Stop!.....

"Jessica Conway!" “Stop right there!”

The voice rang out from the shadows behind me like a gunshot.

I froze instantly. My heart slammed hard against my ribs, nearly leaping out of my chest. It was a male voice, sharp and commanding. Panic flooded my veins. 

How on earth did anyone recognize me in this baggy hoodie and face mask?

Who was it? And what did they want with me?

My first instinct was to run. I was only a few yards away from the heavy security gates of my estate. If I just sprinted, I could make it inside before whoever was behind me could catch up.

But then the voice called out again, cutting off my escape.

"Aaron Adams said to give you this!"

The name hit me like a physical blow. I stopped dead in my tracks, my sneakers glued to the pavement. Slowly, reluctantly, I turned around to face the darkness.

Emerging from beneath the low-hanging branches of a massive oak tree was a tall guy with slicked-back blonde hair and a cocky, knowing grin. As he stepped closer into the dim amber glow of the streetlamp, I recognized him. 

Reed Norman. 

He was one of Aaron’s inner circle,a rich, untouchable fraternity bro who usually spent his time standing next to Aaron at parties, looking down his nose at everyone else.

Reed shoved his hands into the pockets of his designer jacket, chuckling under his breath as he stopped a few feet away from me.

"I thought you wouldn't come out of your gate tonight," Reed said, his voice dripping with amusement. "I figured I was going to have to ring the buzzer and deal with your security guards just to get through to you."

I pulled my hoodie strings tighter around my face, glaring at him through my black mask. My stomach twisted violently, a sharp, angry cramp shooting through my lower abdomen.

"What do you want, Reed?" I snapped, my voice shaking slightly despite how hard I tried to sound tough. 

"If you're here to deliver a message, make it quick. I'm not in the mood."

Reed smirked, stepping closer and lifting a sleek, black designer shopping bag that he had been holding down by his side.

"I'm just the messenger, Ice Queen," Reed said smoothly, holding the bag out toward me. "I'm Reed Norman, a friend of Aaron. He sent me to give you this package. And he specifically told me to tell you not to miss his victory after-party tonight... and you better be wearing the dress inside this package when you show up."

My stomach staged a full-blown protest. Pain flared at every corner of my lower body, reminding me of the horrible cramps and the stress making everything ten times worse.

"Tell Aaron to take his package and shove it straight up his ass," I hissed, crossing my arms over my chest and stepping back. "I am not going to his stupid party, and I am definitely not wearing whatever trash he bought."

I turned on my heel, ready to march away and leave him standing there in the dark.

But Reed's next words stopped me completely cold in my tracks.

"He said if you're thinking of refusing, just consider the video," Reed called out, his voice dropping into a mocking, dangerous whisper. "He said you should choose wisely, Jessica."

The threat hit me like a bucket of freezing water. My blood ran completely cold. The video. The secret sex tape he was holding over my head like a suicidal rope. He knew it was my ultimate weakness, and he was using it to pull my strings like a puppet.

Before I could even find the breath to scream at him, Reed dropped the heavy designer package right onto the pavement by my feet.

"See you at the party, Jess," Reed laughed darkly, turning around and walking away into the shadows without looking back.

I stood there alone on the dark sidewalk, staring down at the black bag. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tear my own hair out of my head in absolute, blinding rage. 

Why on earth was Aaron doing this to me? He already had a public girlfriend,Emilian Francis, the girl he had just kissed on national television in front of hundreds of people! Why keep dragging me into his messed-up games? Why torment my life so much just because of a stupid video?

I wanted to spit. I wanted to commit murder. But my body betrayed me yet again as another brutal wave of cramps ripped through my stomach, reminding me that I was in no condition to fight a war right now.

Groaning softly, I leaned down, snatched the shopping bag off the ground, and practically jogged the rest of the way to my front gates.

Casper was nowhere in sight, thankfully. I slipped inside the house quietly, hurried up the grand staircase, and locked myself safely inside my bedroom.

I needed to fix myself immediately.

I stripped off my clothes, took a second steaming-hot shower to wash away the chill of the night, and carefully put on a fresh pad. 

After swallowing a couple of strong relief medicines from my bathroom cabinet, the heavy, blinding pain in my stomach finally began to dull down to a manageable ache. At least now I could actually walk without doubling over.

Once I was dressed in comfortable pajamas, I sat down on the edge of my bed and grabbed my phone off the nightstand.

I unlocked the screen, and I honestly couldn't believe my eyes.

When I unvouched my social media apps earlier, I had no idea what was waiting for me. Now, the notifications were completely out of control. 

From W******p to TikTok to T*****r, and even the official St. Augustine University student group chats on Telegram and W******p, my face was everywhere.

I was officially the most talked-about person on campus.

The girl who got publicly spanked on national television and then dumped two minutes later for the head cheerleader. I had become a walking, breathing meme.

I tapped open the student group chat on Telegram, and my jaw dropped. 

People had already taken screenshots of the live broadcast and turned them into hundreds of custom stickers. There were stickers of me hanging upside down over Aaron's shoulder, stickers of me flipping off Emilian with a fierce scowl, and stickers of the exact second my face fell when Aaron announced Emilian as his real girlfriend.

The captions were brutal.

“When you think you're the main character but you're just the side quest.”

“Ice Queen got melted real quick.”

“F in the chat for Jessica Conway.”

Some of the memes were so ridiculously funny that I actually found myself letting out a hysterical, watery laugh even as fresh tears pricked the corners of my eyes. 

I had become the biggest joke at St. Augustine University within a single afternoon.

Could my life possibly get any worse?

I switched over to the local news apps and campus blogs. The headlines were screaming everywhere:

“GOLDEN BOY DRAMA: Aaron Adams Dumps Mystery Girl for Cheerleader Captain Emilian Francis After Bizarre On-Court Stunt!”

Seeing it all spelled out in bold, public ink made my blood boil. It was all over the news. Everyone in the city was talking about how the school's star basketball player had humiliated me, discarding one girl for another right in front of the world.

A deep, dark rage settled deep inside my chest.

I wanted to march right up to Aaron Adams, look him dead in the eyes, and spit directly in his face. He thought he could use me, play me like a fool, turn me into a campus joke, and I would just sit quietly in my bedroom and take it?

No. Absolutely not.

If Aaron wanted to play dirty, then I was going to play down in the mud with him.

And so, sitting there on my bed in the quiet, empty mansion, I made a life-altering decision.

I was going to grace his stupid after-party.

I reached over and grabbed the black designer shopping bag that Reed had dropped at my feet. I pulled out the tissue paper and lifted the garment inside into the light.

My eyes widened.

It was a dress, but calling it a dress felt like an understatement. It was barely even a piece of clothing. It was a shimmering, ultra-short, backless black minidress made of glittering sequined fabric that clung so tightly to the hanger it looked like second skin. The neckline plunged so low it was practically scandalous, and the skirt was so short I wasn't even sure it would cover my underwear.

It looked like something an expensive club dancer or an absolute slut would wear to catch every pair of eyes in a crowded room.

I stared at the sparkling fabric for a long, quiet moment. A slow, wicked smile spread across my face.

Oh, he wanted an impression? He wanted the world to look at me and wonder what game we were playing?

Fine. I would wear it. I would wear his slutty little dress, walk right into the middle of his party, and give Aaron Adams exactly the kind of impression he deserved.

Because if I was ever going to solve this nightmare of a scandal by myself,if I was ever going to be free of his blackmail,I needed to cut the problem right from its absolute root.

And that root was the secret video sitting on Aaron Adams' phone.

To destroy him, I had to get close to him. And tonight, at his own wild after-party, surrounded by ten miles of bad decisions and screaming college students, I was going to take that power he thought he had over me away.

I tossed the dress back into the bag, my heart racing with a dangerous, electric thrill.

I had no idea what kind of trap was waiting for me at that party. I had no idea what Aaron would do when I walked through those doors wearing his gift. But one thing was certain:

 

I'd delete the video and steal the spotlight  at Aaron's party.