He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33

(Daisy’s POV)

I knew the message was there before I even looked at my phone.

It was a strange kind of awareness, the kind that didn’t need confirmation. The kind that sat quietly in the back of your mind and

waited for you to acknowledge it.

I dropped my bag on the chair and moved further into the room, trying to act like nothing had changed, like the day had ended the

moment I saw who the message was from.

My phone rested on the table where I had left it.

Silent and waiting.

I glanced at it once, then looked away immediately, like that would somehow undo the fact that it existed.

If I don’t open it, it doesn’t exist.

That made sense.

It was a perfectly reasonable approach.

I moved around the room, doing small, unnecessary things. Adjusting the edge of my bed. Picking up a book I wasn’t planning to read. Setting it back down again. Sitting. Standing. Walking two steps and stopping for no reason.

I did this, all while being very aware of the fact that I was avoiding something.

I walked back to the table. Stared at the phone. Picked it up again. And then set it back down again.

“No,” I muttered under my breath. “Not yet.”

Because opening it meant stepping back into that world. It meant acknowledging that whatever happened outside, whatever I tried to leave behind at the door, was still very much attached to me.

And I wasn’t ready for that.

Not yet.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing in particular, trying to convince myself that I could just… ignore it. But curiosity has always been a dangerous thing.

And mine had never been particularly well-behaved.

After a moment, I reached for the phone again. This time, I didn’t put it down.

I unlocked it, opened the message, and read.

“You did good today.”

That was it.

No greeting. No explanation. No context.

Just… that.

I stared at the screen for a few seconds longer than necessary, like the words might rearrange themselves into something less

unsettling if I gave them time.

They didn’t.

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