“What is it you feel, Clara? Anger? Jealousy? Or maybe… desire?”

Clara's POV

“Clara!” Nolan’s voice cut through the rain, piercing the veil of my thoughts, and I froze, realizing too late that he had spotted me. The gleam in his eyes shifted—playful certainty melting into something sharper, more invasive.

I stumbled, retreating a step as the rain cascaded around my feet, soaking my clothes, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn away fully. “I’m—” but the words failed me as I looked back at him, tension in his gaze thickening the air.

In an instant, he disentangled himself from Rebecca, pulling away with a frustrated smirk, irritation warring with something else simmering beneath the surface. “What happened to watching your step, Clara?” he called, taunting. The edge in his voice sharpened, laced with a challenge. “I thought you were too busy being our resident Picasso.”

The rain pooled in my heart, mixing with the overwhelming urge to flee. “Just—just forget it,” I stammered, my voice thin, ready to escape this twisted reality that had consumed me.

“Forget it? How could I?” he retorted, a playful lilt gracing his words, tightening the already taut atmosphere. “You see something you like? Is that why you’re watching? Should I give you a better view?”

Rebecca glanced between us, caught in the tension, intrigued yet oblivious to the storm brewing in my heart. I felt exposed, my heart racing as I battled the turmoil within me, regretting that fate had dragged me into this moment of confrontation.

“I wasn’t watching,” I shot back, anger igniting—a fire too bright to ignore. “I was just trying to find some peace in this mess.”

“Peace?” he echoed, tilting his head slightly, his expression simmering with mock disbelief. “You’re in the midst of everything but peace. You think you can ignore me, but here you are—exposed. Wet. In need of shelter. Just like everyone else, you’re drawn to the storm I bring.”

“I don’t want your storm, Nolan!” I snapped, the words biting at the edges of my sanity. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”

“Liar,” he said smoothly, wrapping his words around my stinging claim. “You’re here right now. You watched me with her. You can’t deny it.”

“I don’t need this! I don’t need you,” I spat back, feeling the sharp ache in my chest swell.

At that moment, Rebecca wrapped her arms around Nolan’s neck, her lips curled into a satisfied smile. “Wow, Clara, must be tough standing outside in the rain while your stepbrother has fun inside, isn’t it?” she chimed, an unspoken challenge in her tone.

The humiliation of her words washed over me, and in a flash of anger, I shot back, “Better than being a glorified trophy for someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else!”

The moment hung in the air, raw and tense, my heart racing with adrenaline. But instead of retreating, I felt a sudden surge—a bravado I didn’t know where it came from.

Now Nolan stepped closer, the heat of his mockery mingling with the rain. “A trophy? That’s rich coming from you. Jealousy doesn’t quite become you, Clara. It’s like a flower wilting under the weight of a storm,” he taunted, eyes narrowed.

“Don’t you dare talk about that! You think you can toy with people, Nolan? You think I care about your games?”

His gaze darkened, the tension between us electric. “You care more than you admit,” he replied, voice low and charged. “Every glance, every fierce word—it’s all too telling.”

My chest tightened, tears pooling in my eyes as I fought against the emotions that threatened to spill forth. “You don’t know what I feel,” I whispered, my voice quaking.

“Oh? Then enlighten me,” he challenged, his tone sharp. “What is it you feel, Clara? Anger? Jealousy? Or maybe… desire?”

Once again the undercurrents of feelings surged within me, and I felt the warmth of the rain mix with the heat of my cheeks. This wasn’t just a fight anymore; it was the intersection of so many conflicting emotions, threatening to consume me whole.

Before I could respond, Rebecca nudged Nolan playfully. “Come on, let her go. She doesn’t know how to handle what she’s feeling. Don’t drag her into this.”

“No, this is fun! It’s not every day I get to feel like the bad guy, and she’s clearly not staying out of it.” He grinned at me, and my heart dropped—this was the game he played. The game we were all unwilling participants in.

“Just shut up!” I snapped, unable to contain the well of emotions boiling at the surface. A mix of anger, sadness, and acknowledgment broke through as I turned and sprinted toward the door. “You don’t matter,” echoed in my mind, but I could feel my heart sinking as I took in the scene one last time.

“Whore!” Nolan called after me, his tone sharp, slicing through the rain like a blade. “You can’t run from your own feelings! Come back!”

But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with the rain as I dashed away from the terrace, from the chaos, from him and Rebecca and everything they represented. I was a storm of my own—a whirlpool of emotions unmoored, desperately searching for a place to ground myself.

I knew I would have to face him again—I would have to confront this turmoil that refused to relent. But for now, I needed to escape the tempest he had unwittingly invited into my life, a chaos type I never wanted but found I couldn’t abandon.