Hardin smashes his phone

Hardin smashes his phone on the sixth day recorded in his pages, after confronting his pattern of cruelty, blame, and dishonesty toward Tessa. The destruction gives his remorse a physical expression, while the written confession later exposes the depth of his self-recognition to Tessa.

Circumstances and Recognition

The entry begins with Hardin waking with swollen, bloodshot eyes after breaking down the previous night. He describes the weight on his chest as intensified and says he can barely see straight. His questions turn quickly from self-condemnation to an account of responsibility: he recognizes that he blamed Tessa for problems he had caused and treated her badly when she tried to speak with him or challenged his behavior.

Hardin identifies a pattern rather than a single offense. He had been rude when Tessa tried to discuss difficult matters, yelled when she called him out, and lied to her repeatedly. He also acknowledges that she had forgiven him every time, and considers whether he relied on that forgiveness in treating her as he did. The entry shifts the explanation for their damage away from blame directed at Tessa and toward his own repeated choices.

The Destruction

After this reckoning, Hardin smashes his phone beneath his boot on the sixth day. The entry does not specify what prompts the physical act beyond the anguish and guilt he has described, so the destruction stands as a stark, concrete endpoint to the passage rather than an explained solution. The phone is broken; the behavior and harm he has just named remain unresolved.

Tessa Reads the Entry

The pages reach Tessa inside a shoebox. As she reads the paragraph a second time, she struggles to hold back tears. She has been telling herself that Hardin must have written the pages long ago, after his previous return from London, and that he has since changed his mind and wants nothing to do with her. She tries to accept that belief and promises herself she will read only one more paragraph.

The day-six entry interrupts that effort with Hardin’s direct self-accusation and admission that he relied on her forgiveness. Unable to continue without breaking down, Tessa puts the pages back in the box and slams the lid shut. She leaves the shoebox in the closet and goes to the bathroom to check her makeup before returning downstairs to face Landon. The phone-smashing entry therefore appears not as an isolated act of destruction, but as part of a record of remorse that Tessa can barely bear to read.