Chapter 43: There Are No Safe Pages

The night blurred into morning, but Ryan barely noticed the sun when it finally clawed its way above the horizon.

He was still on the floor.

Still listening.

Still drowning in Adrien’s voice.

“Pain makes things memorable. Look around no one remembers the people who were kind to them. They remember who made them bleed.”

The recording buzzed, cracked, continued.

“When I’m finished with Ryan, he’ll never be able to say my name without feeling it in his bones.”

Ryan yanked the headphones off, tossing them like they were burning.

Chris stirred awake on the bed, disoriented, eyes narrowing the moment he saw Ryan’s expression.

“Another one?”

Ryan nodded. “Worse than the last. It’s not just obsession. It’s like he’s building something. Like this whole thing… is a performance.”

Chris rubbed his face. “Then we take away his stage.”

Ryan stood slowly. His body ached from the cold tile, but his mind burned with something sharper.

Resolve.

“We have to make a move first,” he said. “Something public. Something loud.”

Chris sat up straighter. “You mean go to the university again?”

“No. Bigger.” Ryan paced. “A press piece. A video. Something that exposes who Adrien Wolfe really is. Not just to the faculty. But to the whole damn world.”

Chris blinked. “That’s dangerous.”

Ryan turned, his jaw set. “So is waiting for him to write my ending.”

They met Daniel two hours later in the back corner of the campus library.

He didn’t say anything at first just looked at Ryan, then Chris, then back at Ryan again.

“You’ve changed,” he murmured.

Ryan’s voice was clear. “I’m tired of being prey.”

Daniel gave a short nod and pulled out his laptop. “Then let’s make sure everyone sees the hunter for what he really is.”

They combed through the audio files, the documents Adrien had left behind in shared group chats, the texts, the unhinged voicemail that had almost slipped under the radar. Daniel had everything backed up.

Chris helped organize the timeline. Ryan drafted the speech.

By the time they were done, Ryan’s fingers were trembling not with fear this time, but with fury.

“This is going to piss him off,” Chris warned. “He’s going to come after you harder than before.”

“I’m counting on it,” Ryan said.

They filmed the video in Daniel’s apartment.

Ryan sat in front of a plain backdrop, no makeup, no edits, no theatrics.

Just him.

A boy who had once believed silence was safety.

“I never thought I’d have to do this,” he began, his voice steady. “But someone has to speak first, and if I don’t, he wins.”

He detailed the stalking. The manipulation. The threats.

He spoke about Adrien Wolfe by name.

And then he said the words that would spark wildfire:

“Obsession isn’t love. Power isn’t romance. And pain no matter how well it’s dressed up will never be a love letter.”

They posted it to every platform they could reach.

They didn’t expect the video to explode.

But it did.

Within twenty four hours, the views surged past ten thousand.

By the next day, it was trending on campus hashtags.

People messaged Ryan strangers, survivors, students who had been cornered by Adrien’s charm before it twisted into something darker.

But not everyone was supportive.

Some comments called Ryan dramatic. A liar. A “clout-chaser.”

Others… were worse.

Threats. Anonymous messages. An envelope slid under the dorm door with nothing inside but a red ribbon.

Chris opened it with gloves.

“Signature move,” he said, lips thin. “Adrien used to tie these to the chairs of the people he liked.”

“What does it mean when there’s no chair?” Ryan asked.

Chris didn’t answer.

That night, Ryan got another text.

No number. Just a sentence.

You’re rewriting my story. Let’s see how well you survive the final chapter.

Ryan didn’t respond.

But he stared out the window long after everyone else had gone to sleep.

And for the first time, he didn’t feel small. Or quiet. Or afraid.

He felt like the pen was in his hands again.

And he was ready to bleed onto the page.