Lahat ng Kabanata ng A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Ryan stared at the name on Daniel’s phone again.Thomas Bryant.The name meant nothing to him.But the look on Daniel’s face?That meant everything.“Talk to me,” Ryan said.Daniel didn’t speak.Didn’t even move.Just stood there, arms tense, jaw set, eyes pinned to a spot on the floor like the past had physically yanked him backward.“Daniel,” Ryan repeated, more carefully this time. “Please.”“I was 19,” Daniel said at last, voice thin and distant. “It wasn’t serious. Not to me. But it was to him.”Ryan waited.“He was older. Not by much, but enough. One of those guys who made you feel seen, right up until the moment he didn’t.”Ryan’s heart twisted. “He hurt you?”Daniel shook his head. “No. Not physically. But he… twisted things. Turned arguments into performances. Love into guilt. You know how that goes.”Ryan nodded slowly. He knew exactly how that went.“But I left,” Daniel said. “Cut it off. Blocked him everywhere. Thought that was it.”Ryan looked at the screen again. “Clearl

Ryan didn’t reply to Langley’s email.Not immediately.He stared at it for hours. First on his phone, then on his laptop, as if the size of the screen might make the words sound less… off.“Let’s meet off-campus. I know a place where we can talk freely.”It was probably harmless.But so were a lot of things until they weren’t.Daniel wasn’t home when Ryan stopped by that night.Instead, his sketchpad was lying on the table, still open to the drawing he’d been working on: a figure with Ryan’s posture, standing tall on a cliff’s edge, arms open to the wind.For a moment, Ryan traced the outline with his eyes. There was strength there the kind Daniel kept seeing in him even when he didn’t believe it himself.And maybe that’s why he made the decision he did.He met Langley the next afternoon.In public.A coffee shop in town, close enough to campus to feel safe but far enough to avoid running into classmates.Langley was already there, seated in the corner, wearing a sweater just slightly

Ryan didn’t sleep.He couldn’t.The voice recording replayed in his mind all night, Jake’s voice echoing like venom behind his eyes.“If I can’t have him, no one will.”It wasn’t a broken heart speaking.It was possession. Obsession. Control.And it wasn’t just Jake.Thomas had heard that recording.And he hadn’t done anything.By sunrise, Ryan made his choice.He put on jeans, a worn hoodie, and no hesitation.He walked to the communications building and asked for access to the audio lab.“Just a small project,” he lied. “For my journalism module.”He edited the voice clip, cleaned up the background, and exported it with the filename:Proof.mp3Then he sent a copy to himself.Another to his academic advisor.And one more… to Thomas.With a message:“I know what you were part of. Stay away from me.”By afternoon, Ryan stood outside Daniel’s apartment again.Not because he was ready to forgive.But because he wanted to hear the whole truth, or he would never be able to move forward wi

Ryan didn’t expect the post to go this far.He thought maybe a few students would read it, maybe share it quietly.But by the next morning, it was everywhere.Not just on the campus bulletin it had leaked onto social media.Screenshots. Quotes. Theories.Some people thought it was fiction.Some knew exactly who it was about.And some… were angry.He woke up to his phone vibrating nonstop.Group chats. Comments. Anonymous messages. Some kind. Some cruel.“I knew it. Jake always gave me weird vibes.”“Sounds like another fake victim crying for attention.”“Whoever wrote this is the bravest person I’ve never met.”Ryan shut the phone off, dropped it onto his pillow, and stared at the ceiling.That afternoon, Daniel called.Not textedhe called.Ryan didn’t pick up at first.But on the second try, he answered.Daniel’s voice was quiet. Almost careful.“I saw the post… and everything that came after.”“I didn’t name anyone,” Ryan said.“You didn’t have to,” Daniel replied. “They know. And

Monday. 10:24 a.m.Ryan stood outside Conference Hall B, heart pounding like a bass drum in his chest.A thick glass door separated him from what could change everything or nothing at all.The hearing hadn’t started yet.But it already felt like the floor under him was about to break.He could have stayed home. The university said attendance was optional.But Ryan knew silence had protected Jake for too long.He wouldn’t be part of that silence anymore.Inside the hall, the space was sterile roundtable style, with a few faculty chairs, one legal representative from the student affairs board, and two empty seats marked “Respondents.”Jake and Thomas hadn’t arrived yet.Ryan took his place in the corner. Not hidden. But not centered either.Professor Hill gave him a brief nod proud, but professional.Across the room sat Daniel.He wasn’t here because of Ryan. He was here because someone had to speak the truth.And he wasn’t the only one.10:36 a.m.Jake arrived. Alone.No swagger this t