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Charlie

last update Last Updated: 2025-05-30 22:16:27

ALTHEA

We don’t sleep.

There’s no time.

By the time we get back to our room, it’s already late, and the three of us are too shocked and too angry to even think about closing our eyes.

We go over every single detail. Again and again. We check the notebooks. The sketches. The fabric swatches we tucked away in drawers. The flower lists. The old ideas. Even the stupid napkin folds.

And still, nothing makes sense.

“I just don’t get it,” Elise mutters, flipping through our notebook for the fifth time. “We kept everything here. We didn’t talk about it outside the room. We didn’t write it down in public. So how—how did she know?”

I don’t answer. I can’t. My thoughts are spinning too fast.

Marcy’s pacing. Her hair’s in a messy bun now, and she looks ready to start throwing things.

“It doesn’t matter how,” she says sharply. “We can’t use this theme anymore. It’s done. She ruined it. So now what?”

Silence.

My head feels heavy. Like it’s been stuffed full of cotton and anger and confusion.

I glan
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