Mag-log inJuliet sat on Adrian’s couch staring at the photo of Mia and the warning note. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.“Next time it won’t be your friend. It’ll be your mother.”Adrian paced the living room. His jaw was tight. “I’m going to find Voss and end this. He crossed a line by touching Mia.”Juliet looked up at him. “What if it’s not just Voss? What if the person sending the notes is working with him? What if they're both in this together?”Before Adrian could answer, there was a knock at the door. He opened it carefully. No one was there. Only a brown package sat on the floor. He bent low and took it, then closed the door back and went inside.He brought it inside and set it on the coffee table. Juliet watched as he opened it.Inside were old divorce papers. Adrian’s name and Elena’s name were printed clearly at the top. Under the papers was a photo of Juliet as a teenager standing in the living room of her childhood home. The angle made it clear someone had been inside the house.A
Juliet sat on the edge of Adrian’s bed the next morning. The dean’s forty-eight hour deadline hung over them like a dark cloud. Adrian was already dressed and standing by the window.“I have to go to campus,” he said. “I need to buy us more time. Stay here. Don’t go anywhere alone.”Juliet nodded. “Be careful.”He kissed her hard and left. Juliet stayed in the apartment, trying to focus on her mother’s treatment schedule. Her phone rang an hour later. It was an unknown number.She answered.“Juliet Sinclair,” a cold voice said. It was Voss. “I have your friend Mia. She’s safe for now. But if you don’t agree to dance for me exclusively starting tonight, I release every photo and video I have. Including the ones of you and your professor.”Juliet’s blood turned to ice. “Let me talk to her.”There was a short pause. Then Mia’s shaky voice came through. “Jules… I’m okay. Don’t do anything stupid.”The line went back to Voss. “You have three hours. Come to the club. Agree to my terms. Or y
Adrian’s phone rang early the next morning. He answered it while Juliet was still half-asleep beside him in his apartment.“Professor Knight,” Dean Hargrove’s voice came through cold and sharp. “My office. One hour.”Adrian hung up and looked at Juliet. “The dean wants to see me. Alone this time.”Juliet sat up fast. “What do you think it is?”“Nothing good,” he said. He kissed her forehead. “Stay here. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”An hour later Adrian sat across from Dean Hargrove. The dean slid a folder across the desk.“I have enough to fire you today,” the dean said. “Photos. Witness statements. The video tip. I’m giving you a choice. Resign within forty-eight hours and leave quietly. Or I make everything public and terminate you myself. Your career will be finished either way.”Adrian stayed silent for a long moment. “And Miss Sinclair?”“She will be investigated separately. If I find she was willing, she will be expelled. If I find you pressured her, there will be more seri
Juliet sat in the hospital waiting room with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. The doctor had just finished talking to her. His words still echoed in her head.“Without the new treatment, your mother has weeks. Maybe less. The medication is expensive, but it’s her best chance.”Juliet had nodded and thanked him, but inside she felt like she was drowning. The latest bill was higher than anything she had seen before. Even with Adrian’s help, the money would not stretch forever.She walked outside and sat on a bench near the parking lot. Her phone felt heavy in her hand. She opened a message to Marcus at the club.“Is the VIP still asking for me? Full-time work. Private only.”She stared at the words for a long time before deleting them. Then she typed them again. Her finger hovered over the send button.A car pulled up in front of her. Adrian got out and walked straight to her. He sat beside her without saying anything at first. Then he took her phone gently from her hands and looke
Juliet sat on the hotel bed holding the old photo. The girl in the picture looked so much like her that it made her stomach turn. Adrian sat beside her, his face still pale.“Why does she look like me?” Juliet asked again. Her voice was quiet.Adrian took the photo from her hands and set it down. “Someone is choosing girls who look like Sophia on purpose. They’re using the resemblance to drag up my past and destroy me again. And now they’re using you.”Juliet leaned against him. “I’m scared, Adrian. Everything feels like it’s closing in.”He kissed the top of her head. “I know. But we’re going to fight this. Together.”They stayed at the hotel a little longer before deciding to go back to campus. Adrian needed to check his office for any new notes or threats. Juliet went with him. The hallway was quiet when they arrived. He unlocked the door and they stepped inside.Adrian turned on the desk lamp. Juliet walked around the room slowly, looking for anything that felt wrong. She stopped
Juliet met Adrian at a small hotel near campus after her last class. He had texted her the room number. She knocked once. He opened the door and pulled her inside quickly.The moment the door closed, he locked it and wrapped his arms around her.“I needed to see you,” he said against her hair. “The dean is pushing harder. Chloe is feeding him more lies. We needed somewhere private.”Juliet rested her forehead against his chest. “I’m scared, Adrian. Everything is getting worse.”He led her to the bed and sat down with her. For a long moment he just held her hand. Then he spoke quietly.“I need to tell you the full truth about my past. About why I left my last university.”Juliet looked at him. “I’m listening.”Adrian took a slow breath. “There was a student named Sophia. She was smart. Ambitious. She started coming to my office hours more than she needed to. At first I thought she just wanted help with her papers. Then she made it clear she wanted more.”Juliet stayed quiet and let him
Juliet walked out of the lecture hall with the note still crumpled tight in her fist.Stay away from Knight or everyone learns who Luna really is.She shoved the paper deep into her bag and kept moving. The hallway was packed with students laughing and talking, brushing past her like nothing in the
Juliet walked across the campus with her head down. The morning sun felt too bright after last night's messages. She kept checking her phone, but the unknown number stayed quiet for now. Still, the words wouldn't leave her head.She reached the Literature building and stopped outside Professor Knig
Juliet pushed open the back door of Midnight Eclipse and stepped into the dim hallway. The bass from the main floor already thumped through the walls but she kept her head down as she walked to the dressing room. Lila sat in front of the mirror, fixing her makeup. "You're late, Jules. Marcus is in
Juliet Sinclair sat in the third row, with her back straight on the chair and a notebook opened before her on a desk. The lecture hall buzzed with the usual noise of students parking up, but she stayed still. Her phone had just vibrated in her bag and she already knew what the message said.It was







