ISABELLA
I froze. “What?”
He met my eyes, unflinching. “I don’t want you to get attached, Isabella. We’ve always kept things... casual. And I plan to keep it that way.”
The words stung more than I wanted to admit. I wanted to snap something back, something sarcastic, but the truth was, I was too embarrassed to say anything at all. Instead, I just nodded, pretending that it didn’t bother me.
“Fine.”
I got up, walking out of his office without another word, feeling like a fool. I had thought, for a brief moment, that things between us were shifting but I was wrong.
It seemed that nothing had changed at all.
I sat on the edge of my bed, the soft cotton sheets tangled around my legs, my fingers absently twisting a lock of my hair. The soft hum of the city outside barely registered in
