The final bell had rung, and students poured out of the lecture hall, backpacks bouncing, chatter filling the hallways. Scarlett was calm, collecting her notes and laptop, unaware that the day's storm had been quietly brewing behind her. She had written her test, confident in her answers, oblivious to the subtle chaos that had surrounded her.
"Scarlett!" a voice called from the lockers. Mara, her classmate, waved her over, eyes wide and nervous.
"What is it?" Scarlett asked, brow furrowed.
Mara glanced around, lowering her voice. "After the test… something happened at your desk. A small device — like a chip — was planted near your desk. It looked like it could help you cheat."
Scarlett froze mid-step, confusion twisting into sudden heat. "What?"
Mara nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah… Joanna spotted it and reported it to the professor. If Lucas hadn't… well, if he hadn't been watching, you'd have been accused. Everyone was freaked out. It could have been terrible."
Scarlett's stomach dropped. A chip? Planted? To make her look like she cheated? She felt a surge of rage mixed with disbelief. "I… I didn't even notice," she whispered, anger prickling along her spine.
"Exactly," Mara said. "That's why it worked on other people, but you… you just sat there, focused. Lucas saw it first and quietly removed it before anyone could notice."
Scarlett's jaw tightened. "Lucas… he did what?"
Mara shrugged. "He didn't make a scene. He just… made sure you weren't trapped. That's all I know. He told me not to mention much — said you should hear it from him if you wanted details."
Scarlett felt her pulse quicken — fury, embarrassment, and gratitude twisting together. Someone had tried to frame her. Someone had dared to make her look like a cheat in front of the class, and she hadn't even known. She had sat there, calm, unknowing, while the trap waited.
Determined, she set off toward the library, weaving through the crowds. Lucas was always in the library — it was his quiet place. Today, Scarlett's footsteps were fast, precise, every stride fueled by anger and the need for answers.
She found him at a long table by the window, absorbed in a sketchbook. He looked up at her approach, calm as ever, expression unreadable.
"Why?" Scarlett demanded the moment she reached him, voice low but sharp. "Why did you do it? Why did you remove the device without telling me?"
Lucas leaned back slightly, hands steepled. "Because someone was trying to frame you," he said simply. "I didn't want the professor or anyone else to see it. You'd have been humiliated. You'd have been blamed for something you didn't do."
Scarlett's fists clenched at her sides. "Do you know what that could have done? My reputation? My grades? The way everyone would have looked at me?"
Lucas's calm gaze met hers. "I do. That's why I acted."
She swallowed hard, fury and relief battling in her chest. "So you… saved me. Quietly. Without telling me. Without even letting me know who to thank."
"I didn't do it for thanks," he said softly. "I just… didn't want them to win. And I didn't want you to face that alone."
Scarlett's chest heaved. She wanted to shout, to demand more, to hit Joanna and Alisa for trying to trap her. Her small hands balled into fists at her sides, mind racing. She didn't know what Lucas was thinking, but she knew one thing: she wasn't going to let anyone manipulate her. Not them. Not anyone.
"And the chip?" she asked finally, voice trembling.
Lucas handed her a small folded paper. Inside, she saw the tiny device, harmless now. "Removed. Safe. Proof if you need it."
Scarlett held it for a long moment, burning with anger, embarrassment, and something else — respect, maybe, for the quiet way he had protected her. She slipped it into her pocket.
"Thank you," she said, low but firm, eyes blazing. "But this isn't over. I'm going to make sure they know the kind of person they tried to mess with."
Lucas gave a slight, almost-smirking nod. "I'll be around. Just… watch the exits."
Scarlett's lips pressed together in determination. The storm from earlier hadn't reached the campus, but she felt it now, coiled in her chest, ready to strike. And she wouldn't hold back.