CHAPTER 74: SOLID GROUND BENEATH ALL THE EMOTIONS

For a second, the car felt too quiet. The kind of quiet that comes right before a storm or right after a heart breaks.

Theo didn’t answer her. He just stared at her with his eyes dark and unreadable as they lingered on her reddened eyes and smudged lipstick.

Her throat tightened. "What? You can’t answer, can you?"

The words came out sharper than she intended. Her fingers curled around the edge of her seat, her voice trying to sound strong, but her hands already felt clammy.

He didn’t move and didn’t blink either.

Daisy’s confidence wavered.

"I—Who are you really?" she asked, this time quieter, but her question hung in the air like a loaded trigger.

No reaction.

Her heart thudded. She could hear it in her ears. He was too still. That was worse than yelling. Theo wasn’t the type to explode. He’d go silent, simmer like a slow fire, and that... that scared her more.

So instead of slapping the dashboard like she’d imagined, like she probably would have if it were anyone else, she just folded her arms tighter, willing her voice not to shake. "Fine. Say nothing. Pretend it didn’t happen. That’s what you’re good at, isn’t it?"

Theo’s jaw flexed. He finally turned toward her, eyes unreadable. "You really want to know?"

Her breath caught, but she didn’t reply. Just stared at him, heart rattling in her chest.

"I didn’t think you’d look at me the same," he said, voice low. "I thought if I was Theo again... you’d pull away. That’s why I kept being Elias."

Daisy arched her brows, startled by the raw honesty in his voice. Her defenses shot up—too fast, too high. "And why would you care?"

The words slipped out before she could stop them, sharp and unfiltered. Her pulse spiked as soon as she said them, like her own voice had turned against her.

Theo blinked, and this time his eyes, which were so often cold or guarded, softened by something that looked dangerously close to pain.

"I wonder too..." he murmured, gaze steady. "Why?"

His answer didn’t feel like one. It was a mirror, reflecting her question back at her, leaving both of them sitting in silence, breath held, hearts caught in something they didn’t quite know how to name.

Daisy frowned, "Are you trying to play push and pull with me?" Her eyes narrowed, "Because I don’t think it would work. I know I depended on you because of the money that I need, but I don’t think playing with my emotions is part of the deal."

Theo’s jaw clenched. "I’m not playing anything."

Daisy didn’t buy it. Her arms folded tighter. "Could’ve fooled me."

He didn’t answer right away. His gaze dropped to her lips, still smudged from earlier and then to the floor of the car like the answer might be there, buried under all the words they’d never said.

"I thought you wanted out," he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. "The way you looked at me at... at the hotel."

Her mouth parted in disbelief. "You... wanted out. You’re the one who said it. You didn’t even let me speak last time. You barked about divorce and told me to leave like I was some scammer trying to get your money."

"No..." His brows knitted, "I’m sorry—"

"No, no, no. It’s okay." She smiled, the kind of smile that made his chest tighten. "You were right about the money anyway. I mean, ’nothing bad about giving a donation to someone in need,’ right?" She even quoted him with his own smug tone, word for word.

It landed like a slap. He didn’t speak, but his expression cracked, the tiniest flicker of something behind the guilt.

Daisy offered him one final, tired smile. "Let’s end this for now, Mr. Kingsley. I guess I didn’t realize I was this emotionally tired."

She paused, just long enough for it to sting.

"As for our deal or whatever it was you wanted to talk about, maybe we try again after we’ve both calmed down."

She turned to the window, her voice softer now. "The rain’s almost stopped. I’ll get down here."

Then she glanced at him one last time, not with anger, but with something quieter. Resignation. "Have a good day, Theo Kingsley."

She opened the door and stepped out of the car without waiting for his response.

Inside, Theo stayed frozen, the door still half-open behind her.

Words hovered on his tongue. Reasons, regrets, excuses? but none of them made it out.

Because the truth was, even he didn’t understand why he said what he said...

Or why her absence suddenly felt louder than anything else in the car.

His jaw clenched and he took a few moments to close his eyes.

No.

He couldn’t let it end like this.

Before his thoughts could spiral further, he shoved open his door and stepped out, the drizzle catching in his hair and soaking into his shirt. He saw her just ahead, her steps slow, like her body moved but her heart hadn’t caught up yet.

"Daisy!" His voice sliced through the quiet street. She stopped.

He walked up, carefully, as though any sudden movement might scare her off.

"I know I shouldn’t be chasing after you," he said. "Not after what I said. Not after what I did."

She didn’t respond, just turned slightly, eyes unreadable.

Theo exhaled shakily. "But I can’t do this. I thought I could... pretend none of this mattered. That you didn’t matter. But the past two weeks? I’ve never felt more—no, it actually felt like hell and—"

He stopped himself.

She watched him, lips parted but silent.

"I think I know why I did all the things I did in the past three days," he said at last, voice low but steady.

Her eyes flickered. "Why?"

A beat passed.

His next words were soft, hesitant, as if he were still searching for solid ground beneath all the emotions he didn’t know he had.

"I think... I like you."