The campus felt unusually quiet the next morning—too quiet for a school drowning in rumors.
Sierra walked across the courtyard, clutching her phone.The comments section under the cleared post had gone silent overnight, almost as if someone had pulled a plug.
Too clean. Too fast.Someone was scrubbing the internet in real time.
As she approached the journalism building, Jenna Yang was already waiting, arms folded, foot tapping impatiently.
"Finally," Jenna said. "I ran the trace again—our troll farm wasn't just hired. They were protected. Someone inside the student council has been manually deleting threads."
Sierra stopped."Inside the council? You mean—"
Jenna nodded."Someone with moderation privileges. Someone high."
Vivian Shen joined them, breathless from running.
"I found something too," she said, pulling out her tablet. "The fake accounts use the same recovery email domain. Not a normal domain—an internal one."
Sierra's eyes narrowed."Internal to where?"
Vivian swallowed."Lin Corporation."
The words dropped like a stone.
"…Leon's family?" Sierra whispered.
Vivian quickly shook her head. "No. Not his department. This is coming from the PR division. This is corporate-scale manipulation."
Jenna crossed her arms."So Sierra… your rumors weren't spread by jealous classmates. They were manufactured by professionals."
Sierra's stomach twisted.
Why?
Who?
And then—another thought surfaced.If PR was involved, then someone powerful wanted to bury something even bigger.
Before she could speak, a familiar voice echoed from behind.
"You shouldn't be here."
Leon Lin stood at the top of the steps, expression unreadable.
Sierra froze. "Are you here to warn me again?"
He shook his head."No. I'm here because my father knows you're investigating. And he's not the only one watching."
Jenna stepped forward. "So you finally admit the Lin family is involved?"
Leon's jaw tightened. "I said my father knows. I didn't say he ordered it."
Vivian lowered her voice. "Then who did?"
Leon hesitated.His gaze flicked toward Sierra—pained, conflicted.
Finally, he said it.
"Someone in PR is manufacturing a narrative. And they're targeting anyone who gets close to the truth. Especially Sierra."
Sierra's breath hitched. "Because of my father's case?"
Leon nodded slowly.
"You're closer to the truth than you realize. That's why they're accelerating their moves."
Sierra felt cold rush up her spine.
"So what do I do?" she whispered.
Leon stepped closer."You choose. Truth… or safety."
Jenna scoffed. "Don't you dare push that on her again."
Vivian stepped protectively beside Sierra. "She's not alone."
Leon looked at all three of them—then at Sierra again.
"Then prepare yourselves," he said quietly."Because the moment you dig into PR records… they'll know."
Sierra lifted her chin, fear melting into resolve.
"Good," she said."Let them know I'm coming."