Elite High had perfected the art of pretty lies.
Smiles were currency here—brilliant, practiced expressions wrapped around venom. And in the days following the debate, those smiles were growing sharper, thinner. Veronica could feel it in the air, in the eyes that lingered a moment too long. She was winning, and they hated her for it.
Good.
Let them smile. She'd see who bled behind their grins.
The morning after the debate, a new change swept across the campus. Not banners or speeches—this time, it was silence.
Victoria's campaign had gone quiet.
Too quiet.
No more morning announcements. No more plastered quotes on hallway monitors. No more tightly choreographed power walks flanked by her inner circle.
And that, Veronica knew, was more dangerous than any slander or poster war.
She's regrouping, Veronica thought as she strode across the quad. Plotting something bigger. Something ugly.
She would be ready.
Lunch Break – Student Council Courtyard
"You're not worried?" Iris asked, peeling an orange with fingers too elegant for cafeteria fruit. Her tone was casual, but her eyes, bright, perceptive, lined with smudged purple eyeliner, were sharp.
Veronica didn't look up from her notebook. She was sketching out a revised funding schedule for the science fair initiative—a request from a quiet sophomore who'd thanked her with a shy bow and near tears.
"She's hiding," Veronica murmured. "Victoria doesn't make peace. She sharpens knives."
Iris tossed a peel into her lunchbox and leaned in. "And you're what—waiting for her to stab first?"
Veronica's pen paused.
She looked up. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "No. I'm making her think she'll stab first."
Across the courtyard, Lucas was leaning against a brick column, arms crossed, watching her. Watching everything.
They hadn't spoken since the debate night—not really. But he was always there. Silent shadow. Guardian ghost.
She liked it that way.
Too much conversation could crack what she was building.
Too much emotion could cost her the throne.
After School – Elite High Archives
The school's records room was rarely used. Tucked beside the old east wing, behind two locked doors and a dusty security system, it held decades of institutional memory.
Veronica had a key now—student council perk. Or more accurately, a perk she took after she'd rewritten the committee voting permissions with a little help from the chess club's codebreaker.
She stepped into the dimly lit room, flicked on the lights, and walked to the back files.
She was looking for ghosts.
Not hers.
Victoria's.
She found them in a slim manila folder labeled: Student Record – Victoria Lei.
Filed under 'A' for Archived.
A lazy mistake.
She opened it, scanning rapidly.
Perfect attendance. Highest marks. Extracurriculars listed like trophies—ballet, debate, charity work.
And one redacted report.
The black bars across the print only confirmed what Veronica suspected.
She smiled.
There's no such thing as a perfect queen.
Just one with good cleaners.
She took a photo of the file with her burner phone, then returned it precisely as she'd found it.
As she turned to leave, the lights flickered.
A soft noise behind her.
Veronica froze.
"Who's there?" she asked calmly, slipping her hand toward the taser tucked under her jacket.
No answer.
But a shadow moved near the door.
She stepped forward, and the lights clicked off completely.
Dark.
Still.
Then—
The emergency lights buzzed on.
Empty.
Whoever was watching… was gone.
Nightfall – Lin Family Estate, Balcony Overlooking the Garden
Lucas stood at her side again, wordless.
The sky was dark velvet, stars dimmed by city light. Below, the wind stirred the lilies Mrs. Lin had planted years ago—flowers Veronica couldn't remember caring about until now.
Veronica didn't look at him when she spoke.
"She's hiding something," she said. "A scandal. Something big enough, she scrubbed it out of the school archives."
Lucas didn't ask how she knew. He never did.
"She's been in the public eye since she was thirteen," he said. "Her father's a media tycoon. If there's a skeleton, it's buried deep."
"Then we dig deeper."
A pause. The air between them thrummed with unspoken truths.
"Why now?" Lucas asked finally. "You had a plan. You were letting her destroy herself. Why risk exposure?"
Veronica turned to him, eyes shadowed.
"Because someone else is watching. Someone outside this game."
Lucas tensed. "How do you know?"
"I felt it. In the archives. And earlier, someone tampered with the student broadcast server again. Not Victoria's usual style."
He stepped closer. "You think you've drawn a second enemy?"
Veronica's smile was cold. "No. I think they're coming out of hiding."
The Next Day – Hallway Near Room 4B
A new rumor floated through the halls like perfume—thick, cloying, deliberately placed.
Victoria was seen crying in the counselor's office.
Whispers suggested a breakdown. Burnout. Even bullying.
Fake vulnerability. A ploy.
But Veronica wasn't so sure.
Not when she spotted Victoria that afternoon—no makeup, no entourage, her eyes red.
Real tears.
Or a better mask.
Either way, it meant one thing: the queen was cracking.
And someone else was twisting the knife.
Evening – Lucas's Surveillance Room
He sat before the monitors, fingers drumming against the desk.
A new figure had appeared in the background of Veronica's security footage—three times now. Always shadowed. Always just out of reach.
Not a student.
Not staff.
He zoomed in, enhanced, and paused.
There. A lapel pin—crescent fang with a crown.
His eyes narrowed.
Mafia.
His voice crackled over his private mic: "Target sighted. Phase Two may begin."
He looked at the unopened flash drive again.
"Amy Lin… Veronica Lin… whoever you are," he murmured, "we're running out of time."
Midnight – Veronica's Room
She lay in bed, eyes open, hands folded over her stomach.
Sleep wouldn't come.
Not tonight.
Her phone buzzed once.
A message.
Unknown Number:
Nice campaign, Miss Lin. But don't forget—smoke always means fire. :)
Veronica stared at the text.
Then deleted it.
She rose, crossed the room, and stared at her reflection in the vanity mirror.
The girl looking back had Amy's features, Veronica's fire, and the blood of ghosts behind her eyes.
Let them come.
She smiled, lips curving like a blade.
They don't know how much I've already burned.