The unexpected request was not what Clara had wanted to hear. She wanted to get her revenge against Xavier completed quickly and not drawn out over the week. There was also the question of whether or not he was actually trying to ask her out on a date. Clara didn’t want to find out if he really wanted to date her or if she had misunderstood. There was a way out of the situation that should work. Caiden’s odd suggestion from the night before had likely been referring to this. “If we meet tomorrow, it can’t be a date. I have a boyfriend,” she said firmly. She knew that she was going to need to go straight to see Arthur after parting with Xavier tonight to explain that he was going to have to pretend to be her boyfriend if Xavier saw them together. Xavier looked disappointed. There was no other way to describe the look on his face. Clara frowned. She was annoyed that he wanted a date with someone who reminded him of her original self. He had been so mean to her the day she had

Clara sighed and got up from her cramped position. Now that she was calmer, she could feel her back aching. She had spent too much time sitting down on the coach and lounging against the bathtub to speak to Caiden was taking its toll. “I’ve calmed down now,” she said. “I’m not keen on getting revenge. I’ll make my final decision in the morning. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions on how to torment him in case I change my mind?” “I’ll let you know tomorrow,” Caiden said very insincerely. Clara glared at him. If the demon wasn’t even going to pretend that there was a revenge plan in the works, it was obvious that she never chose revenge for Xavier. *** Clara wasn’t surprised when Arthur sat next to her at breakfast and handed her a stack of paper. Now she had to pretend she didn’t already know all the information Arthur had given her. “I looked up Xavier King. He does good investigative work,” Arthur told her. “Here are some of his articles and other information about him

Clara took a moment to process Caiden’s words. He was in love with her?She had never expected a love confession from the demon she was contracted to. Clara stared at him with wide eyes. She had never ever felt so lost for words. Some part of her brain registered that she had technically received two love confessions in the past week. Clara had never ever considered Caiden as someone she would be romantically attracted to. He was very kind and she enjoyed spending time with him, but she had never thought of romantic love in relation to him. “I can see you are too shocked to speak,” Caiden said softly. “I thought this would happen. I am aware that you probably don’t return my feelings. I just couldn’t stay silent on the matter for any longer.” Clara opened her mouth and closed it again. She didn’t know how to reply. She couldn’t reject him right after he confessed and she couldn’t return his confession either. She had been put on the spot. She could feel her cheeks heating up. She

Clara smiled in satisfaction. She had only been at the company for two hours and she had found a way to get to her latest revenge target. Caiden appeared next to her. Clara did her best not to react to the sudden appearance of the person she wanted to see the most. “I see you’ve found why I directed you here,” he said. “Are you excited?” Clara did her best discreet nod and risked a smile in his direction. “Excellent. I think you will enjoy this one,” Caiden said. “I’ll leave you in peace now. You’ve got some actual work to do.” Clara knew he was very right. She had picked out Victoria immediately for revenge, now she had to pick four other influencers that would actually be a good fit for the company and could contribute well to an advertising campaign. She also needed to prove why Victoria would be a good choice for the experiment. Clara opened up an internet browser on her computer and began to search up the names on the list. She needed to pick people were interested in f

Clara stepped into the hotel lobby and took out her phone to call Victoria. “Hello, who is it?” Victoria drawled when she picked up the call. “I’m a busy person so make it quick.” Victoria’s voice was gratingly familiar. Clara proceeded calmly with the conversation. She wasn’t going to let her past bad memories involving Victoria bother her. “I’m Clarissa from St. Clair. I’ve arrived downstairs for our meeting,” she replied. “Have I come at a bad time? We arranged to meet at this time yesterday.” “No, it’s fine. I just get a lot of nuisance calls,” Victoria said quickly. “I will come downstairs now.” “I will be in the restaurant,” Clara said and ended the call. She walked into the hotel restaurant. This hotel was not quite the Savoy, but it was still very expensive to stay at and had been Victoria's choice. St. Clair was footing the bill for the hotel stay to compensate Victoria for her travel expenses. The other influencers had selected considerably less expensive hotels. Clara