Chapter 38 : Giving Up Everything

Astrid

I was hardly able to sleep the night after I learned about the ethics investigation. I felt so guilty about everything. I thought about confessing to my dad all night. If I told him the truth about what happened, he would understand that Tristan hadn’t done anything wrong.

I couldn’t do it though. I just didn’t know how he was going to react. He might be angry with me for hiding it, or he might be mad at Tristan for rejecting me.

We had enough going on. Tristan and I were both dealing with so much, I didn’t want to pile anything else on top of it.

I skipped breakfast the next morning and even though dad wasn’t happy about it, he didn’t pressure me. I spent the rest of the morning in my room. I felt like a petulant child, or a depressed teenager, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to be alone.

The confrontation with Charles kept playing in my head over and over again. The fear that he’d shown when Tristan had threatened him was undoubtedly real, but then there was that s