Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Over the next few days, friends kept reaching out-some confused, others defending me. The messages kept coming: [Aurelia, don't be mad. Dashiell's just being childish. This Thalia girl? She's his freshman year crush who went abroad before he could even ask her out. He's been hung up on her ever since because he never got closure.] [You've been his only girlfriend all these years. Dashiell won't even let other girls touch him, but with you... it was real attraction. Don't take it personally-once the novelty wears off, he'll probably come crawling back.] [After you left that night, Dashiell looked totally messed up, like he'd lost his soul or something. This Thalia chick is high-maintenance as hell... I think you two getting back together is inevitable.] Reading all this gave me a massive headache. Eventually I just stopped responding altogether. I focused on preparing for my transfer to Austin. Austin was only a two-hour drive from my hometown. I knew my parents and brother would be thrilled when they found out I was moving closer to home. The night before leaving for Austin, I went to the gym like usual and came home to sleep. But when I opened my door, my apartment was completely trashed. My bedroom closet was destroyed-clothes that had been neatly folded were wrinkled and thrown everywhere. My makeup was even worse. Bottles and containers were shattered all over the floor. I was shaking, about to call the police, when I saw Thalia coming out of the elevator carrying bags. When our eyes met, she smiled sweetly: "Oh, you're back! Perfect timing. I couldn't find the jewelry Dashiell bought you-are you wearing it?" Seeing my confusion, she explained helpfully: "I saw all the stuff Dashiell bought you on his shopping apps and got kinda jealous... so he gave me his passwords and told me to, like, get rid of anything that was yours. But since you've used some of this stuff, and I'm super OCD about cleanliness, I had to..." I was about to lose it when Dashiell rushed in. He saw the disaster zone and my furious expression. He rubbed his forehead anxiously and said quietly: "How did it get this bad?" Dashiell stared at the mess, looking genuinely surprised. I could see him trying to calm himself down. 16:22 Dear Hubby Your Biggest Mistake? Thinking I'd Res Instead Chapter 4 After a long moment, he gently coaxed Thalia toward the door: "I can handle this. Give me five minutes, okay?" Worried about Thalia getting jealous, he added: "Aurelia can get pretty crazy when she's pissed. I don't want you getting hurt." After Thalia reluctantly left, Dashiell closed the door. He loosened his tie. He walked over and stared down at me for half a minute before his voice softened: "I didn't expect this to happen." He looked at me with those intense eyes. The atmosphere got weird. After a while, his Adam's apple bobbed and his voice went husky: "Aurelia, we..." In the empty apartment, my phone suddenly rang. It was my parents-they'd heard about me moving back home. They wanted me to meet a blind date tomorrow night- I gave them some half-hearted responses. When I hung up, Dashiell's expression was deadly serious. He stared at me for a few seconds before asking in disbelief: "You're going on a blind date?!" 16:23 Chapter S