The hallway felt colder than usual.
Students brushed past me in a blur of chatter and perfume, but all I could see was the folded note burning like ice in my hand.
"Your father wasn't framed by accident.Don't trust the people closest to the truth.— L."
The rest of the cafeteria had faded into background noise the moment I read those words.
Jenna gripped my arm.
"Sierra," she whispered, "this is insane. Who sends a note like this? Is this some kind of prank? Vivian's new tactic?"
I shook my head slowly.
Vivian's cruelty was always direct, always public.
No—this was someone who operated in shadows.
Someone who knew exactly what they were doing.
Leon still sat beside me, silent and unreadable.His gaze had drifted between the note and my face as though evaluating both.
Finally, he spoke.
"Where did you get this?" His voice was low, even—but too sharp to ignore.
I folded the note carefully, slipping it into my pocket.
"From someone who clearly knows more than they should."
Leon's eyes narrowed.Not suspicious—calculating.
Before he could ask more, the bell rang.
Perfect timing—or terrible timing.It was hard to tell in this place.
The cafeteria exploded into movement.Students fled for their next periods, laughter and footsteps echoing down the hall.
I stood up quickly.
"I need to go," I murmured.
"Where?" Jenna demanded.
"Class," I lied.
Leon stood as well, blocking the edge of the table just slightly—subtle, but deliberate.
"Sierra," he said quietly, "if someone is threatening you—"
"I don't need protection," I interrupted.
His eyes darkened.
"That wasn't what I meant."
Before I could decipher the meaning in his tone, Jenna wedged herself between us.
"She said she's fine," Jenna snapped. "Back off, Lin."
Leon didn't move.But his gaze never left mine.
"You're acting like someone who knows the storm is coming," he said softly. "Be careful you don't drown in it."
Then he left, his broad shoulders disappearing into the crowd.
Jenna exhaled loudly.
"Why is he like this?" she muttered. "He watches you like you're a math equation he can't solve, then drops ominous one-liners like he's auditioning for a drama."
I forced a smile.
But inside, my mind was racing.
Leon Lin…had noticed every move I made in the last twenty-four hours.
That alone was dangerous.
But the note?
That was something else entirely.
"L."
Was it Leon?Or someone using his initial?
Or someone trying to frame him?
Or…
I stopped walking.
A memory surfaced in my mind—a tiny, almost irrelevant detail from the original story.
The first false rumor about my father began in this school.And it started with a leaked document.
A financial report.One that showed "irregularities."
Even though the report was fake.
But I remembered the novel clearly:The report wasn't leaked online.It was printed.Left on a desk.Discovered by a student, then shared.
A physical copy.
Which meant—
"Sierra?" Jenna tugged my sleeve. "Why are you staring at the wall like you solved a murder?"
"Not solved," I whispered, adrenaline rising."But I think I know where it began."
The Administrative Wing
The administrative wing of Lin Academy was one of the few areas students avoided unless they needed permission slips or had gotten into trouble.
Perfect place to hide secrets.
Perfect place… to plant evidence.
I pushed open the door.The hallway was quiet, polished, sterile.
Jenna's eyes widened.
"Sierra, what— what are we doing here?"
"Finding the truth."
"That sounds like the beginning of an expulsion notice."
I ignored her, walking straight toward the small stack of filing shelves near the faculty lounge—the place where teachers often left assignments, attendance sheets…
And financial documents.
My pulse quickened.
This school wasn't just a school.It was a playground for the elite.A place where powerful families practiced influence, connections, and… manipulation.
Which made it the perfect place to leak a document meant to destroy the Song family.
I scanned the shelves.
Nothing obvious.But then—
A folder slightly out of place.
The label read:
"Student Welfare Budget – Pending Updates"
Most people would think nothing of it.
But I noticed the dust.
The entire shelf was undisturbed—except this one folder.
I reached out and pulled it open.
Empty.
No, not empty—
A single sheet lay at the bottom.
I lifted it slowly.
A financial statement.Outdated.But not school-related.
My heart froze.
It was a report from Song Corporation.
My father's company.
Jenna gasped.
"What is that doing here?!"
My blood went cold.
The document was real—but the highlighted inconsistencies were not.
Exactly like the forged documents used to frame him in the novel.
This was the first link.
The first chain.
Proof that the plot against my father began in this school.
Footsteps echoed down the hall.
Jenna grabbed my arm.
"Sierra! Someone's coming!"
I shoved the document back into the folder, closing it silently.Jenna dragged me into the nearest classroom, slamming the door shut without making a sound.
We ducked behind the teacher's desk just as the door across the hall opened.
Two voices.Adult.Male.
And one of them I recognized instantly.
The principal.
The other?
A man whose voice I had only heard once in the original story—when he ordered the investigation against my father.
"…The file was moved," the unfamiliar voice said calmly.
My breath caught.
"You're imagining things," the principal replied.
"No," the man said. "Someone touched it. The dust is disturbed."
I clamped a hand over Jenna's mouth.Her heartbeat thundered against my palm.
"Find out who was here," the man said. "If the Song girl has started digging—"
"We'll take care of it," the principal said quickly.
My veins filled with ice.
Song girl.
Sierra Song.
Me.
The footsteps retreated.
Jenna grabbed my shoulders.
"Sierra—this is huge. This is—this is dangerous."
"Yes," I whispered.A slow smile curved on my lips.
"But now we know where to start."
After School
When the final bell rang, I lingered at my locker, reading the note again.
Someone had warned me before I found the document.
Someone who knew the truth.Someone who wanted me to uncover it.
Someone who signed with one letter:
L.
Leon?Or someone else entirely?
"Sierra."
I flinched.
Leon Lin stood behind me, leaning casually against the lockers, arms crossed.
But his eyes weren't cold.
They were sharp.Focused.Searching.
"You disappeared during break," he said.
"So did you," I replied.
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Touché."
Silence stretched between us—tense, electric, threaded with something neither of us wanted to name.
Then his expression shifted.
More serious.
"Don't walk around alone," he said quietly. "Not today."
"Why?" I asked.
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
"A dangerous person was seen in the administrative wing earlier."
My breath caught.
He knew.
He knew someone was looking for me.
Or…
He knew I was the one they were looking for.
"Who told you that?" I asked.
Leon's gaze didn't waver.
"That doesn't matter."
"Yes," I whispered. "It does."
For the first time, Leon looked away.
Just briefly.
"That's not something you should know yet."
Yet.
A chilling word.
As if he expected—No.
As if he knew I was going to uncover everything.
"Sierra," he said softly, "trust me."
I stared at him.
At his steady eyes.His composed posture.His unsettling ability to see right through me.
And I realized something terrifying.
Leon Lin wasn't just watching me.
He was involved.
Somehow.
Somewhere.
Deep in the shadows of my father's fall.
But whether he was friend or enemy?
I didn't know.
Not yet.
I stepped back.
"I don't trust anyone," I said.
Leon's jaw tightened.
"Then be careful not to learn the hard way."
He turned and walked past me, his footsteps echoing down the hall.
The note in my pocket felt heavier than before.
"Don't trust the people closest to the truth."
My eyes followed Leon's retreating form.
And for the first time, I wondered—
Was "L." warning me…about him?
The world around me darkened as the hallway emptied.
Shadows stretched across the lockers, long and thin like grasping fingers.
I exhaled slowly.
The story was changing.
And so was I.
If they thought the villainess would stay quiet—they were wrong.
Very wrong.
I clutched the note in my hand.
The real game had begun long before I woke up in this world.
But now?
Now I was finally playing.
And I intended to win.