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Seventy - six: Secrets

Author: Reina’s ink
last update publish date: 2026-07-13 02:40:46

DEVIN.

I cannot stop thinking about the missing files.

The school database does not simply lose documents by accident. Someone removed them, and the timing is too perfect to ignore. Every record that raises questions about Jayden somehow disappeared before I could finish checking it. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that the answers are still somewhere inside this school. If the digital copies are disappearing, maybe the paper copies are not.

That thought brings me to the
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  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Hundred and four: The photograph

    WHITNEY.I spread Carlos's wooden box across my bedroom floor for the second time, even though I almost know every photograph and paper inside it almost by heart. The room is quiet except for the soft sound of rain tapping against my window, but my mind is anything but quiet. I keep thinking about the missing week, the private meetings, the arguments, and the fourth volunteer who seems to have been standing close to everything that happened. Something tells me we are still missing one small piece, and I cannot explain why I feel that way. I carefully lift each photograph, checking the backs and corners before placing them into neat piles."Come on," I whisper. "There has to be something."I reach the bottom of the box and find a small stack of photographs I have already seen. I almost put them aside without looking, but one picture feels slightly different from the others. It is among one of the stack of pictures from an old charity program, and its edge is bent as though someone shov

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Hundred and three: new perception

    CARLOS.As I left my meeting, I cannot stop thinking about the new discoveries Devin informed me had made me. The missing week no longer feels like a mystery hidden behind locked doors. It feels alive again, as though every memory I tried to bury has started following me wherever I go. When Whitney sends me a message asking if I was done with my meeting so we could take a walk before going home, I agree almost immediately. The evening air is cool, and the streets around the park are quiet, giving us the privacy we both need. We walk side by side without speaking at first, and somehow the silence between us no longer feels like the silence of two enemies.Whitney finally breaks it.“I hope I didn't disturb your schedule or something,” she begins.“Nope,” I answer. “I was thinking of coming over to join you guys if I could.”She nods."Well, I've been thinking about everything we found today.""So have I.""I keep wondering why you never defended yourself."I let out a small laugh that

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Hundred and Two: Focus

    WHITNEY.I arrive at the library holding my notebook so tightly against my chest. Ever since Devin called us after meeting the former volunteer, I cannot stop thinking about the same sentence repeating inside my head. The real mystery is not the assault. It is the week before it. I walk into the quiet study room to find Devin already waiting for me. He informs me that Carlos had informed him of an important engagement, and that he had apologized for his absence.The table is covered with papers again, just like every other time, but today everything feels different because we are no longer trying to prove someone guilty. We are trying to understand exactly how the truth was buried.“What did he tell you?” I ask as I sit down. “Spare no detail, please.”Devin lets out a slow breath and rubs his tired eyes."He confirmed something we already suspected," he says. "Carlos and Jayden knew each other well. They worked together for months before everything fell apart between them."He looks

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Hundred and One: The interview

    DEVIN.I arrive at the small café almost thirty minutes early because I cannot stop thinking about the message he sent me the night before. He had agreed after I had assured him I would come alone and after he had made me promise not to record the conversation. The café sits just outside the city beside an old highway where almost nobody from school ever comes. I choose a table near the window and keep checking the entrance every few seconds, afraid they might change their mind before they even walk through the door. My notebook lies open in front of me, but my hands shake so badly that I cannot even hold my pen steady.A few minutes later, the café door opens, and Ben steps inside. He looks older than the graduation pictures Whitney found online, but I recognize him immediately. His eyes search every corner of the room before he slowly walks toward me. Instead of sitting down right away, he glances behind him one last time as if expecting someone to follow."You came alone?" he asks

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Hundred: Before everything changed

    WHITNEY.I cannot stop thinking about Ben Morgan.The moment I get home, I spread every piece of evidence across my bedroom floor again. The wooden box Carlos gave me sits open beside my bed, filled with old photographs, charity programs, newsletters, and handwritten notes. My notebook is open beside it, covered with dates, arrows, and questions that seem to multiply every day. I sit cross-legged on the floor for hours, reading everything again from the very beginning. This time, I am not looking for proof that Carlos or Jayden is guilty. I am simply looking for the truth.As I read through my notes, something hurts more than all the missing records and blacked-out reports.It is me.Page after page reminds me of the way I thought only a few weeks ago. Every note I wrote was filled with anger. Every question assumed Carlos was lying before he even answered. Whenever something did not fit my theory, I ignored it instead of asking why. I wanted revenge so badly that I stopped searching

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Ninety-nine: The Witness

    CARLOSThe silence inside the study room feels heavier than ever. We keep staring at the empty space where page thirteen should have been, but no matter how long we look, it does not come back. That missing page feels like a hole in the middle of our investigation. I force myself to stop thinking about what is gone and focus on what we still have. Sometimes the answers are hidden in the details people ignore.I pull one of the volunteer schedules closer and begin reading every name again. Whitney and Devin are busy comparing attendance sheets, but I read each page slowly instead of rushing. The names start repeating until one suddenly catches my attention. My heart skips a beat. I know that name. I have not thought about it in years, but I know exactly who it belongs to."Wait," I say.Whitney looks up first."What is it?""I think we missed someone."Devin turns toward me."Who?"I point to the list with my finger."This person."Both of them lean closer.Whitney quietly reads the na

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Twenty Two — Jayden is speaking again

    I stir awake from slumber the following morning to the familiar smell of coffee and toast. Ava's doing, no questions asked. And I need no soothsayer to tell me she’s the lingering presence I feel around my bed. I can literally feel her gaze drilling into my face. While I didn’t want to open my e

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Twenty - an unknown number

    WHITNEYI squeeze the key in my palm — the same key Devin gave me three days ago — trying to calm my fraying nerves.I've been feeling this way since my last meeting with Devin. Since I agreed with his plan to take down Carl once and for real. I should feel motivated that I have a reliable accompl

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Six — Still trapped in a childhood trauma

    Gosh, I hate myself for this.I hate how much his intoxicating presence is affecting me right now.Against my will, my gaze lowers with dread as I'm unable to look him in the eyes anymore. My knees weaken as my mind replays the nightmare I had of Carl having his fingers scissoring me open.How I mo

  • IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN   Five - Cornered

    "They're lying to you... Don't listen to them!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I approach the receptionist with fright.Considering my unexpected outburst and the way she's staring at me with confusion right now, she probably thinks I've lost it.Concern lines her brows as she takes me in. "Exc

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