Chapter 3

After hanging up, I got up and pulled out all my old textbooks from the bottom of my drawer.

Once my passion for studying came back, I got totally absorbed in it. The deeper I got, the more unstoppable I felt.

As dawn broke, I got up to pour myself a glass of water, but suddenly, the room started spinning.

I touched my forehead. Only then did I realize I was running a fever, and my stomach was feeling pretty queasy too.

I dug out some fever medicine and set it on the table. After I finished making myself some simple food and stepped out, I heard the keypad lock beep at the door.

James stood there, holding a bag, and our eyes met.

James looked away, clearly feeling awkward, then walked in and put the bag on the table. He sounded annoyed. "Why didn't you answer my calls?"

"I guess my phone must've died," I replied.

He blinked in surprise at how calm I was, then scowled. "You're not irresponsible. You turned your phone off on purpose just to make me worry. Seriously, how childish can you be?"

The accusation in his voice, paired with that look of contempt and certainty on his face, left me feeling lost. Was this really the light I'd been following for five years?

I was burning up with a fever, shivering one minute and sweating the next. All I wanted was to put something in my stomach, take my meds, and crash in bed. Arguing with him was the last thing I wanted right now.

I stared at him. "Maybe you should check your phone. Do you even know how many times I called you last night? If something had really happened to me, you'd just be talking to my corpse right now."

James glanced at his phone, clearly feeling guilty, but couldn't swallow his pride. "Last night, Susan was being followed. Her heart's not great, and with the storm raging outside, I was worried something might happen to her, so I—"

"I get it," I cut him off, not even bothering to hear the rest. My eyes drifted to the bag on the table, with the logo for "Alan's Seafood" printed on it.

Seeing my reaction, James thought I was touched and raised his eyebrows smugly. "I know you're mad, but I brought you some seafood."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Did you forget I'm allergic to seafood?"

James froze, totally stunned.

He must've just remembered that it was Susan Lane who loved seafood.

I didn't bother to look at his face. I went into the kitchen, turned off the heat, and headed straight for my room.

I was already wiped out, and after all the drama with James, I just wanted to stay in bed and not move a muscle.

James barged in, grabbed my wrist, and hauled me off the mattress like a rag doll. "Spit it out, Claire. The silent treatment is childish.

"I already told you, some creep was tailing Susan. What was I supposed to do, leave her on the sidewalk?

"She even begged me to say sorry to you. But you're so twisted up with jealousy that you'd rather I confess to cheating that never happened. That it?"

He was the one with the medical degree, but all he saw was drama, not the fever flushing my cheeks or the fact I could barely stand. His eyes branded me selfish, petty, and toxic.

I didn't even want to explain myself anymore. I was just completely drained, both physically and emotionally.

He glared at me, my silence clearly getting under his skin. He shoved my hand away and threw out coldly, "I'm crashing at the office for the next few days. Maybe you should take some time to think about yourself."

With that, he walked out without looking back.

The door slammed shut with a deafening bang.

My hands trembling, I bent down to grab my phone from where it had landed on the floor. Before everything went dark, I managed to shoot Wynnie a quick message.