The air in the hallway felt tense the next morning—thicker somehow, as if the entire school held its breath.
Rumors had begun to circulate.
Quiet ones.Half-formed ones.
And all of them… about me.
"Did you hear? Sierra Song was seen near the admin wing yesterday.""No way. That area's off-limits.""She's acting weird. Like she knows something."
I walked through the crowd with my head high.
Let them talk.
Fear was a good curtain—it hid my real movements.
I reached my locker just as Jenna hurried toward me, eyes wide with panic.
"Sierra!" she whisper-yelled. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" I asked.
"The kind that looks like Vivian Shen wearing murder lipstick."
I blinked. "Murder… lipstick?"
Jenna pointed down the hall dramatically.
Vivian stood near the bulletin board, arms crossed, flanked by two girls who looked like interns auditioning for professional villain apprenticeships. Her expression was sweet—too sweet.
The kind of sweet that could rot teeth.
She spotted me instantly.
Of course she did.
Then she smiled.
Not friendly.Not fake.
Predatory.
She walked toward me in slow, deliberate steps, heels clicking in perfect rhythm.
"Sierra," she greeted, hands clasped delicately. "Busy yesterday?"
"Not particularly," I said.
She lifted a brow. "Is that so?"
Her eyes glinted.
"Funny. Someone told me they saw you near the administrative offices."
Jenna hissed a breath beside me.
This was too direct.Vivian usually played psychological chess, not outright interrogation.
Which meant… she was nervous.
Good.
"Why would I be there?" I replied calmly.
"I don't know," Vivian said. "Why would you?"
We held eye contact.
A thin, dangerous smile tugged at her lips.
"For someone who usually causes chaos," she murmured, "you've been… quiet. Too quiet."
Jenna stepped in front of me.
"Last I checked, being quiet isn't a crime."
Vivian ignored her completely.
"We're doing a group activity today in class," she said. "I suggested you join my group."
My blood chilled.
No way that was coincidence.
"And why," I asked evenly, "would you do that?"
Vivian leaned close.
"So I can watch you."
A beat passed.
Then she walked away, her hair swinging like a banner of war.
Jenna rounded on me the moment Vivian was out of earshot.
"Sierra," she whispered, "she knows. She's definitely onto you."
"She suspects," I corrected. "She doesn't know."
"Yet," Jenna muttered. "The 'yet' is what terrifies me."
I shut my locker.
"Then we'll make sure she never does."
Group Activity – Orchestrated Disaster
The classroom buzzed with low chatter as students arranged themselves into groups.
Predictably, Vivian had secured the center table—the one with the best visibility from all angles.
She gestured at me.
"Sierra, over here."
I felt dozens of curious eyes on us.
I walked over slowly.
Vivian's group already had:
Vivian
Sarah Wu（rumor specialist）
Mia Ling（queen of subtle manipulation）
And now… me
An all-star cast of carefully disguised toxicity.
Perfect.
"Let's begin," Vivian said, flipping her hair.
The assignment was a simple discussion activity—but to Vivian, everything was a battlefield dressed as a stage.
"So," she began casually, "what did everyone do after school yesterday?"
The question was aimed at the group.
But her eyes were locked on me.
Mia giggled. "I had tutoring."
Sarah chimed in. "I went to piano class."
Vivian smiled at me.
"And you, Sierra?"
I returned the smile.
"I went home."
A small pause.
Vivian tapped her pen thoughtfully.
"That's interesting."
I raised a brow. "Is it?"
"Mm." She leaned back. "Because when something strange happens on campus, the first place I look is the person acting the most different."
Jenna, from across the room, mouthed:SHE'S INSANE.
"Yes," I said sweetly. "You should definitely do that. Helps you avoid looking at the real suspects."
Vivian's pen froze in her hand.
A crack in the mask.
Brief—but real.
Before she could recover, the classroom door creaked open.
Leon Lin entered.
Conversations dipped instantly.
He walked straight to our table.
Not to Vivian.Not to the teacher.
To me.
"Sierra," he said quietly, "a word."
The entire table went stiff.
Jenna from across the room silently screamed.
Vivian's fingers clenched around her pen.
"Outside," Leon said.
I rose slowly and followed him out.
Leon's Warning
The hallway was empty except for us.
Leon turned, expression unreadable.
"You need to be careful," he said simply.
I crossed my arms. "That's vague, even for you."
He stepped closer.
"There's something happening on campus. Something dangerous. People are watching you."
"I noticed," I said dryly. "One of them sits three feet away from me."
His jaw tightened.
"I'm serious, Sierra. Yesterday wasn't a coincidence. Someone saw you."
My heart skipped.
Was this about the document?
"Who saw me?" I asked.
Leon didn't answer.
Instead, he held out a small sheet of paper.
A note.
Folded the same way as the one from yesterday.
My pulse spiked.
I took it.
Unfolded it.
One line.
"Not everyone who warns you is on your side. — L."
My stomach dropped.
I looked up sharply.
Leon's expression didn't change.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was in my locker," he said.
"In your locker?"
"Yes."
I tried to read his face—any hint of lying, fear, or misdirection.
There was none.
Leon Lin was telling the truth.
Which raised one terrifying question:
If he didn't write the first note…Then who the hell was "L"?
Leon stepped closer.
"Sierra," he said softly, "whatever you're involved in… stop."
I held his gaze.
"I can't."
A flicker of something—fear? frustration?—flashed through his eyes.
"You don't understand," he said. "There are things happening you aren't prepared for."
"You're right," I replied. "I'm not prepared."
Then I took a step toward him.
"But I'm done being blind."
His breath caught.
My heart did too.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then the classroom door swung open.
Vivian stood there, arms folded, eyes sharp.
"Oh?" she drawled. "Am I interrupting?"
Leon stepped back instantly.
I turned.
Vivian's gaze flicked between us like a knife.
"Class is starting," she said sweetly. "Come back in."
She turned, hair whipping behind her like a banner of triumph.
Leon exhaled.
"This isn't over," he said quietly.
"I know," I replied.
But whether he meant the conversation…or the danger…I wasn't sure.
After School
Jenna slipped beside me as the dismissal bell rang.
"Okay," she said. "Start talking. Why did Leon take you out? Why did Vivian look like she was about to breathe fire? Why do you look like someone dumped ice water in your soul?"
"I got another note," I whispered.
Jenna nearly tripped.
"Another WHAT?!"
I handed it to her.
Her eyes bulged.
"'Not everyone who warns you is on your side'? What is that even supposed to mean?!"
"That Leon might not be the one sending them."
Jenna gasped. "So 'L.' isn't Leon?"
"Maybe," I murmured. "Maybe not."
"Do you think Leon knows something? Or is involved? Or is the warning about him?"
"I don't know."
I exhaled.
"But I'm going to find out."
Evening – The Clue That Shouldn't Exist
That night, I sat at my desk, staring at the documents I had copied in my notebook.
The forged financial statement.The highlighted errors.The timeline.
Something was wrong.
Something didn't match.
I examined the forged areas again.
Then I saw it.
A stamp.
So faint I'd missed it at school.
It wasn't from Song Corporation.
It was from Lin Holdings.
Leon's family.
A chill spread through my limbs.
No.
No, no, no.
"The Lin family…" I whispered.
Jenna, who had been sitting on my bed, froze.
"What about them?"
I swallowed hard.
"The document that framed my father…""It didn't come from nowhere."
I looked up.
"It came from the Lin family."
The room went silent.
The world felt like it tilted.
Jenna covered her mouth.
"Oh my god… Sierra… that means—"
I nodded.
"Yes."
Leon wasn't just connected.
He was part of the storymuch deeperthan I ever imagined.