""If I can't have you, no one can.""
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The air inside Crestfall Academy's auditorium was too thick with heat and perfume, with the manufactured laughter of the rich and powerful echoing off its marble walls.
Seniors filled the rows in pressed uniforms and artificial smiles as the school's "golden boy" took the mic, delivering a speech so smooth it could've been carved from polished stone.
Aiden Voss.
Crestfall's king,her personal nightmare.
"we'll be donating over fifty thousand dollars to support underprivileged youth across the district."He said
Applause. Laughter. Camera flashes.
Her hands shook, but her voice didn't.
"That's a lie."Eliza spoke up
Silence.
Aiden's eyes met hers—cool gray, sharp as a knife.
"The money doesn't go to the district," she continued. "It's funneled through a dummy foundation your father owns. Less than ten percent goes to real students. The rest—pays for PR and bonuses." "You all worship him like he's some kind of savior. But he's just another rich boy playing hero with dirty money." she spoke with pure hate.
Aiden's jaw tensed, but he never stopped smiling.
He leaned toward the mic again, never breaking eye contact...
"It's good to see Crestfall still encourages student participation. Even when it's… misinformed."
Laughter returned, shallow and forced
She didn't win. But she hit something. She knew it.
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Hours later...
She returned to her locker to grab her physics notebook and found a single envelope taped to the front.No name. Just her locker number written in red ink
She looked around—empty hall. Just the buzzing overhead lights and the echo of her own breath.She peeled the tape off slowly and opened it.
Inside were printed screenshots—dozens of them.
Her private online therapy journal. Her breakdown entries. Her confessions. The night she nearly took the pills. The thing about her mother. The line she'd written at 2 a.m. that made her cry when she reread it:
"No one would notice if I disappeared."
On the back of the final page, scrawled in dark ink....Her stomach turned.
At the bottom of the envelope, a single word was written in ink so dark it bled through the paper:
"Mine."
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