Chapter 15 – The First Shot

POV: Elena

I should have known Camille wasn't the type of person who made threats she didn't intend to follow through on.

The problem was that part of me had hoped she was all talk.

After the fundraiser, life settled into something that almost resembled normal. Classes continued. Jace buried himself in basketball. Richard remained obsessed with public appearances. For three whole days, nothing exploded.

Then Thursday arrived. I was walking across campus after my morning lecture when my phone started vibrating nonstop inside my bag.

At first, I ignored it. By the fifth notification, I stopped walking.

Something was wrong.

Pulling out my phone, I found more than twenty unread messages waiting for me. Most were from classmates. A few were from people I barely knew. One was from my mother. The knot in my stomach tightened.

A message from Lila sat at the top of the screen.

Call me. Right now.

Before I could even process what was happening, my phone rang.

Lila.

I answered immediately. "What happened?" There was no greeting. No small talk. Just a sharp exhale on the other end. "Tell me those photos are fake." My heart skipped. "What photos?" The silence that followed lasted only a second.

Then Lila cursed.

A lot. "Lila." "Please tell me you haven't looked online yet." The knot in my stomach tightened further. "No." "Don't." That answer alone told me everything I needed to know. My pulse started pounding. "What happened?" Another pause.

When she spoke again, her voice was noticeably gentler. "Someone posted a bunch of old photos of you." I frowned. "What kind of photos?" "Middle school. Early high school. Embarrassing ones." My confusion deepened. That didn't sound catastrophic.

Then Lila continued. "They made a collage." A cold feeling settled over me. "They compared those photos to current pictures of you and started pushing this narrative that you've been obsessed with Jace for years." I stopped breathing.

For a second, the world seemed to tilt sideways. "No." "I'm sorry." My hand tightened around the phone. "No. I knew exactly where those photos originated. I knew exactly who would have access to them. And I knew exactly who hated me enough to use them.

Camille.

The realisation hit like a punch.

I ended the call and immediately opened social media. The first post appeared before I even searched for it. My stomach dropped.

There were pictures of me from years ago. Photos I'd forgotten existed. School events. Class pictures. Birthday parties. Awkward smiles. Bad haircuts. Acne. Braces. Every embarrassing stage of adolescence is carefully arranged besides recent photos of me and Jace.

The caption underneath was worse.

THE ORIGINAL FAN GIRL?

Sources claim Elena Hart has been chasing Jace Calloway for years. Did she finally get what she wanted?

Thousands of likes. Hundreds of comments. More arriving every minute. My face burned. Humiliation crawled up my throat. People were laughing. Strangers were analysing photos from my childhood as if they were evidence in a criminal investigation.

I scrolled once. Then I immediately regretted it. The comments were vicious.

Some accused me of manipulating Jace. Others called me desperate. One person claimed I had deliberately targeted him because of his family's money. The worst part was how many people believed it.

I closed the app before I could read more. My hands were shaking. A familiar voice interrupted my spiralling thoughts.

"Elena?" I looked up.

Jace was jogging towards me across the courtyard. For once, he didn't look calm. He looked furious. The sight should have been comforting. Instead, it made everything feel more real.

He stopped in front of me and immediately reached for my phone.

"I saw it." The words came out through clenched teeth. I pulled the phone closer to my chest. "Congratulations." His expression darkened. "This isn't funny." "I know." My voice cracked.

The humiliation I'd been holding back suddenly threatened to overwhelm me. For the first time since the engagement started, I felt completely exposed. Not because of the ring. Not because of the attention. Because those photos belonged to the version of myself I had spent years trying to outgrow.

An awkward girl. A lonely girl. A girl who had once cried herself to sleep because Jace Calloway didn't know she existed. Now the entire campus was laughing at her. Jace seemed to realise where my thoughts were heading. His jaw tightened.

"Don't read the comments." I laughed bitterly. "A little late for that." "I'm serious." "So am I." The anger finally surfaced. I looked directly at him. "This is happening because of you." The words landed hard.

For a second, guilt flashed across his face. Then it disappeared. Not because he didn't feel it. Because he couldn't argue. Both of us knew I was right.

If he hadn't blackmailed me into this arrangement, none of this would be happening.

Neither of us spoke. The silence stretched between us. Eventually, Jace ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to fix it." I almost laughed. The statement sounded absurd. "How?" His grey eyes met mine. The anger burning there was unlike anything I'd seen before. "I'll deal with Camille."

The certainty in his voice should have reassured me. Instead, it made me nervous. Because for the first time since meeting Camille, I wasn't worried about what she might do next. I was worried about what Jace might do if he finally stopped holding himself back.

As though summoned by the thought, another notification appeared on my screen. Then another. And another. The campaign wasn't slowing down. It was growing. Someone was feeding new photos to gossip accounts. New stories. New rumours.

By lunchtime, the entire campus would know.

By tomorrow, the story would probably spread beyond the university.

And standing in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by students who were alre

ady beginning to stare, I realised something that made my stomach twist.

Camille had finally stopped testing me.

This wasn't a warning anymore.

It was a war.