Chapter 5

I had confronted Adrian the first time I found Sienna’s hair clip in our townhouse.

He seemed to have expected the question. Within seconds, he pulled up the security footage from our front door and showed me that other student council members had been present every time she visited.

Then he turned the accusation against me.

He said I had searched our home for evidence because I was jealous. I had taken an ordinary student council meeting and tried to make it sound dirty.

To punish me for “imagining things,” he began bringing Sienna home openly.

She sat in my chair, used my supplies, and made drinks in my kitchen. Whenever I entered the room, I could sense the challenge beneath her innocent smile.

“You don’t mind me being here, do you, Claire?”

Yet nothing between them ever crossed a line I could prove.

There was always another student nearby, an unfinished campaign speech on the table, or some last-minute project they claimed they had to complete.

Eventually, I began to doubt myself.

Every day, I wondered whether I was too jealous, too narrow-minded, or too determined to find something that wasn’t there.

Looking back, I had wasted enough time analyzing their relationship to complete another research project.

The next morning, Adrian announced at the team meeting that Sienna had been promoted to co-captain and I had been reassigned to equipment inventory.

He watched me carefully throughout the announcement, clearly expecting me to object.

Only when I accepted the inventory list without a word did he finally believe I had surrendered.

He was in an excellent mood.

So was I.

Over the next two days, Adrian held a celebration for Sienna at the lakeside club while I collected my Swiss visa.

They went to an amusement park while I packed my belongings. In the end, everything I wanted to take fit inside one suitcase and a laptop bag.

They attended the alumni ball and let their friends tease them into dancing together while I transferred my code, equipment records, and project permissions.

By Friday afternoon, I had completed my final departure paperwork.

As I turned to leave, Ms. Patel stopped me.

“Claire, Adrian asked you to go up to the student council suite before you leave campus. He said he needed to speak with you.”

My first instinct was to refuse.

But my flight was leaving that night. If Adrian went out with Sienna again and didn’t come home, this might be the last time we ever saw each other.

We had been together for five years.

Even an ending deserved a goodbye.

I took the elevator to the top floor of the student center.

The suite door was partly open. Through the glass wall, I saw Adrian leaning back against the sofa.

Sienna had taken off her shoes and was stretched out beside him, her head resting in his lap.

One of Adrian’s hands rested near her shoulder. He said something I couldn’t hear, and she covered her mouth as she laughed.

I stopped outside the door.

For a moment, I considered leaving without disturbing them.

Then Sienna saw me.

She gasped and sat up so quickly that her hair fell across her face.

“Claire? What are you doing here?”

Adrian immediately straightened. A flicker of panic crossed his face as he smoothed his wrinkled shirt.

Then the panic became anger.

“Who gave you permission to come up here?”

His voice was sharp enough to fill the entire suite.

“I’ve told everyone that no one is allowed on this floor without my approval. Why do you think you’re an exception?”

I remembered the original rule clearly.

No one except Claire was allowed to disturb him upstairs without permission.

Back then, I had believed the exception meant I was special.

Now I understood.

The rule had never changed. I was simply no longer the exception.

“Ms. Patel said you wanted to see me,” I replied.

Adrian gave a cold laugh and strode to his desk. He pressed the intercom and ordered Ms. Patel upstairs.

Less than two minutes later, she entered the suite.

“Did you tell Claire that I wanted to see her?” Adrian demanded.

Ms. Patel looked at his icy expression, then at Sienna sitting beside him with reddened eyes.

She froze.

After a long silence, she lowered her gaze.

“I’m not sure. I don’t remember exactly what I said.”

Adrian looked as though he had just won an argument.

He turned to me with open contempt.

“Was this really necessary, Claire?”

“I thought you had finally learned to behave like an adult. Apparently, you’ve only found a new way to keep tabs on me.”

He folded his arms.

“If you’re this desperate to know where I am, should I start sending you my schedule every morning?”

His mouth twisted into a mocking smile.

“Or would you rather hide a tracker in my coat so you can watch me every minute of the day?”