Chapter Thirty Seven

Thea’s eyes opened slowly to the sun that slipped through her curtains, her eyes swollen with tears. The silence in her room was deafening, the only thing she could hear for hours was her own ragged breathing and the distant sound of the bustling city. Her body felt limp on the bed and her head blank as she stared at the wall. She didn’t have the motivation to do anything or talk to anyone.

Her life as she knew it was over.

It's been two days since the incident and all she could do was stay curled up in her bed, staring into space for hours, crying and then drift right back to sleep.

The stares from everyone in school mortified her, haunted her dreams. She couldn’t bring herself to eat anything , her appetite seemed to have vanished with her sense of self worth.

A knock comes on her door and Seth walks in with a tray of food, dressed in a random tee-shirt and trousers. He didn’t go to work, he couldn’t, not when he knew Thea was breaking on the inside.

Thea's eyes flickered towards him, watching him lazily. This would be the second time he brought a tray of food into her room that day.

He sets it on her bedside table quietly, his eyes caught sight of the breakfast he had brought for her hours ago, sitting on the table untouched. A muscle in his jaw tightened.

“You haven’t eaten.” he said simply, hands limp to the side.

Thea said nothing, her eyes fixed on an invisible hole in her wall.

“Thea..”

“I'm not hungry.” she said weakly, not sparing him a glance.

Seth sighed in frustration, eyes fixed on Thea in silence. He has watched her waste away in her room for the past two days, crying and laying in bed. It made his heart ache badly, seeing her like this.

“Get up.” he said simply but she didn’t move, she didn’t even act like she heard him.

Seth leans over the bed, hands stretched towards her shoulder to try to help her sit up but his touch, despite how gentle it was, felt ice cold. She flinches, jerking her shoulders away from his grip.

“Don’t touch me!” she mumbled, pushing him away but Seth held on still.

His grip on her only tightened as he forced her on her feet, arms wrapped around her waist to steady her.

“Let me go!” She cried, punching him in the chest as he held on.

His eyes were fixed on her in silence. Their bodies were close, close enough for her to smell his cologne and his aftershave..close enough to feel his steady heartbeat under her palm.

“How long are you going to do this for?” he asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.

Thea paused, her body vibrating with every breath she took. She wasn’t feeling too well and her body felt heavy on her feet.

“I don’t need your pity! I want you to leave me the fuck alone!”

Seth’s eyes flickered with pain, does she really think he was doing all this out of pity?

"Pity?" he scoffed, the word laced with disdain. "If I wanted to do charity, Thea, I know exactly where to go."

Thea stared at him, stung by the sudden shift in his tone.

"You think this is a solution?" Seth continued, gesturing around the darkened room. "Hiding in bed, letting yourself rot away? This isn't helping anything. It's pathetic."

His words, blunt and brutal, hit her like a physical blow. She recoiled, tears pricking her eyes again.

"Get out." she muttered.

"No." Seth shot back. "I'm not going to leave you like this."

"What do you want from me?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"I want you to get up." Seth stated, his eyes hard. "You can't stay in this bed forever, Thea. You can't hide from the world. Eventually, you'll have to get out of this house. You have classes to attend. A life to live."

Thea's gaze moved away from him, he was right. She had a life to live and she couldn’t stay hidden in this room forever.

Seth sighed, his pain carried through the sound. He brushes his fingers through her hair briefly, trying his best to hide the ache he felt for her.

"And you have a friend who's worried sick about you. I took the liberty of inviting Daisy over. She'll be here in an hour."

Thea's eyes widened in surprise and then renewed horror. "Daisy? No! Seth, you can't! I can't see anyone! Not like this!"she whispered, tears threatening to roll down her chin.

"You can, and you will," he countered, his gaze unyielding. "She's your friend. She cares about you and she's worried too.." He wasn't being gentle, but he needed to push her out of this mess.. "So, you will get out of this bed. You will take a shower. You will freshen up and look good for your friend at least."

Thea shook her head, she wasn’t ready to meet anyone but Seth clearly wasn’t having it.

“I took care of it. You have nothing to worry about.” he said, digging his hand into his pocket and handing her a brand new phone. Thea takes the phone, her fingers trembling slightly. She wasn't ready to see what people had to say..

“I can’t..”

“You’ll have to trust me.” Seth said calmly. “I handled it.”

He releases her slowly and her skin tingles where their skin had touched, eyes fixed on him in silence. What did he mean by he handled it?

He turned and walked towards the curtains, pulling them open with a sharp tug. Bright afternoon sunlight flooded the room, making Thea wince and shield her eyes.

"One hour," Seth said, his voice echoing in the now brightly lit room. "Don't make me come back here and drag you out."

He left the room, the door clicking shut behind him, leaving Thea blinking in the sudden light, the harshness of his words still echoing in her ears. He was right. He was cold, but he was right. She couldn't hide forever. And Daisy... Daisy was her friend. She didn't deserve to see her like this.

Thea glanced down at the phone and switched it back on. She had no clue what to expect but she searched for that video anyway, alongside the article..

She frowned, why can't she find it? She used different keywords, checked the website that published it first but the website was gone, nowhere to be found.

All she saw was multiple news outlets getting sued for emotional distress and slander and there were over a dozen of them too. A few of these companies are requesting people to beg the CEO of the Blackwood Empire for mercy.

Blackwood Empire? Why does that sound awfully familiar? But none of that was her concern, her videos were gone and nobody seemed to be talking about the incident either.

That's …odd. Was this what he meant when he said he handled it?

Thea glanced at the door in silence, another odd thing was the fact that he cared to bring her food and check in on her. She glanced at the time, it was twenty minutes past the one hour Seth had given her.

She hurried to the bathroom and soaked herself in an immersive shower. She hadn’t taken her bath or brushed in a while and she spent her time getting rid of the imaginary stench she perceived on her body.

A few minutes later, she was in her closet trying to figure out what to wear. The doors swung open just as the bathrobe she had on slipped to the ground around her ankles.

Thea gasped, spinning around. Seth, brows furrowed and ready to force her into the tube if he had to, landed on her. His cold look moved to something else…

A look Thea had seen in his eyes that night.. Those bedroom eyes that seem to plead for mercy..

Seth took in the soft curve of her bare shoulders, the delicate line of her back, the gentle swell of her hips and her perky nipples. His breath hitched, all these things had driven him insane that night and judging by how tight his grip on the door handle was, he was fighting to stay reasonable.

The air in the room thickened, charged with something both of them wanted desperately. He wanted her…those lips on his…so damn bad.

Seth forced his eyes to stare at her face instead, reminding himself to ignore the fact that she was naked..and so close..

She was breathing heavily, her nipples perched up in response to his sweeping gaze. It was the same as if he had touched her..

"You're not ready,” he said, his voice flat. “It's been over an hour.”

“You…you barged in!” Thea stammered, covering her chest with her hands but it was a tard bit too late for that now. “ I am getting ready!”

“Clearly.” Seth drawled. “By the time you’re done, your friend would have aged into an old woman.”

Thea scoffed, is Seth trying to make a joke? “I..I'm going as fast as I can.”

His eyes narrowed down on her. “We both know you’re not. She's waiting”,

He turned on his heels and walked away, leaving Thea to catch her breath, her cheeks flushed red! Just one look and she was already a mess!

Thea groaned as she headed back to the restroom, she needed to clean up.