The ballroom lights flickered back on just in time to reveal horror—blood blooming across the white tuxedo of the silver-masked guest sprawled on the marble floor.
Screams tore through the air like sirens. Couples ran. Heels snapped. A trail of crimson led toward the rose garden doors.
And in the middle of it all… stood Naomi, shaking, her hands stained red—not with blood, but with the cherry wine she'd dropped seconds before the shot.
--
Ochieng emerged from the lounge, followed closely by Celeste and Zara. The moment he saw the body, his chest constricted.
It was Raymond Black, 24, heir to Black Securities and a man rumored to have been investigating dirty dealings behind Noir Pharmaceuticals and some of the shady student scholarships.
The same man who once blackmailed a professor for sleeping with a student.
Now, he was dead.
Celeste narrowed her eyes. "Convenient."
Zara whispered, "You're next if you keep playing innocent."
---
Professor Liliana Wren pushed past the crowd, eyes wild. She kneeled beside Raymond's body, checking his pulse even though everyone knew.
Then she whispered to Ochieng, "Leave. Now. Someone's setting you up."
He hesitated.
"Go!"
---
Naomi ran into the night air. Her thoughts blurred. Who fired the shot?
Her mind kept flashing to Ivy. Ivy had access. Ivy had motive. Ivy had secrets.
And Ivy was… gone.
She turned a corner—and collided with someone.
"Ivy?"
No.
It was Dr. Asher Kane, 32, Literature professor. Handsome, intense, mysterious. Hair always messy like he ran through a storm. He grabbed Naomi's wrist tightly.
"I need your help," he said. "Someone just made you a suspect. And I can prove it."
---
A woman in a crimson dress entered through the back entrance, heels echoing ominously.
Juliette Voss, 26, daughter of a disgraced business tycoon, and now the secret owner of Voss & Vale Investigations. She was known for digging into the lives of the elite and the corrupt—and for always being one step ahead.
She looked around. Smiled slightly.
And whispered into her headset, "Target down. Phase two: Ochieng."
---
Back in Ochieng's dorm, the door creaked open.
A masked intruder walked in. Left a rose on his pillow. And a note that read:
> "You danced with devils, now bleed with angels.
— V"