Chapter 4 The Campus Confession Board

• The hallway stayed dead quiet. Only their own voices echoed off the walls.
• "What's your deal? You scared me." Zoe slapped Dylan's arm with a fake, playful pout.
• "Guess I just heard things. Thought someone was out here." Dylan glanced down the hall. He didn't think much of it. It didn't sound like people walking by. It probably just old pipes in the building.
• "If you just broke off your fake engagement with that fake heiress, we wouldn't have to sneak around like this," Zoe snapped, rolling her eyes.
• "You're still carrying the baby. Having her run around and take care of you helps us out," Dylan said in a soft, smooth tone.
• "Save it. You only keep her around because you haven't slept with her yet, and you hate losing," Zoe sneered.
• "You're a sophomore in college, and you've never even kissed your own fiancée. No wonder you can't drop her even after finding out she's a fraud. You feel ripped off, don't you?"
• "Alright, alright. If I was into her, you'd be the first one jealous." Dylan felt his ego take a hit. He worried someone might walk down the hall and hear them. He grabbed Zoe's hand and pulled her away fast.
• The sound of their footsteps faded down the hall.
• Nora finally let out a soft breath. She pushed against Miles's chest with weak hands.
• She was completely worn out. Her legs felt like jelly. Miles kept holding her tight. Her neck ached from tilting back so far.
• She had no idea what ran through his head right now. One second he looked like a wild animal ready to swallow her whole. The next second he slowed down. He kissed her with careful, soft touches.
• It made her face burn red.
• The utility closet door clicked open. Nora walked out with a bright red face. Her lips looked swollen and wet.
• The single blue iris she held a few minutes ago was totally crushed. It looked pathetic and ruined.
• "I—I'm heading back," Nora stammered, trying to slip away.
• Miles reached out. His large hand grabbed her small wrist. He pulled her right back into his arms.
• "Where's the rush?"
• "Walking out looking like that? Everyone will know you just spent the last hour making out." Miles kept his arm locked around her shoulder. His tone was totally lazy.
• "..."
• Nora felt like a ragdoll. He could control her whenever he wanted.
• She shot a quick side-eye at him.
• She muttered under her breath, "Look who's talking..."
• His bottom lip had a tiny split cut on it. Anyone with eyes could guess why.
• Nora wiped off her stage makeup, changed back into her casual clothes, and walked back to the dorm.
• Zoe hadn't left for the Riston hotel yet. She sat at her desk, holding her phone to her ear.
• "Nora, you're back?!" Zoe wore wireless earbuds. She flashed a stiff, fake smile.
• She looked flushed. Her eyes still held a lingering spark of post-hookup excitement. She glanced at Nora out of the corner of her eye. She lowered her voice and cooed right into the phone.
• "Ugh, you're so annoying. I miss you too."
• "Mhm, I know."
• "The baby misses you as much as I do."
• She acted like a total social butterfly. Her innocent student act dropped away. Her eyes turned sharp and flirty. She giggled nonstop, shaking her chest as if she shared sweet secrets with a new lover.
• Nora watched Zoe try so hard to grab her attention. A cold smile formed on her lips.
• She decided to play right along.
• "Zoe? Is that your boyfriend on the phone?" Nora asked.
• "Yeah." Zoe spared her one quick glance. She nodded with a red face. Her eyes shone with pure pride and smugness.
• "Oh nice. You two have been dating for ages. I've never even said hi to him. That's kind of rude of me as your roommate. Put him on speaker."
• Nora kept a sweet smile on her face. She walked step-by-step toward Zoe's desk.
• The smug look on Zoe's face vanished. Pure panic hit her.
• "Ah, my boyfriend is about to jump in the shower. I gotta hang up," Zoe blurted out.
• "Relax. Just a quick hello. Takes half a minute." Nora didn't wait. She reached out and snatched the wireless earbud right out of Zoe's ear before she could pull away.
• "Hello?"
• "Is this Zoe's boyfriend?"
• "..."
• *Click.*
• The line went dead. The call dropped instantly.
• "Hung up so fast. Such a shame," Nora said. She handed the earbud back to Zoe. She put on a sad face while screaming on the inside.
• That should scare the crap out of those two cheating cowards.
• "He probably didn't hear me over the shower running," Zoe muttered. She swallowed hard to force down her panic. She tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to get back to her original plan. She wanted to pry into Nora's night.
• Nora didn't give her the time of day.
• She made up an excuse about being tired. She grabbed her fresh clothes and walked straight into the bathroom to shower.
• Today drained every ounce of energy from her body. She didn't even care about tracking down the cheating pair right now. She just wanted to sleep for a week.
• She stripped off her clothes. The huge mirror in the bathroom gave her nowhere to hide.
• Her skin from the chest down was covered in dark, heavy marks. Her waist had blue and purple bruises from his grip.
• She glanced at the glass. Her face instantly turned the color of a ripe tomato.
• That was way too intense...
• Sure, Zoe spiked her drink last night. And sure, Nora kissed him first this morning. She technically started the whole thing.
• Still—
• Nora rubbed her sore lower back with a red face. Now that the adrenaline wore off, she felt every single ache.
• "Good thing he's not my actual boyfriend," Nora muttered to herself.
• Her mind stayed blurry last night, but this morning was crystal clear. She felt every single pound of pressure from that guy.
• He was an absolute monster on stamina.
• It was terrifying.
• Just on the other side of the bathroom door, Zoe stared at her phone screen. Her mind raced back to last night.
• The party last night was hosted on the first floor of the Royal Hotel. Zoe knew for a fact Nora drank that spiked glass.
• Plus, Nora was a broke college student whose family cut off her funds last semester. Nora had to work shifts at a bubble tea shop just to pay for rent. Zoe knew Nora didn't have the cash to rent a room at a luxury hotel.
• If Nora really lost her virginity, why did she look so calm? She walked around like nothing happened. She faced Dylan without flinching or sweating. She even pulled off the ballet routine without a single flaw!
• That made Zoe paranoid.
• This morning, Zoe tried to check the hotel security logs under a fake excuse.
• Luxury hotels protected guest privacy like Fort Knox. They didn't show footage to random students. Zoe had zero pull, so the front desk kicked her out.
• She spent hours setting up this whole trap. Walking away with zero answers drove her insane.
• Right then, the dorm door swung open.
• Their third roommate, Hana, walked inside. Her arms carried a mountain of shopping bags.
• "Hey, Z," Hana said, dropping the bags on the floor. She dragged a chair over and sat right next to Zoe.
• "Weren't you supposed to dance tonight? Why did Nora step in at the last second?"
• Zoe tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her expression looked stiff.
• "I twisted my ankle. Nora took my spot."
• "Oh, right." Hana smiled. Then her eyes lit up with campus gossip.
• "Hey, after the party last night, did you and Nora go to that VIP club?"
• The three of them planned to hit up a mixers event last night. Both Zoe and Nora stayed out all night.
• Hana was born in the US. She loved parties and didn't care about rules. She didn't like Zoe much, but she kept a friendly face for the sake of dorm peace.
• "Party? What party?" Zoe asked, acting dumb. She already knew about it. She was the one who told the party host to set up near the Royal Hotel hoping to trap Nora.
• "I heard Kael and his crew threw a massive bash on the sixth floor of the Royal."
• Kael was a rich sophomore. He made it very clear he had a crush on Nora for months.
• American college kids loved throwing wild parties. Kael's parties always ended behind closed doors.
• The rich heir loved spamming Instagram stories. Last night, Zoe used a burner account to message him. She pretended to be Nora and told him to come down to the lobby.
• Turns out Kael got too wasted. He didn't check his DMs all night.
• "I didn't go. Nora got way too drunk at the dinner. She vanished. I looked everywhere for her," Zoe said, showing fake disgust. She would never go to a gross frat party like that.
• "Vanished? I literally saw Nora take the private elevator upstairs last night," Hana said, painting her fingernails without a care in the world. "You guys both ghosted. I thought you both went up."
• "Nora went to the sixth floor?" Zoe froze. A rush of pure joy hit her chest. She hid her smile fast.
• Did someone else pick her up besides Kael?
• "I guess so. Who knows."
• Hana had a very different view on dating life. If two people wanted each other, who cared what happened behind closed doors?
• "The standard guest rooms at the Royal start on the seventh floor. You need a key card for the elevator. Even the cheapest room is nine hundred bucks a night. Nora wouldn't drop that kind of cash."
• Ever since Nora lost her family allowance, she counted every single penny. A single night at the Royal cost more than her monthly grocery budget.
• Both Hana and Zoe figured Nora couldn't afford it.
• "True. I have no idea," Zoe said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. She acted like she didn't care. Inside, her brain worked overtime.
• There was a solid seventy percent chance something went down. Even if it didn't—
• Zoe thought for two minutes. She grabbed her phone, logged into a burner account, and opened the campus confession page.
• The forum blew up today. Every post talked about the winter showcase.
• Zoe scrolled down. She saw a few posts featuring stolen photos of Nora on stage. People asked for the handle of the "backup dancer." Other users replied that the girl on stage wasn't named Zoe, it was Nora.
• Zoe felt her blood boil.
• According to her plan, Nora shouldn't have even finished that dance.
• Even if she finished it under Zoe's name, Zoe planned to take the credit later. Casual viewers would just assume Zoe danced the lead.
• Instead, they pulled off the masks at the very end.
• Zoe bit her lip hard to stop herself from screaming. She tapped the post button on the burner account. She typed out a fake confession post.
• *Anonymous Confession! Ran into a gorgeous art-department swan at the Royal Hotel last night. Don't know her name. She was super drunk and had the cutest, softest voice. It was pitch black, and she kept whispering a man's name over and over. Sounded super familiar. When I woke up this morning, she slipped away. And guess what? I saw that exact same swan dancing on stage tonight!! Fate brought us together. Even if you've got a boyfriend, I'm coming for you.*
• She hit submit. Zoe stared at the bathroom door. A dark, twisted smile spread across her face.