Sierra didn't remember when she stopped hearing the chatter around her.
The hallway outside the journalism room was buzzing with noise—whispers, footsteps, the constant hum of students moving between periods. But inside her head, everything was oddly muted, like she had slipped underwater and the world above was drifting farther and farther away.
She stared at the notification on her phone screen.
Another anonymous post.Another accusation.Another lie turned into wildfire.
"Sierra Song plagiarized her midterm essay.""Leon only protects her because they're secretly dating.""Jenna and Vivian are distancing themselves—guess they finally see her real face."
Her hands tightened around the phone until her knuckles paled.
She wasn't angry.She wasn't even shocked anymore.
She was tired.
Tired of fighting shadows.Tired of proving innocence to people who never intended to listen.Tired of being dragged back to the same corner every time she tried to step forward.
A gentle tap landed on her shoulder.
"Sierra?" Vivian's voice softened. "You didn't respond when I called you. Are you okay?"
Sierra blinked her back into focus.
Vivian's brows were drawn with worry. Behind her, Jenna hovered awkwardly, clutching a folder of evidence like she was afraid it might slip from her grip.
Leon stood a short distance away, arms crossed, expression tight with barely contained frustration—not aimed at her, but at the situation repeating again and again.
Sierra exhaled slowly. "Another post. It won't stop."
Jenna bit her lip. "Actually… that's what we came to tell you." She exchanged a look with Vivian before continuing."We found something."
Vivian nodded, pulling out her tablet and swiping to a screenshot. "The timing of the posts, the account behavior patterns, the IP trace we got from the admin—everything lines up."
Sierra frowned. "Lines up with what?"
Leon stepped forward, voice firm."With someone targeting you intentionally. Not random trolls. Not students following the trend."He paused. "This looks like a coordinated attack."
Her breath hitched.
"Coordinated… by who?"
Vivian hesitated. "We're not 100% sure yet. But…"
Jenna finished for her, eyes cold."We found a name that keeps appearing in the backend logs. Someone who edited the posts right before they went public."
Sierra's heart thudded painfully.
"Who?"
The hallway chatter faded again, swallowed by a heavy, pressing silence.
Vivian finally spoke.
"…Lydia Chou."
The world lurched.
Lydia.Her former tutor.Her mother's trusted assistant.The woman who handled half their family's public relations.
Sierra's stomach twisted, a cold, creeping realization sliding down her spine.
"Why would she—?"
Leon didn't let her finish. "We don't know yet. But the pattern is too deliberate to ignore."
Jenna stepped closer."Sierra… this isn't about rumors anymore. Someone wants to destroy your credibility. Completely."
Sierra swallowed hard.
If Lydia was truly behind this, then this attack wasn't something small or petty.
This was personal.Calculated.And connected to something much bigger than school drama.
Her father's old case.Her mother's silence.The political circles Lydia operated in.
Pieces she had tried not to think about began fitting together in ways that made her chest tighten.
Leon's voice softened, grounding her."Look at me."
She did.
"You're not alone in this," he said quietly. "We'll figure out why she's doing it. And we'll stop her."
Sierra forced a shaky breath.
For the first time since the rumors began, she didn't feel trapped.
She felt determined.
If Lydia Chou wanted to drag her into the shadows—
Then Sierra would drag the truth into the light.
No matter whose secrets she had to expose.