ログインLila stared at the last message from her father until the words blurred together.He knows where you are.A chill ran down her spine.The parking lot suddenly felt too open.Too exposed.Too vulnerable.She looked around instinctively, half expecting Professor Carter’s black SUV to appear again.Nothing.Just the distant hum of traffic and the cold night air pressing against her skin.“Okay,” Maya said, her voice unusually serious. “Nobody panicked.”Vanessa raised an eyebrow.“You literally sound like someone who’s panicking.”“I’m trying to be supportive.”“You look like you’re about to throw up.”“I might.”Despite everything, Lila almost smiled.Almost.Ethan hadn’t let go of her hand.Not tightly.Not possessively.Just enough for her to know he was there.Grounding her.Steady.Lila looked down at their joined hands.Then slowly pulled away.Not because she wanted to.Because everything between them had become too complicated.Ethan noticed.Of course he noticed.But he didn’t s
Lila couldn’t stop staring at the message.A date.A location.One sentence.Ask your father what happened that night.Her hands trembled.The cold night air suddenly felt suffocating.Beside her, Ethan gently touched her elbow.“Lila.”She blinked.“What?”His expression softened immediately.“You disappeared for a second.”She looked down at the message again.“I think… I think I’m starting to understand why everyone has been lying to me.”Nobody argued.Because they were all beginning to see it too.“What’s the date?” Vanessa asked.Lila read it aloud.The moment the words left her mouth, her mother’s sharp intake of breath echoed through the phone.“Oh no.”Lila’s heart dropped.“Mom?”Silence.Then quietly,“Don’t go there.”Fear tightened in Lila’s chest.“What happened there?”Her mother didn’t answer.Instead, she whispered,“Please wait until your father gets there tomorrow.”“No.”The word came out stronger than Lila intended.Everyone looked at her.Even Ethan.“I’ve waited
Nobody spoke for several seconds after Carter drove away.The parking lot had gone eerily quiet.Lila stood frozen in place, staring at the empty road where the SUV had disappeared.Her pulse thundered in her ears.“You’re just like her.”The words replayed over and over again.“What the hell was that?” Maya whispered.Vanessa looked unsettled for the first time since Lila had met her.Ethan turned toward Lila immediately.“Are you okay?”Lila let out a shaky laugh.“No.”It was the most honest answer she had given all day.“Who is ‘her’?” Maya asked.Nobody answered.Because nobody knew.Lila looked down at her phone again.The photo of Carter standing beside her father still stared back at her.There had to be something she was missing.Something obvious.Something right in front of her.Then her eyes widened.The woman in the background.She hadn’t noticed her before.“Wait.”Everyone looked at her.“What?”Lila zoomed into the old photograph.There, partially hidden behind Carter
Lila couldn’t move.The message glowed on her screen.Now she knows.Her hands trembled.The parking lot around her suddenly felt unfamiliar.Unsafe.Too open.Too exposed.“Lila?”Ethan’s voice pulled her back.He had moved closer without her noticing.His expression had changed completely.The frustration and guilt from earlier were gone.Only concern remained.“What did the message say?”Lila looked up at him.Then silently handed him the phone.His jaw tightened immediately.“Who keeps doing this?”Nobody answered.Because nobody knew.On the other end of the call, her father’s breathing sounded uneven.“Lila,” he said urgently. “Are you with anyone?”She glanced at Ethan.Then Maya.Then Vanessa.“Yes.”“Good.”The relief in his voice was immediate.“Stay with them.”“Dad,” she whispered, “please tell me what’s going on.”Silence.Then:“It’s not something I can explain over the phone.”Fear crawled higher into her chest.“You have to.”“No.”His voice cracked.“I need to see you
For a moment, Lila forgot how to breathe.She stared at the photo on her phone.Then looked again.And again.Hoping she was seeing it wrong.But she wasn’t.The man standing beside Professor Carter was definitely her father.Younger.A lot younger.But unmistakably him.The same eyes.The same smile.The same face.Her stomach dropped.“Lila?”Ethan’s voice sounded distant.Like it was coming from far away.She handed him the phone silently.His expression changed immediately.“What the hell?”“What is it?” Maya asked.Lila couldn’t answer.Ethan showed her instead.A few seconds later, Maya’s eyes widened.“That’s your dad?”Lila nodded slowly.Nobody spoke.Because nobody understood.Not yet.The photo looked old.At least fifteen years old.Maybe more.Professor Carter looked younger.Her father looked happy.Comfortable.Like they knew each other well.Underneath the image was a date.A date that made Lila’s heart skip.Because it was from the year before she was born.“What does
Lila’s face burned.She wished she could disappear.Not later.Not tomorrow.Right now.Into the pavement.Into the rain.Into another universe.Anywhere but here.Maya stared at the phone.Vanessa looked horrified.Ethan looked confused.And Lila felt panic rising in her chest.“What post?” Ethan asked.Nobody answered immediately.Because suddenly Lila remembered exactly which post Maya was talking about.And that made everything worse.“Maya,” Lila said quickly.Too quickly.“Don’t.”Maya looked up.“Lila…”“Please.”Vanessa narrowed her eyes.“Now I definitely want to know.”Lila groaned.“Of course you do.”Ethan crossed his arms.“What did she write?”His tone wasn’t teasing.It was curious.And somehow that made Lila even more nervous.Maya looked between them.Then sighed.“It’s not bad.”The way she said it guaranteed it was bad.“Lila had a professor crush.”Silence.Ethan blinked.Vanessa blinked.Then Ethan frowned.“Professor Carter?”“NO!”The answer came out so loudly t
The name didn’t make sense.It couldn’t make sense.Lila stared at her phone, her breath uneven, her mind refusing to catch up.Professor Carter.Her professor.The one who assigned Ethan to her.The one who controlled the class.The one whose stomach dropped.“This is fake,” Ethan said immediately
The message didn’t disappear.It stayed there.Glowing.Heavy.Dangerous.“You finally see the truth… but you’re still missing the biggest secret.”Lila’s fingers tightened around her phone.Her heart started racing again.Not from embarrassment this time.Not from heartbreak.From something worse.
Lila dropped her phone.It hit the floor with a sharp crack.Her heart was racing too fast.Too loud.Too impossible to ignore.“No…” she whispered.But the image was already burned into her mind.Lucas.Editing the video.Calm. Focused. Precise.Like he had done it before.Like this wasn’t his fir
Lila knew something was wrong the moment she stepped into the lecture hall.The whispers weren’t subtle anymore.They followed her.Laughed at her.Stared.Her stomach twisted as she walked down the aisle, clutching her books tightly. Every seat she passed seemed to echo with quiet snickers.Then s







