF

"Since when?" Theo pulled the car over to the side of the road. He didn’t trust himself to keep driving, not with his pulse hammering like this.

"Well, you managed to fool me," Daisy leaned back in her seat, tilting her head with a teasing smile. "When do you think I found out it was you?"

His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. "This morning?"

She gave a breathy chuckle. "Elias would’ve eaten the whole dessert instead of offering me one, right?"

Finally, he glanced at her. "Then when?"

She tapped her chin playfully. "Let’s just say... I found out quite early."

His voice dropped, a little colder.

"Since the moment we argued... in my old room?"

Daisy leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

"That long? So it really was you from the start?" She snickered, "Wow. Just... wow."

Theo’s gaze darkened. His jaw clenched, "You played me."

Daisy raised her brows, her smile fading only slightly, "So it’s okay for you to trick me, but not the other way around?"

His eyes narrowed, the muscles in his jaw ticking. "That’s different."

"Is it? How?" Her tone stayed calm, but there was a quiet fire underneath. "You wore someone else’s personality. Lied to me. Got close to me... pretending to be someone else. But when I turn the tables, suddenly I’m the villain?"

Theo didn’t reply right away. The silence stretched, heavier now, laced with unspoken tension.

Daisy crossed her arms. "What? Suddenly hit your daily word quota?" Her tone sharpened.

"I wasn’t even planning to argue. I was just trying to confirm if it was really you. And you know what? I didn’t expect I’d been fooled that long." She let out a short breath, almost a scoff. "I really wonder... was it just a game to you?"

He ignored her questions and instead, he started driving again, eyes fixed ahead like her words weren’t slicing through the air between them.

But Daisy wasn’t done. Of course she wasn’t.

"I mean, seriously, did you enjoy it? Acting like Elias and fooling me successfully?" Her voice rose, incredulous. "And you kissed me pretending you are Elias?! What was your motive though?"

Silence.

She let out a loud, dramatic sigh. "Wah, now your lying is being discovered, you decide to keep silent? How do you manage to talk a lot when you are Elias though? Do you eat a different breakfast or what?"

Still no response. He blinked, slow and unbothered, like she was background noise.

"And here I thought Elias was the dramatic one. But no... turns out, you’re the real actor in the family."

At that, his jaw clenched slightly. A small crack in the mask.

"Don’t flatter yourself," he said finally, voice cold, eyes never leaving the road. "You were fooled because you wanted to be."

Daisy’s breath caught. That one stung.

But she wasn’t going to let him have the last word.

"Oh, so now it’s my fault you lied to me?" she shot back, her tone sharper than before. "Classic. Should’ve known Theo’s default setting is blame-shift and emotional constipation."

His knuckles tightened around the wheel, just a flicker. But enough to tell her she hit a nerve.

"What what? Are you going to throw me out in this rain?" she snapped, glaring at him. Her chest rose and fell with the weight of her frustration, every breath stoking the fire inside her.

He didn’t answer.

Of course he didn’t.

And maybe that silence hurt more than any insult could.

She turned toward the window, but her reflection only made it worse, reminding her of how easily she had been played. Her mind ran wild with memories of the past three days. The teasing. The laughs. The way he looked at her with that maddening Elias grin. The cufflink.

The cufflink!

In a sudden, hot wave of fury, she shouted, "Argh! How could you keep a grin on you when I mocked you face to face?!"

Her voice cracked slightly, too full of emotion to stay steady. She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back the sudden burn in her eyes. "Just drop me here..." she muttered, barely louder than the sound of the rain outside. "I couldn’t face you at this moment."

Theo didn’t flinch. He didn’t say a word. The engine hummed softly, the only sound between them besides the thrum of the rain against the windshield.

That silence? It made her feel small. Like she was the only one foolish enough to believe what they had, even for a second, was real.

Her voice turned quiet, but no less sharp. "It was fun, wasn’t it? Her lip trembled. "But I was the idiot who fell for it."

She reached for the door handle.

"Don’t," he said, finally.

But the word came out low. Almost hoarse.

Daisy stared at him like she was trying to burn a hole straight through his skull. "Don’t what?"

"Let’s talk at home," Theo said, his voice still unreadable. He glanced at her for just a second.

"Why?" Her voice rose again. "Didn’t we agree to sign a divorce before?" The word divorce stung more than she expected. But it was what he said, wasn’t it? In that cold office, three days ago.

How could three days feel like a lifetime?

She scoffed. "Oh wait, that was before you decided to spend three full days pretending to be Elias, huh? What was that? Some dramatic send-off? Like one of those ’at least we parted on good terms’ kind of nonsense?"

Theo let out a long, tight breath through his nose. "Can you just keep your mouth shut until we get home?"

"No. Why should I?" she snapped, arms folded in that signature sassy way of hers. "I might explode if all this frustration gets stuck inside."

His fingers tightened on the wheel. "Then should I shut your mouth for you?"

She didn’t blink. "Try me."

Without another word, Theo jerked the steering wheel and pulled the car to the side of the road with a sharp turn. The tires hissed against the wet asphalt, the sudden halt jolting her slightly forward.

And before Daisy could fully process what was happening, Theo leaned across the console and pulled her closer, his hand firm behind her neck.

Then he kissed her.

Rough and messy. Full of everything he’d left unsaid.

It was furious. Like he was angry she made him feel, and angrier that he couldn’t stop.

Her eyes widened, breath stolen, not just by the kiss, but by the sheer intensity of it. The rain outside blurred the windows, matching the haze spreading in her chest.

When he finally pulled back, breath heavy and chest rising, he barely had a second to register the fire in her eyes.

Smack!

The sharp sound of her slap echoed inside the car, louder than the rain tapping on the windshield.

Theo’s face jerked slightly to the side. He didn’t flinch and didn’t speak.

Daisy’s hand trembled in the air for a second before she dropped it to her lap.

"That," she said through gritted teeth, "was for pretending to be someone you’re not. For kissing me like that after lying to my face. And for making me feel something when I should’ve known better."

She turned toward the window again, jaw clenched, fighting off the sting in her eyes.

"Next time," she muttered, "warn me before you go full Elias on me. I might carry pepper spray."

Theo slowly turned his face back toward the road, his cheek red where her hand had landed. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

"So, you preferred him over me?" His voice was low, but this time it wasn’t sharp, it was bitter.

Daisy blinked. "What?"

He turned to her again, jaw tight. "When I was Elias... you laughed more. You looked at me differently. You liked me."

Her chest tightened. "No... you should ask yourself... Do you prefer kissing me as Elias?"