Se connecterScarlett's POVI didn't go to lunch.I couldn't face Ronan. Not after Elena. Not after the note. Not after the text.You've been warned.Instead, I hid in the library. Back corner. Surrounded by books. Safe.My phone buzzed every few minutes. Ronan. Maya. Ronan again.I ignored them all.The note sat in my pocket, burning a hole through my uniform. I pulled it out. Read it again.He knows you're asking questions. Stop before you end up like the others.The others.Elena said there were others. One dead. One transferred. One disappeared.Was that who "the others" meant?The library door opened. I looked up.Ronan.He spotted me immediately. Walked over. Sat across from me without asking."You didn't answer.""I needed space.""From me?""From everything."He studied my face. Those dark eyes missing nothing."What happened this morning?""Nothing.""Liar."The word snapped between us.I pulled out the note. Slid it across the table.He read it. Went very still."When did you get this?"
Scarlett's POVWednesday morning arrived with a text from Ronan.Ronan: Car trouble. Can't pick you up. Meet at school. Stay safe.Stay safe.Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one walking into a building full of people who'd spent the last two days dissecting my life.I walked alone. Every step felt exposed. Every car that passed made me flinch.The school gates loomed ahead. Normal morning. Students laughing. Phones out. Life going on.Then I saw her.A girl I didn't know stood by the entrance. Blonde. Pale. Dressed in black like she was attending a funeral. She watched me with an intensity that made my skin crawl.I tried to walk past."Scarlett Hayes."Her voice stopped me. Low. Calm. Dangerous.I turned. "Do I know you?""No." She stepped closer. "But you know my ex-boyfriend."My stomach dropped."Elena.""Good. He mentioned me." She smiled. Thin. Cold. "I'm surprised. He doesn't usually talk about the ones who got away.""I don't—""Save it." She moved closer. Close enough that
Scarlett's POVI couldn't look at the photo anymore.Ronan's car glided through streets I'd never seen. Wide avenues. Perfect sidewalks. Stores with names I couldn't pronounce."Where are we going?""You'll see.""Not a fan of surprises.""I know." He glanced at me. "That's why this one will be good."I wanted to argue. But my brain was still stuck on the bracelet. On Maya. On the impossibility of it all.Maya couldn't be the one. She was my best friend. She'd begged me to stay away from Ronan. She'd cried in front of me.Unless that was all an act.The thought made me sick."We're here."The car stopped in front of a café. Not just any café. The kind of place I'd walked past a hundred times, never once considering I could go inside.Floor-to-ceiling windows. Tiny tables with fresh flowers. A line of people in expensive coats waiting for something that probably cost more than my weekly groceries."This is a café.""Best in the city." Ronan opened my door. "Come on."I followed him ins
Scarlett's POVI didn't sleep.The text played on repeat in my head. Nice try, scholarship girl. But this isn't over.Whoever sent it knew my name. Knew my status. Knew exactly where to hurt me.Tuesday morning arrived too fast. I stared at my ceiling until my alarm screamed, then stared some more.Mom knocked. "Scarlett? You'll be late.""I'm up."Lie. I was anything but up.The walk to the corner felt longer today. Heavier. Every car that passed made me flinch.Ronan's black car pulled up. I climbed in."You look worse than yesterday.""Thanks. You really know how to compliment a girl."He almost smiled. Then his face shifted. "What's wrong?"I pulled out my phone. Showed him the text.He read it. Went very still."When did you get this?""Yesterday. After the stairwell. After Maya.""Let me see your phone."I handed it over. He typed quickly. Handed it back."What did you do?""Blocked the number. Traced it. Nothing useful. Burner." He handed it back. "But now we know.""Know what?
Scarlett's POVMonday morning. 7:28.I stood on the corner of my street, heart pounding, uniform somehow tighter than usual. Or maybe that was just the panic.A black car pulled up. The door opened.Ronan sat inside, looking like he'd stepped out of a magazine. Dark blazer. White shirt. Hair perfectly messy."Get in."I climbed in. The car pulled away."You okay?""No.""Good. Honesty." He handed me a coffee. "Drink this. You look like you haven't slept.""I haven't.""Me neither." He stared out the window. "First day's the hardest. After today, it gets easier.""Promise?""No." He glanced at me. "But I'll be right there. Every step."The words should have been comforting. They weren't.Because every step meant more eyes. More rumors. More questions I couldn't answer.The car pulled up near the school gates. Not too close. Enough privacy to walk the rest."Ready?""No.""Same answer." He almost smiled. "Let's go."We walked side by side. Not touching. Not yet. Students ahead. Students
Scarlett's POVSunday afternoon. Maya's bedroom. The one place I'd always felt safe.Not today.She sat on the bed across from me, arms crossed, face serious. The kind of serious she got before delivering bad news."We need to talk.""I know. About yesterday—""Not about yesterday." She cut me off. "About him."Ronan. Of course."Maya—""Just hear me out." She leaned forward. "Please."I nodded. What else could I do?"I've been at Westwood longer than you. Three years before you came. I've seen things." She wrapped her arms around herself. "Things I don't talk about. Things I've tried to forget."My stomach tightened. "What kind of things?""Ronan Whitmore kind of things."The name hung between us."I know what people say about him.""You don't know everything." She stood. Started pacing. "Freshman year, there was a girl. Elena. She got close to Ronan. Really close. Everyone thought they were going to be a thing."I'd never heard this story."What happened?""Three months in, she disa







