ADRIAN POV
"You're staying with me."
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Scarlett looks up from her phone, eyes red from crying, and shakes her head.
"I can't. You know I can't. That would just prove everything Vanessa's saying about us."
"I don't care." I pace the gallery floor, everyone else having left after Vanessa's exit. "You have forty-eight hours to leave campus. Where else are you going to go?"
"My mom's apartment is three hours away. I can commute—"
"You don't have a car."
"Then I'll figure something out!" Her voice breaks. "Adrian, if I stay with you, we're done. Both of us. The university will expel me for real. You'll be fired for real. Everything we just fought for will be for nothing."
She's right. I know she's right. But the thought of her homeless, struggling, alone because she tried to help me—it's unbearable.
"There has to be another option," Maya says. She's been quiet since the email arrived, but now she stands. "My dorm room. Scarlett can crash with me until we figure this out."
"They'll find out," Scarlett says tiredly. "Vanessa probably already told them to watch for that."
"Then we make you disappear." Maya's eyes light up. "My cousin has an apartment off campus. She's studying abroad this semester. Place is empty."
"I can't afford rent—"
"You're not paying rent. You're house-sitting. Totally different." Maya pulls out her phone. "Let me call her."
While Maya steps away to make the call, Scarlett and I stand in awkward silence. The gallery suddenly feels too big and too small at the same time.
"I'm sorry," I say finally. "This is my fault. If I hadn't—"
"Don't." Scarlett's voice is firm. "This is Vanessa's fault. Not yours. Not mine. Hers."
"But you're losing everything because you tried to help me."
"No. I'm losing everything because a psychopath decided to play games with people's lives." She looks at me, and I see steel in those blue eyes. "And I'm not done fighting."
Something in my chest tightens. This woman—this girl—just lost her scholarship, her housing, potentially her entire future. And she's still standing here ready to fight.
"You should walk away," I tell her. "Transfer schools. Start over somewhere Vanessa can't reach you."
"Is that what you want?"
"I want you safe."
"That's not what I asked." She steps closer. "Do you want me to walk away?"
The honest answer is no. The honest answer is that I haven't stopped thinking about her since that night in the bar. That every time I see her, I want things I have no right to want. That she's become something dangerous and essential in just two days.
But I can't say that.
"It doesn't matter what I want," I say instead. "You're my student."
"I'm suspended. Technically not your student anymore."
"Scarlett—"
"I'm not asking you to do anything inappropriate." She crosses her arms. "I'm asking if you want me to run. Because if you do, I'll go. But if you want me to stay and fight Vanessa together, then I'm staying."
Before I can answer, Maya comes back. "Good news. Cousin says yes. The apartment's yours as long as you need it. It's small and the heating's weird, but it's off campus and private."
"Maya, I can't just—"
"You can and you will." Maya grabs Scarlett's hand. "We're going to your dorm right now. We're packing your stuff before campus security locks you out. Then we're moving you into the apartment and figuring out our next move."
"Our next move?" I ask.
"Obviously." Maya looks at me like I'm stupid. "You don't think we're done with Vanessa, do you? She took down Scarlett. Now we take her down."
"She's too powerful. Too connected."
"So were the Rockefellers," Maya says. "Until someone found their secrets and exposed them. Every powerful person has dirt. We just have to dig deep enough."
"That could take weeks. Months."
"Then we have months." Scarlett's voice is determined. "I'm not letting her win."
I look at these two women—barely adults, really—ready to go to war with someone who destroyed my entire career. Someone who got a woman murdered and faced no consequences.
"You don't know what you're up against," I warn them.
"Neither does she," Scarlett says. "She thinks she beat us. She thinks we'll slink away with our tails between our legs. She's wrong."
Maya grins. "I like Angry Scarlett. She's scary."
"We need a plan," I say, giving in. "A real one. Not fake evidence and bluffs."
"Agreed." Scarlett pulls out her phone. "But first, I need to save my academic life. If I'm suspended, I can't access university resources. Can't do research. Can't even be on campus without permission."
"So we fight the suspension," I say.
"How? They have an email from me supposedly making false accusations."
"Which you didn't write." I start pacing again, my mind working. "Vanessa must have hacked your email account. If we can prove that—"
"We prove she's behind everything." Scarlett's eyes widen. "Not just the suspension. The harassment charges against you. The fake photos. All of it."
"We need a hacker," Maya says. "Someone who can trace the email back to its real source."
"I know someone." The words are out before I can reconsider. "My brother Marcus. He used to work in cybersecurity before he took over the gallery. If anyone can trace a hacked email, it's him."
"Your brother who hasn't spoken to you in five years?" Scarlett asks gently.
"He called me today. After Vanessa showed him the Prague video. He said..." I swallow hard. "He said maybe he was wrong to believe her. Maybe that's enough."
"Or maybe Vanessa's manipulating him too," Maya warns.
"Only one way to find out." I pull out my phone and dial Marcus before I can chicken out.
He answers on the second ring. "Adrian."
"I need your help. It's urgent."
Silence. Then: "I'm listening."
I explain everything. The fake harassment charges. The hacked emails. Scarlett's suspension. Marcus listens without interrupting.
When I finish, he says quietly, "I'm at the gallery still. Come back. Bring the girl. Let me see the evidence."
"Marcus—"
"I believed Vanessa five years ago because I didn't have all the facts. Maybe I don't have them now either. But I can at least look." His voice softens. "You're my brother, Adrian. I should have looked before."
The call ends. I stare at my phone, something like hope flickering in my chest.
"Well?" Scarlett asks.
"He wants to help. Wants to see the evidence."
"Could be a trap," Maya says.
"Probably is," I agree. "But we're out of options."
We're heading back to my car when Scarlett's phone rings. Unknown number. We all freeze.
She answers on speaker. "Hello?"
"Miss Hayes." The voice is male, official. "This is Dean Morrison from Ashford University. I'm calling to inform you that your suspension hearing has been moved up. Tomorrow morning, nine AM. If you don't attend, your expulsion will be automatic and permanent."
"Tomorrow?" Scarlett's face goes pale. "But I haven't even had time to prepare a defense—"
"University policy. Fabricated evidence is a serious offense. We're expediting the process." The dean's voice is cold. "You're welcome to bring a lawyer, though I doubt it will help. The evidence against you is quite clear."
"What evidence? I didn't fabricate anything!"
"The testimony of Vanessa Chen. She claims you created a fake audio recording and used it to blackmail her. She has witnesses who saw you threaten her with false accusations." The dean pauses. "Quite serious charges, Miss Hayes. I suggest you use tonight to prepare your affairs. Chances are, you won't be returning to Ashford."
The line goes dead.
"No," Scarlett whispers. "No, this is impossible. We have witnesses too. Students who recorded her confession—"
"Who will say you coerced that confession with fake evidence," I finish grimly. "She outplayed us. Again."
"So what do we do?" Maya asks.
My phone buzzes. Text from Marcus: "Adrian, get to the gallery now. I found something in Vanessa's exhibition files. Something bad. She's not who she says she is."
Another text, this one from an unknown number: "Having fun yet? Tomorrow Scarlett gets expelled. Next week, you get arrested for the harassment charges—yes, I'm pressing forward with those. The week after, I release the Prague video to international media and watch your life burn. But I'm feeling generous. One last offer: Adrian marries me by the end of the month, or everyone you love suffers. Your choice. You have until midnight to decide. —V"
I show them both texts.
"Midnight," Scarlett says numbly. "That's six hours from now."
"What did Marcus find?" Maya asks.
"I don't know. But if he says it's bad—" I head for my car. "We need to go. Now."
We're pulling into the gallery parking lot when I see it. Marcus's car, driver's door open, engine still running. But no Marcus.
My stomach drops. "Something's wrong."
We get out. Run to the gallery entrance. The door's unlocked, lights on inside.
"Marcus?" I call out.
No answer.
We step inside the gallery. And stop.
The exhibition space is destroyed. Paintings slashed. Sculptures broken. Glass everywhere.
And in the center of the destruction, written in red paint on the white floor:
"STOP DIGGING OR MORE PEOPLE GET HURT. ELENA WAS JUST THE BEGINNING."
"Oh my God," Maya breathes.
My phone rings. Unknown number. I answer it, hands shaking.
"Adrian." It's Vanessa's voice, but colder than I've ever heard it. "I warned you. I told you to stop playing games. But you just couldn't leave the past alone, could you?"
"Where's my brother?"
"Safe. For now. He's having a drink at Murphy's Pub, completely unaware I had someone trash his gallery. But next time, I won't be so merciful." Her voice drops to a whisper. "Marry me, Adrian. By midnight. Or the next person who gets hurt won't be so lucky. And I'll make sure you watch."
The line goes dead.
I stand there, surrounded by destruction, and realize I'm out of moves.
Vanessa's not just playing chess anymore.
She's playing with lives.
And she's willing to kill to win.