Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 252

Emma was an early riser.

By the time Theodore sent his message, she was already up and on her way to physical therapy.

Seeing his text, she thought, This is business—whatever’s going on between me and Theodore, I can’t let it affect the studio’s work.

She assumed the delivery from Ellis Studio would be sent to her home, waiting for her to try on and confirm, so she replied to Theodore: “No need for you to come back. I can handle it myself.”

Scrolling further, Emma realized she’d missed a message from Ellis Studio’s assistant; it had been pushed so far down her inbox that, with her busy schedule, she never noticed it.

She quickly typed: “Sorry, I’m not in the country right now, so I missed your message. Everything’s fine with the clothes. I’ve received them, so you can go ahead and deduct the payment.”

Ellis Studio ran on a membership model—she’d already prepaid a lump sum for their services.

Afterwards, she noticed the chat window displaying “Assistant Zane is typing…” for an oddly long time.

She wondered if Zane was writing a long explanation—maybe her balance was running low, or perhaps there was a new design to discuss.

But after a long wait, all she got was a single word: “Okay.”

A moment later, the assistant added: “Ms. Bennett, pardon me for asking—are you traveling abroad?”

Emma hesitated, unsure how to answer. In the end, she told the truth: “I’m on tour with my former mentor.”

The assistant replied, excited: “Really? That’s wonderful!”

Emma suddenly remembered she’d ordered winter clothes for Theodore, but now there was no need. She asked Zane if the designs had started; if not, she wanted to cancel.

Because of her disability, because she’d basically become a dependent at home, she’d tried to contribute in every way she could. She wanted to be worthy of the marriage—so she poured herself into the details: meals, comfort, atmosphere, anything she could offer, anything to make herself feel less like a burden.

The cufflinks were one of those things.

She wanted Theodore’s clothes to be unique, so designing cufflinks had become her little hobby over the past five years. She never knew if her designs were any good, but Ellis Studio kept receiving requests to buy them.

She used to refuse, every time, without hesitation. Those cufflinks were for Theodore alone—a token of her love, something meant to be one of a kind.

But now, with the love gone, what reason was there to keep the cufflinks?

On the other end, Zane saw her reply and, remembering the rumors about Theodore and “that young girl,” suddenly understood—and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.

Emma was about to put her phone away and head into rehearsal, when Theodore’s name popped up on her screen again.