He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 138

Chapter 138

The type of car that made you sit carefully because you suddenly became aware of your financial status.

It smelled clean too.

Expensive somehow.

Archer drove calmly beside me while soft music played quietly in the background.

He didn’t interrogate me. Didn’t pry.

Which somehow made me more aware that he knew something had definitely happened.

Eventually he slowed beside a bus stop a few minutes from Maplecrest.

“There,” he said. “Technically not your house.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly while opening the door.

“It’s nothing.”

I stepped out, then leaned slightly back toward the window.

“Still,” I said. “Thank you.”

He nodded once.

Then added lightly:

“Next time I catch you with pollen grain in your eyes, I’m driving you directly home.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“I hope so.”

Then he reached for his phone to hand it to me.

“I know you still won’t text me.”

“I will.”

His brows lifted.

“You will?”

“Yes.”

I hesitated briefly before adding:

“Eventually,”

That made him laugh softly again. “Fair enough.”

Then he looked at me properly.

“Bye, Daisy.”

“…Bye, Archer.”

The car pulled away smoothly afterward.

And I stood there for a moment watching it disappear.

He was nice.

Like… genuinely nice. Which felt suspicious in this economy.

But before I could think too deeply about it, the ache in my chest returned again.

Sharp and heavy.

DeLuca.

Everything circled back to him somehow. I hated that and hated how helpless I was regarding it.

My phone suddenly rang.

Aria.

I stared at the screen briefly before answering.

“Girl,” Aria immediately exploded. “I have been texting you all day. When I see you, I’m beating your ass.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered tiredly. “My data wasn’t working.”

“The messages delivered.”

“… My soul wasn’t working.”

There was a pause.

Then:

“What?- Okay wait,” she said. “You sound sad.”

I swallowed.

“Soursound sad too.”

Aria sighed dramatically.

“Because of this DeLuca and Mabel onsense.”

There it was. The thing….

I forced my voice to stay normal.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I guess our mission over then.”

Silence.

Then, “Is it?” Aria asked and I could hear her smile.

The next morning, I left for school so early that if anyone saw me, they would probably assume I was an exceptionally serious student.

Meanwhile I was actually an emotionally unstable student.

A very important distinction.

I had heard DeLuca return home last night.

He moved around the apartment for a while. Opened drawers. Closed doors.

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