chapter 11 " scandal, blood & velvet

The ride back to Brentford felt colder than it should have.

Helena sat in the back of the car, fingers curled around the warning note like it was burning into her skin.

“Sophia was warned too.”

Her mum, Mrs. Tricia, had offered to keep her home another week. But Helena had refused.

They tried to break her.

Instead, they’d made her dangerous.

Brentford Academy – Monday Morning

When Helena stepped through the gates, the school fell into silence.

Eyes followed her.

Phones lifted.

Even the teachers seemed unsure whether to scold her or welcome her back.

She wore a black hoodie over a sleek uniform, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. A subtle scar peeked from her jawline where she’d hit the floor at the gala.

But her chin stayed high.

Bianca was waiting.

Leaning against the lockers. Perfect. Untouched. Dressed in winter white.

“You’re brave,” she purred as Helena passed. “Or stupid.”

Helena didn’t stop walking.

“I’d pick a side soon if I were you,” Bianca added. “Before the ground disappears beneath you too.”

Helena’s voice was steady. “See, that’s the difference between us, Bianca. You play for attention. I play for blood.”

Then she walked away.

Bianca’s smile vanished.

Second Period – Assembly Hall

The headmistress stood on stage, tight-lipped.

“A recent incident during the Winter Gala has caused reputational damage to the academy,” she began. “While investigations continue, privacy violations and acts of cruelty—especially those involving digital media—will not be tolerated.”

Tessy leaned in. “Translation: she knows what happened. But Bianca’s family’s too rich to touch.”

Helena nodded grimly.

Across the room, Greg sat beside Theo. Tension still lingered between them, but there was a new sense of alignment. The enemy had declared war. And they were finally choosing sides.

After School – The Library

“I traced the IP address,” Theo said, scrolling through lines of code. “The livestream came from a burner device. Hidden in your clutch purse.”

Helena sighed. “Bianca planted it. Tessy saw her.”

Greg leaned forward. “Then it’s time to strike back.”

Theo raised a brow. “How?”

Greg slid a file across the table.

Inside—photos.

Photos of Bianca.

With Audrey, her secret boyfriend.

In compromising positions.

“Her second boyfriend,” Tessy whispered. “Brentford’s code of conduct doesn’t allow dual relationships. She could lose her prefect badge. Her reputation.”

“Her protection,” Greg added.

Helena hesitated. “And if we leak it… we become her.”

“No,” Greg said. “We become something worse.”

That Night — Dorm Room

Helena stared at the ceiling.

She couldn’t sleep.

The warning note still sat on her desk. Staring back.

She turned to her phone. Opened a new message thread.

To: Unknown Number

You want me gone? You’ll have to try harder than that.

The phone buzzed.

Reply:

Don’t worry. I will. Sophia begged too.

Cliffhanger Ending

Outside Helena’s dorm window, a figure stood just beyond the courtyard fence.

Dressed in a black coat. Hands in their pockets.

Watching.

In their ear—an earpiece buzzed softly.

“She’s awake. And she’s fighting back.”

A voice replied from the other end:

“Then accelerate the plan.”

The figure walked off into the dark.

And the game continued.

Later that night, Helena sat cross-legged on her dorm bed, the lights off, her laptop glowing.

A folder sat open on her screen: Operation B.

Inside—everything Greg, Theo, and Tessy had dug up on Bianca.

Photos. Screen-recorded texts. Voice notes. Timelines of her manipulation—of Greg, of the students, and now, of her.

But something about it made Helena pause.

“She’s not doing this alone,” she said aloud, breaking the silence.

Tessy, who was curled up on a bean bag beside the window, looked over. “What do you mean?”

Helena scrolled through the footage again. “Bianca’s rich, yes. Vain, yes. But this... it’s too calculated. Too many moving parts. The stream, the setup at the gala, even the note at the hospital—it doesn’t feel like her.”

“You think someone’s feeding her instructions?”

Helena nodded slowly. “Or watching us both.”

There was a knock at the door.

Greg stepped in, a bruise blooming along his jaw from an earlier fight with Ferdinand—Bianca’s loyal puppet. His eyes flicked between the girls.

“I talked to Audrey,” he said. “He’s scared. Says Bianca’s been taking orders from someone new. Said it started after Sophia disappeared.”

Tessy sat upright. “You think it’s the same person who went after Sophia?”

Greg nodded grimly. “Or the same system.”

Helena stood. Her voice cold. Clear.

“Then we’re not just clearing my name anymore.”

“We’re uncovering why Sophia vanished.”

The Next Morning – Surprise Assembly

Principal Armstrong’s voice was unusually calm.

“We’ve received multiple reports regarding a private student group that may be involved in harassment, blackmail, and anonymous targeting.”

Gasps rippled through the room.

Bianca’s eyes narrowed from her seat. She looked cornered—but not scared.

Not yet.

Greg leaned toward Helena. “This is your move.”

Helena stood slowly, feeling hundreds of eyes track her every motion.

“This isn’t just about one video,” she said, her voice steady. “It’s about power. Fear. The way some people get to rewrite the rules while others pay the price. And I won’t be one of the ones who stays quiet anymore.”

The room was dead silent.

But somewhere near the back—someone clapped.

Then another.

Then the whole hall erupted.

Bianca’s face darkened.

This wasn’t the Helena she had filmed.

This was a Helena she couldn’t control.

Cliffhanger Ending

Later, as Helena packed her bag for class, she reached into her hoodie pocket and froze.

Another note.

Folded. Crisp. Clean.

But this one was different.

Not typed.

Handwritten.

And it only said:

The closer you get to the truth, the more graves you'll find.

You're not the first girl he brought to that house.

But you might be the last.

She turned around—but no one was there.

Just the wind brushing through the crack in her window.

And a shadow disappearing behind the dormitory building.

Would you