I stared at the message again.
"You think you're smart? This isn't over."
No name.
No display picture.
Just those chilling words from a fake account.
My first thought: Michael!.
He'd been quiet since I blocked him.
Too quiet.
"Was this his way of getting back in..through threats?
Guilt?
Intimidation?"
I took a screenshot, heart pounding, then I reported the account and blocked it. But my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Something felt off. This wasn't just about heartbreak anymore. This was something darker.
I didn't tell anyone that morning, I tried to go through my usual routine..classes, assignments, fake smiles but I kept checking my phone like a bomb might go off.
Then I got another message.
New Email:
Subject: "You should've kept your mouth shut".
Body: "Now everyone's going to know what you did".
No name.
No signature.
Just a threat.
I stared at it, stunned. "What I did"? What were they even talking about?
Was it about Michael?, the pregnancy scare? Something else?
Suddenly, every vulnerable moment I'd shared with him felt like a weapon waiting to be turned against me.
I sat on a bench outside the library, phone clutched in my hand, brain spinning.
That's when I decided to call Amy.
She picked up quickly.
"Hey," she said. "Everything okay?"
I hesitated.
"Have you… gotten any weird messages?"
Silence.
"Actually… yeah," she said. "Last night. Someone messaged me from a burner Instagram account. Said I should stop spreading lies."
I stood up. "It's happening to me too, email this time, they're threatening to expose something."
Amy sighed. "This has Michael written all over it."
"But what could he possibly expose? That he used us? Lied to both of us?"
"No. I think he's panicking. He knows we talked."
" I will call it a beat". Amy added.
"Do you think he's dangerous?" I asked.
Amy paused.
"I didn't, but now… I'm not sure."
That night, I couldn't sleep again.
I replayed every message, every call, every red flag I had ignored. Michael had always been charming, yes. But he also had a short temper.
He hated being called out.
He hated not being in control.
And now he was lashing out.
I decided to speak to someone, someone real..someone outside the story.
The next day, I went to our school's guidance office.
I didn't give names, just explained that someone I had dated was now harassing me with fake accounts and threats.
The counselor, an older woman with kind eyes, listened carefully.
"You've done the right thing reporting and blocking," she said. "Keep screenshots of everything. If it escalates, you may want to consider campus security or even the police."
That word hit hard: police.
Was it really that serious?
But then I remembered the message: "Now everyone's going to know what you did."
And suddenly, yes! it was serious.
A few days passed quietly,no new messages,no calls.
I almost let myself breathe.
Then, on a Sunday morning, everything changed.
I was in bed scrolling through my phone when I got a ping.
An AnonymousTruthLeaker just tagged you in a post.
I clicked it.
And froze.
It was a screenshot of one of my old DMs to Michael. One where I'd poured out my heart, scared after the pregnancy scare. I had begged him to talk to me, told him how lost I felt.
Now it was public.
The caption:
"Maybe she should've kept her legs closed if she didn't want consequences."
My stomach dropped.
And the worst part?
People were commenting.
Laughing.
Judging.
Sharing it.
In seconds, I was reduced to a meme.
I felt sick.
I grabbed my laptop, frantically reporting the post, messaging Instagram support, trying to control the damage. But the post had already been screenshot, shared, reposted.
The internet never forgets.
My phone buzzed again.
Private Number Calling.
I didn't want to pick up.
But I did.
"You ruined me, Mimi,"a voice spat.
"Now you get to know how that feels."
Michael.
I swallowed hard like something been stuck within. "You're insane."
"No!, I'm just getting started."
He hung up.
I sat in silence for a long time.
My heartbeat was in my ears. My hands felt cold, my body trembled.
This wasn't just emotional abuse anymore.
This was revenge.
Amy came to my dorm an hour later after I sent her everything.
She looked furious. "He leaked your messages? He's out of his mind."
I nodded. "What do we do now?"
She didn't hesitate.
"We go public…with the truth".
That night, we posted our side of the story together.
Two screenshots..two voices and two victims.
Amy posted a video explaining what happened, how Michael had manipulated us both, lied, and was now threatening us with fake accounts.
I wrote a thread,honest.. raw, and unapologetic. I included only what was necessary.
No hate.. Just the truth.
The support poured in.
People reached out, others shared their own stories and the tide began to turn.
But I knew Michael wouldn't back down easily.
Two days later… I found something worse.
A video…
Posted on another anonymous account.
Blurry, shaky… but it was us.
Michael and me.
In his room together.
Not fully explicit, but enough.
Enough to ruin me. I dropped my phone.
Someone gasped behind me it was my roommate, who had accidentally seen the screen.
"Mimi… oh my God…"
I couldn't speak.
My world crumbled.
As I sat there frozen, my phone buzzed again.
One new message.
Unknown Number:
Now you'll learn to shut up or the next one will be worse.