The university campus buzzed with life as students returned to their usual schedules, but for Lemon and her group of friends, the atmosphere was different. Tension lingered in the air like an unseen fog. The weight of Leon's incident clung to each of them, heavier than any exam or lecture ever could.
The girls gathered in their usual spot beneath the sprawling banyan tree. Their backpacks were thrown aside, and they sat in a loose circle on the stone benches, surrounded by the soft chatter of other students and the rustle of leaves in the breeze.
"How's Leon feeling now?" Evelyn asked, breaking the uneasy silence.
Lemon looked up from her phone, her face softening a little. "He's fine now. Still needs some bed rest, but the doctor said he'll recover fully."
"But how did this all even happen?" Riley questioned, furrowing her brows. "I mean, he was fine. Then suddenly he's unconscious at his house?"
Lemon exhaled slowly. "I don't know. I was on call with him. Everything seemed normal... we were joking, and then suddenly I heard this loud bang. And the call got cut."
"That's so strange," Autumn murmured, pulling her knees up to her chest.
Lemon nodded. "He said someone did it. Someone hit him. But he couldn't see who."
Hazel leaned forward. "But... how did that someone get inside his house? Didn't he lock the door?"
"Exactly. That's what I've been wondering," Lemon said. "His mom wasn't home. He was alone. And yet someone managed to sneak in."
A silence fell over the circle.
Then Lemon added, her voice barely above a whisper, "I have this strong feeling... that it's someone related to the murders."
Riley's eyes widened. "I feel that too."
Evelyn tilted her head. "But why would someone related to those murders attack Leon? What connection does he have?"
That was the question. The silence returned, this time heavier. Each girl was thinking the same thing but hesitant to voice it aloud—Leon might somehow be connected. But how?
Before they could dwell on it longer, the bell rang for the next class. They stood up one by one, grabbing their bags, the unanswered question still hanging above them like a storm cloud.
---
During the break, Lemon stepped aside under the staircase and called Leon. The phone rang a few times before he picked up.
"Hey," he said, sounding tired but cheerful.
"How're you feeling now?" she asked softly.
"I'm all good but THE NURSES ARE GIVING ME BROCCOLI SOUP!!! I DON'T WANT IT!" he whined like a child.
Lemon laughed, shaking her head. "You have to drink it or else I'll beat you myself, and the nurses will help."
"But it tastes awful... please, Lemonie, I want to eat something else!"
"Nope," she said firmly, trying not to laugh again. "You have to stick to soup for now. Once you're discharged, you can eat whatever you want."
"Urghhh... oook," he groaned dramatically.
There was a brief pause before Leon spoke again. "Hey... my mom told me something."
Lemon raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"She said when she was cleaning the house, she found a bracelet."
Lemon blinked. "Bracelet?"
"Yeah. A girl's bracelet. It had pink pearls and little charms. Looked expensive."
Lemon's breath caught. Her voice dropped. "That only means one thing."
"What?" Leon asked.
Lemon swallowed. "It was a girl who hurt you. But why? And... who was she?"
Leon sighed on the other end. "I don't know. I didn't see anything. Just... blacked out."
Lemon tried to keep her voice calm. "Okay. I'll talk to you later. You need to rest now."
"Okay, okay... bye. Love you," he said softly.
Lemon smiled gently, her heart fluttering. "Love you too. Bye."
She ended the call and turned to walk back when Hazel popped out from behind the corner. "'Love you'—OMG, how romantic!"
Lemon blushed furiously. "Hazel! Were you eavesdropping?!"
Riley grinned as she joined them. "So... what bracelet was he talking about?"
Lemon composed herself and explained. "He said his mom found a bracelet in his room. Pink pearls. Charms. Definitely not his."
Scarlett, who had just arrived with Autumn and Evelyn, tilted her head. "It must be the girl's bracelet. The one who attacked him."
"Pink pearls..." Autumn repeated. "I saw it somewhere. But where?"
Evelyn frowned. "Me too. It feels familiar."
Lemon's mind raced. She suddenly unlocked her phone, scrolled rapidly through her gallery until she found a group photo from a few weeks ago. She zoomed in on Ellara's wrist.
There it was.
A delicate bracelet made of pink pearls and silver charms, gleaming subtly beneath the sunlight in the picture. Her heart stopped.
"No way," Riley whispered, leaning in.
"It's Ellara's," Lemon said, voice shaking slightly. "She wore it that day... she always wears it."
Autumn backed away a step. "Then that means..."
"She is alive," Evelyn said in disbelief.
"But how?" Hazel asked, her voice barely audible.
Lemon's eyes narrowed. "That's what we need to find out."
The rest of the day passed like a blur. The classes, the teachers, the noisy halls—they all faded into the background. Lemon couldn't stop looking at the photo. Ellara's face, smiling so innocently. But now that image was tainted with suspicion.
Later that night, Lemon sat alone in her room, the photo still on her screen. She stared at the bracelet, zooming in again and again. It was unmistakable.
She thought about everything that had happened: the murders, the list of names, Leon's attack, the bracelet... everything was tying itself into a knot, with Ellara at the center.
She didn't know what scared her more—the idea that Ellara was involved in all this... or the possibility that she had trusted a monster all along.
This was only the beginning.
But Lemon knew one thing now:
She was going to find the truth.
And she was going to expose Ellara.