Chapter Ten: The Bracelet
Mrs. Keller's perfume was strong, and it stayed in the air long after she fixed herself.
Theo stepped back, rubbing his face as if he could erase the entire scene from existence. "That was a mistake," he muttered under his breath.
Mrs. Keller adjusted her blouse, and Theo noticed how her smile was too confident for his liking. "You always say that," she said softly, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "One day you'll mean it."
"Don't count on it," Theo replied dryly. "Now leave."
"You'll regret speaking to me like that."
"Probably," he said, holding the door open. "Still, goodbye."
When the door closed, Theo locked it and leaned against the wall for a moment. He hated how easily she slithered into his space.
She was smart, manipulative, and always too close to the people in charge of Althene University. He didn't trust her one bit.
He turned toward his desk, where his tablet flashed. Theo opened the security app he'd set up earlier and scanned for nearby signals. A tiny red dot blinked…Mrs. Keller's phone.
He smirked. "Let's see what you're up to, sweetheart."
Her voice came through his earpiece so smoothly as she was making her way back.
"Playing innocent now, are you?" she muttered to herself. "You'll come running eventually, Theodor. Men always do."
Theo rolled his eyes. "In your dreams," he said under his breath and turned off the device.
His gaze fell to the other side of the room…Danielle's dorm. The light under her door was still on.
He wondered if she was still awake, and if she was still angry about earlier.
He sighed, picking up a small velvet bag from the drawer. Inside was a bracelet made of purple stones wrapped around silver wire, the same one Daniele had admired at the shop window.
He didn't know why he bought it. Maybe guilt. Maybe it was an old habit that Theo couldn't get rid of after spending so much time with Bae.
He slipped into her room, trying his best to maintain his ninja steps. Luckily, Danielle was asleep, hiding under the blanket.
Theo placed the little bag gently beside her head and whispered, "Happy birthday, Bunny."
Then he left before he could think twice.
When Danielle woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was the small purple bag beside her. Her fingers wanted to touch it, and some sudden confusion filled her half-sleepy mind.
She sat up and opened it carefully. Inside was the bracelet she'd seen yesterday.
"What?"
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the tiny card attached.
"Happy birthday, Bunny."
Nobody had called her that since her father. Not her friends, not even her mother when she was still around. It was his name for her…his only name for her.
Her throat held the saliva as she whispered to herself, "Dad?"
But reason cut through the hope almost instantly. It can't be him. He hadn't called or written since the moment she got there.
Still, something about the neat handwriting, the way the words were written so carefully, made her feel that little hope.
Danielle fastened the bracelet around her wrist and stared at it for a long time before getting up.
By the time Theo stepped out of his room, hair still messy from sleep, she was already standing by the door, dressed and ready.
He blinked in surprise. "You're up early."
Danielle didn't answer. She just walked past him toward the stairs.
Theo raised a brow. "You're welcome, by the way."
Still nothing.
He sighed. "Typical."
Theo didn't follow her inside the classroom. He needed a coffee or five, and an excuse to get away from all the people that followed Danielle everywhere she went.
He sat in the corner of the cafeteria, and opened a book in front, his phone connected to a discreet earpiece.
Thanks to his new "friendship" with the janitor, he had small listening devices planted in every classroom Danielle attended.
The man thought Theo was part of the administration's security team. He didn't ask questions as long as he got paid.
Theo stirred his coffee and listened.
At first, it was just the professor's voice, then the chatter of students during the break. Danielle barely spoke, as usual.
He heard her pencil scratching, some sound of a chair moving, then the laughter of some girls nearby.
"So, did you see her legs yesterday during volleyball?" one girl whispered.
"Yeah," another replied, her tone seemed to be half disgusted, the other part was curious. "Scars. Like…deep ones."
"Maybe she had an accident?"
The third girl snorted. "Or maybe she did it herself. People like her always have something messed up going on."
Theo closed his eyes for a second, remembering the line in her file…the reason Frank had given him before the mission started.
"Subject displays self-harming tendencies. Acts of rebellion against parental control."
She had been barely thirteen when it started.
Her father had tried to discipline her with stricter rules; she had found her own way to fight back…with pain.
Theo had seen dozens of classified files, but hers was one that stuck with him. Maybe because it reminded him of Bae, of what guilt could do to a person.
He took another sip of his coffee, and let out a shaky breath. 'If she finds out about her father,' he thought, 'she'll destroy herself again.'
Later that afternoon, Theo finally went back to his room for a shower. The hot water hit his skin, and he managed to wash away some of his sins.
While water was pouring, Theo quickly remembered the message that said Danielle wasn't safe, and about the bracelet he'd left on her bed.
"Bunny." He shouldn't have written that. He didn't know what made him do it. Maybe he just wanted her to smile for once.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, towel around his shoulders, Danielle was already moving down the corridor.
For some reason, he didn't notice her passing until her door closed softly behind her.
Inside Theo's room…
Danielle's heart was beating as fast as the racer's car could go. She hadn't planned to break in twice in one week, but her anger just couldn't go away.
She needed to find something…anything just to prove what kind of man Theo really was.
She looked at his desk and saw a few folders, then a coffee mug, his phone charger. She checked the drawers too, but unfortunately, they were empty.
Then Danielle noticed the locked briefcase under the bed. She crouched down, pulled it out, and picked at the latch with a bobby pin from her hair. It clicked open easily…"Hah! too easy!"
Inside were stacks of papers and an old laptop. But what caught her attention were the printed news articles on top.
"What…"
They were about her father.
Each article had the same blurred photo of him, same headline…"President Elias Geiger shot dead in his private residence."
Her breath left her lungs all at once.
She flipped through the rest, her disbelief turned into the biggest nightmare.
Every page had a detailed same story, but none of them were from public sources. They were marked "Classified and Restricted Distribution."
Danielle pressed a trembling hand against her mouth. "No…"
She looked around the room, realising the kind of secrets Theo had been keeping. He'd known. He'd known her father was dead…and…and he'd kept it from her all this time.
"Weh…" A small sound escaped her lips. It didn't sound like a sob, but a plea for this information to be untrue.
Then, footsteps started in the hallway.
Theo was coming back.
Danielle shoved the files back into the briefcase, but her fingers were shaking too hard to close it.
The doorknob turned. Her heart started pounding even harder.
And before she could move, the door opened.
"What are you doing here?"