I stood there, phone in hand, staring at my reflection in the window. Behind me, Sarah's bed. Sarah's room. Sarah's investigation.
My phone buzzed one more time: "P.S. - Don't trust Adrian Blake. But don't run from him either. He's the key to everything. Get close to him. Make him trust you. And maybe, just maybe, you'll survive this. 45 hours, 47 minutes."
A knock on my door made me scream.
"Emma? It's me." Adrian's voice. "I know you told me to leave, but I saw Sullivan running out of the building like hell was chasing him, and I got worried. Are you okay?"
I opened the door. Adrian stood there, and for the first time, his carefully controlled expression was gone. He looked genuinely concerned.
"Someone threatened Kai's father," I said, my voice shaking. "And they've been watching me. And they say they killed Sarah."
"Fuck." Adrian stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Emma, how much do you know? About Sarah, about my family, about what she was investigating?"
"Not enough," I admitted. "But apparently I have 45 hours to figure it out."
He pulled out his phone, typing rapidly. "Okay. We need to move fast. First, I'm getting security on Kai's father. Second, I'm putting protection on your mother. And third" He looked at me. "Third, you're going to have to trust me. At least for the next 45 hours."
"Why should I trust you? The messages say your family killed my sister."
"They did," he said simply. "My father and brother, specifically. But Emma, I'm not them.
And I've been trying to stop them for three years. Your sister and I were working together before she died. She was helping me gather evidence, and I was giving her access to information she couldn't get on her own."
My head spun. "You knew Sarah?"
"I knew Sarah," he confirmed. "I cared about Sarah. And when she died, when they killed her, I swore I'd finish what we started. That's why I'm here. That's why I approached you today. Because the moment I saw your name on the student roster, I knew. I knew they'd bring you here. Just like they brought her."
"They brought me here? What does that mean?"
"Your scholarship," he said. "It's from the Blake Foundation. My family controls who gets it. They gave it to Sarah two years ago, and they gave it to you this year. It's how they control threats. They bring them close, watch them, and when the time is right" He stopped.
"They eliminate them," I finished.
"Yes." His blue eyes were intense. "But I won't let that happen to you. Emma, I swear on everything I have, I will keep you safe."
"Why?" I demanded. "Why do you care? You don't even know me."
He was quiet for a moment. Then: "Because Sarah asked me to. Her last words to me were 'If anything happens to me, protect Emma. Don't let them get her too.'"
Tears burned in my eyes. "Sarah knew? She knew she was going to die?"
"She suspected," he said softly. "And she made me promise. So that's what I'm doing. I'm keeping my promise to your sister."
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe someone. But the messages had warned me not to trust anyone.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I asked.
"You don't," he admitted. "But Emma, you're going to have to make a choice. You can run leave Riverside, forget about Sarah, forget about all of this. Or you can stay and fight. But if you stay, if you choose to finish what Sarah started, you can't do it alone. You need someone on the inside. Someone who knows how my family operates."
"And that's you?"
"That's me." He moved closer. "I won't lie to you, Emma. This is dangerous. If my father finds out I'm helping you, we're both dead. But I'm tired of watching them destroy people. I'm tired of being a Blake. And maybe, with your help, I can finally bring them down."
I looked at him really looked at him. Adrian Blake, heir to a criminal empire, standing in my dorm room, offering to betray his family for a girl he'd just met.
It was crazy.
It was dangerous.
It was probably a trap.
But I was out of options.
"Okay," I said. "45 hours. We work together. But Adrian? If you're lying to me, if this is some game"
"It's not," he said firmly. "I swear to you, Emma. Everything I've
I didn't sleep that night.
Instead, I sat at my desk, the USB drive in front of me, afraid to look at it alone but desperate to know what Sarah had died for.
At 3 AM, Kai texted: "Dad's okay. False alarm. Someone broke into his apartment building but didn't get to him. He's shaken but safe. I'm staying with him tonight. Be careful, Em. I'll be back tomorrow."
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least Kai's father was safe.
At 3:15 AM, Adrian texted: "I've put security on your mother. She doesn't know, but she's being watched 24/7. No one will touch her. Get some sleep, Emma. Tomorrow we start fighting back."
I stared at both messages. Both men trying to protect me. Both men with their own agendas.
Who could I trust?
At 7 AM, exhausted but unable to sleep, I got ready for my first day of classes. I had Professor Morrison's Advanced Literature seminar at 9 AM the class both Adrian and Kai had mentioned.
I wore jeans and a simple black sweater, tied my hair back, and tucked Sarah's locket under my shirt. The USB drive was in my pocket, a constant weight reminding me of my mission.
The literature building was gorgeous old brick, high ceilings, walls lined with books.
Professor Morrison's classroom was on the third floor, and when I walked in, I immediately saw Adrian.
He sat in the back row, looking effortlessly perfect in a dark blue sweater that matched his eyes. When he saw me, something softened in his expression.
"Emma," he said. "Sit with me?"
I hesitated. The anonymous messages had said to get close to him, to make him trust me. But sitting with him felt dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with his family.
"Emma Chen?" A woman's voice rang out. Professor Morrison stood at the front of the room fifty-something, sharp eyes, commanding presence. "Welcome. Please take a seat. We're about to begin."
I slid into the seat next to Adrian. He leaned close, his voice low. "Did you sleep?"
"No."
"Neither did I." His hand brushed mine on the desk. "Tonight. My apartment. I'll show you everything. But we need to be careful. No one can know we're working together."
"Your apartment?"
"It's off-campus. Private. Secure." His blue eyes held mine. "I know you don't trust me yet. But Emma, after tonight, after you see what I have, you'll understand. I'm not your enemy."
Before I could respond, the door opened and Kai walked in. His eyes immediately found me and then Adrian sitting beside me. His expression darkened.
"Mr. Sullivan," Professor Morrison said. "So glad you could join us. Take a seat."
Kai sat directly behind me, close enough that I could feel his presence like a physical weight.
Professor Morrison began her lecture on tragic love in literature Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina. Stories where love destroyed people.
"Love," she said, pacing in front of the class, "is the most dangerous force in literature because it makes us blind. Blind to danger, blind to truth, blind to our own destruction. The greatest tragedies occur when we love the wrong person or when we love two people at once."
I felt both Kai and Adrian shift behind and beside me.