ELLA.

The moment Leonard left, I found myself pacing around the room restlessly.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

My footsteps echoed against the floor as my mind refused to settle. Leonard had said he needed to ensure all this nonsense stopped, and judging from the determination in his voice, he had every intention of seeing it through.

Still, that didn’t stop the frustration brewing inside me and trust me, I was exhausted myself—exhausted from the endless drama, exhausted from Alex’s schemes and exhausted from constantly having to defend myself against situations I never asked to be part of.

I pressed my lips together as I continued pacing, trying to organize my thoughts, but every time I thought I had calmed down, another wave of irritation crashed into me.

Eventually, my legs grew tired and with a frustrated sigh, I finally decided to sit down.

The moment I lowered myself onto the bed, my phone buzzed loudly beside me.

My brows furrowed.

I reached for it and glanced at the screen.

An email.

Without thinking much about it, I clicked on the notification and the second the contents loaded, my face paled.

My grip around the phone tightened instantly.

It was an invitation letter.

An invitation to an inauguration ceremony.

At first, I stared at the message in confusion, reading through the details once more to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding anything.

Then realization slowly dawned on me.

From the look of things, it wasn’t even a personal invitation, It looked more like a bulk mail.

A mass invitation sent out to countless recipients.

The moment that realization settled in, I nearly cursed out loud.

Alex.

Who else could it be?

What’s wrong with him?

I stared at the screen, anger slowly building inside me.

Why was he sending out invitation letters to almost everyone?

Was he trying to make the ceremony into some grand spectacle?

Or was he simply desperate for attention?

Neither possibility made me feel any better.

I clenched my jaw.

The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became.

I was still trying to make sense of everything, still searching for answers to questions that refused to leave my mind, when the door suddenly swung open.

The sound immediately pulled me from my thoughts.

I looked up.

Lawrence stepped inside.

"Theresa," he called as he walked toward me.

His voice was calm and steady, completely different from the chaos raging inside my head.

"There is no need to attend the ceremony," he added after closing the distance between us.

I blinked.

Before I could respond, he continued.

"Leonard already took down the videos."

His words caused some of the tension in my shoulders to ease.

I hadn’t intended to attend the ceremony in the first place, not even for a second but still, hearing that the videos had already been removed brought a small sense of relief.

At least one problem had been dealt with—At least one headache was gone but even then, my thoughts remained elsewhere.

I wasn’t thinking about the ceremony anymore. I wasn’t even thinking about the videos.

What occupied my mind was Alex.

Specifically, how to make him pay for trying to make my life uncomfortable.

How to make him understand that he couldn’t keep creating problems for me whenever he pleased.

I had endured enough—more than enough and I was tired of his games, tired of his manipulation and tired of his nonsense.

"Theresa!"

Lawrence’s voice suddenly cut through my thoughts.

My eyes widened slightly.

"Are you listening to me?" he asked.

Immediately, I came back to my senses and I stared at him blankly for a moment.

The truth was embarrassing. I hadn’t heard a single thing he had said after mentioning the videos, not even one word.

I had been too lost in my own thoughts and too consumed by my anger.

"I’m listening, Lawrence," I managed to reply, forcing the words out as calmly as I could.

The lie felt weak even to my own ears.

In fact, the moment the words left my mouth, I knew they lacked conviction. My attention had been drifting for a while, and pretending otherwise wasn’t fooling anyone—least of all myself.

Still, Lawrence simply nodded, his expression remaining unchanged as though he had chosen to accept my answer without questioning it.

"Alright," he said after a brief pause, and then he hesitated slightly before speaking again. "Do you mind if I stay with you?"

His question caught me completely off guard.

I wasn’t expecting that.

My brows immediately rose in confusion as I stared at him, momentarily unsure if I had heard him correctly.

Since when did they start asking for my permission whenever they wanted to do anything? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The thought genuinely puzzled me, because not long ago, none of them would have bothered asking.

They would have simply decided what they wanted and acted accordingly.

Yet now Lawrence was standing in front of me, patiently waiting for my answer as though my opinion actually mattered.

As though my comfort mattered.

The realization left me even more confused than before.

Why the sudden change of heart?

"Suit yourself, Lawrence," I said quickly.

My response came out almost absentmindedly because, honestly, I had far too many things occupying my thoughts at the moment.

My mind was already racing in several different directions.

I needed to figure out a way to make Alex stop disturbing me.

I needed to find a way to put an end to all the chaos he kept bringing into my life.

Most importantly, I needed to get rid of everything that still bound us togethe—every connection, every tie and every reason he could use to keep inserting himself into my life.

The mere thought of him made my jaw tighten.

"Theresa, what do you think about the both of us going on a trip... I mean, like a vacation?" Lawrence suddenly asked, as he walked towards me and sat in the bed.

I immediately rolled my eyes.

What exactly was wrong with him?

Couldn’t he see I was trying to figure things out?

Of all the things to bring up right now, a vacation was the last thing on my mind.

I had problems to solve.

Questions to answer.

Important decisions to make.

Meanwhile, Lawrence was talking about trips.

I opened my mouth, fully prepared to dismiss the idea and tell him exactly how ridiculous his timing was.

But before the words could leave my lips, another voice echoed inside my head.

Nyx.

’I miss the old you!’

The memory of those words stopped me instantly and my expression softened slightly as I replayed them in my mind.

The old me.

Who exactly was that?

What was I truly like before everything changed?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how little I actually knew about myself.

Right.

Perhaps that was what I needed.

I needed to understand exactly who I was.

What I was capable of.

What kind of person I used to be.

Slowly, I turned my attention back to Lawrence.

"Lawrence, can you tell me about myself in just a few sentences?" I asked.

Without realizing it, I had moved closer to him while speaking, and the distance between us shortened considerably.

Almost immediately, Lawrence’s face lit up.

A smile spread across his features so quickly that it nearly caught me off guard.

His entire expression brightened and unless my eyes were deceiving me, he was blushing.

Actually blushing.

For a moment, I wasn’t sure whether it was because I had asked him about myself or because I had unconsciously moved closer to him.

Either possibility felt equally awkward.

Geez.

The realization made me instantly take a step back on the bed. I immediately pulled away from him, putting some space between us again.

Lawrence cleared his throat and subtly adjusted himself, as though trying to regain his composure.

"Actually," he began, his voice noticeably softer than before, "the Theresa I know is smart, brilliant, kind-hearted..."

His words caused me to pause.

I watched him carefully as he spoke.

There was something unusually sincere in his expression, and something genuine.

Then he suddenly paused.

Before I could question why, he moved closer...he wasn’t at the edge of the bed anymore.

My eyes widened slightly.

The distance between us disappeared far too quickly, his face was now dangerously close to mine.

Close enough that I could clearly see every detail of his expression.

Close enough that his lips were only a few inches away.

My breath caught in my throat.

"...and at this moment," he continued, his gaze fixed entirely on me, "you are tempting."

The words landed like a direct hit.

My stomach dropped instantly.

I swallowed hard.

Every thought in my head vanished for a second.

What a wrong move?

The realization struck me immediately.

Asking Lawrence that question had seemed harmless and simple.

But standing there now, caught under the intensity of his gaze and the dangerous closeness between us, I couldn’t help but feel like I had unknowingly stepped into something far more complicated than I had intended.