ADRIAN POV
My phone won't stop ringing.
University administration. My lawyer. My brother Marcus, calling for the first time in five years. Twenty-three missed calls in the last hour.
I ignore all of them and stare at the bottle of whiskey on my hotel desk.
They released the photos. Twelve hours early. The Puppet Master changed the timeline, and now I'm suspended pending investigation. By Monday morning, I'll probably be fired.
But that's not what's killing me.
What's killing me is the text I just got. The one with the video from Prague. The one that shows exactly what happened six years ago.
The one that makes me look like a murderer.
I pour the whiskey. My hands shake so badly I spill half of it.
Someone knocks on my door. Three sharp raps.
I check the peephole. Scarlett stands there, Maya beside her. Both look terrified.
I shouldn't let them in. Every instinct screams that having a student in my hotel room right now is the worst possible decision.
I open the door anyway.
"Did you see—" Scarlett starts.
"The video. Yes." I step back to let them in. "Close the door. Lock it."
Maya does, then turns to me with her arms crossed. "Okay, Professor. Time to explain. What happened in Prague? And please tell me you didn't actually kill someone."
"I didn't kill her." The words come out flat. Practiced. I've said them a thousand times in my head. "But I'm the reason she's dead."
Scarlett's face goes pale. "Adrian—"
"Her name was Elena Sokolov. She was twenty-four. A student at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts." I sit down heavily on the bed. "I was teaching a summer workshop there. She was talented. Brilliant. And she had a boyfriend who didn't want her pursuing art. Wanted her to give it up and marry him instead."
"Let me guess," Maya says. "Rich, controlling, jealous?"
"Dangerous." I take a drink. "Dimitri Volkov. His family had connections to organized crime. Elena was terrified of him, but she couldn't leave. He threatened her family."
Scarlett sits down beside me. Not touching, but close enough that I can feel her warmth. "What happened?"
"She came to me for help. Said she needed somewhere safe to stay for one night while she figured out how to leave the country. I let her stay in my hotel room." I stare at my hands. "We talked for hours. About art. About freedom. About starting over. She fell asleep on the couch. I slept on the floor. Nothing happened between us."
"But the video makes it look like something did," Scarlett says quietly.
"Exactly. Someone filmed us entering the room together. Filmed her leaving three hours later, smiling. But what the video doesn't show is what happened after."
I close my eyes, but I still see it. Still see the news footage.
"Dimitri found her at the train station. She was trying to leave Prague. He..." My voice breaks. "He killed her. Right there in public. Shot her twice, then himself. Murder-suicide. The police said he'd been tracking her phone, knew she'd been with me."
"Oh my God," Maya breathes.
"The Prague police questioned me for days. Elena's family blamed me. Said if I hadn't interfered, Dimitri wouldn't have snapped. Said I made it worse by letting her stay with me, making Dimitri jealous." I finish the whiskey. "They were right. If I'd just told her no, if I'd found her a different solution, she'd still be alive."
"That's not true." Scarlett's voice is fierce. "Her abuser killed her. Not you. You tried to help."
"I tried to be a hero." I laugh bitterly. "And she died because of it. The university asked me to resign quietly. Said my involvement, even though I wasn't charged, was 'problematic for their image.' So I came back to the States, and within a month, Vanessa destroyed what was left of my career. Lost everything. My art. My reputation. My family."
"Vanessa knew about Elena?" Scarlett asks.
"She was with me in Prague. Teaching the same workshop. She saw everything." The pieces click together in my mind. "She's the one who filmed us. She must have. She knew about the video all along and saved it for the right moment."
"This moment," Maya says. "When she could use it to destroy you again."
My phone buzzes. Another text. I show them the screen.
"Poor Adrian. Poor dead Elena. Want to know who sent that video to the police? Want to know who made sure Dimitri found out where Elena was hiding? I did. I told him. Because you chose to help her instead of supporting my career that night. Remember? I had an exhibition opening and you skipped it to 'save' some random student. So I made sure she couldn't be saved. Sweet dreams, Professor. - V"
The room goes silent.
"She killed Elena," I whisper. "Vanessa told Dimitri where to find her. She got Elena murdered because I missed her exhibition."
Scarlett's hand finds mine. "Adrian, we're going to the police. Right now. This is confession. She just admitted to accessory to murder."
"From an unknown number with no proof." My laugh is hollow. "That's the genius of it. She admits everything where it doesn't matter. Where I can't prove anything."
"So what do we do?" Maya demands.
"You do nothing." I stand up, pulling away from Scarlett's touch. "Both of you need to leave. Now. Before someone sees you here and makes this worse."
"I'm not leaving." Scarlett stands too. "She sent me a text. Wants me to meet her at the Ashford Gallery at noon. Alone."
"Absolutely not."
"She says if I don't come, she'll tell the police you murdered Elena. That the video proves you were with her before she died. That you were jealous when she rejected you."
"No." My voice goes hard. "You're not meeting a woman who got someone killed just to prove a point."
"We don't have a choice!" Scarlett's voice rises. "In thirty minutes, she's either telling the police you're a murderer or she's telling me the truth. I have to go."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"She said alone."
"I don't care what she said." I grab my jacket. "You're not facing a killer by yourself."
"Actually," Maya interrupts, pulling out her phone, "she sent me a text too. Says if I try to come, or if Adrian comes, she'll release a video of us planning to blackmail university officials. Which is completely fake but would get us all expelled or arrested."
We stare at each other. Trapped. Again.
"She planned for everything," Scarlett says quietly.
My phone rings. Not a text this time. A call. From Marcus.
Against my better judgment, I answer. "What do you want?"
"Adrian." My brother's voice is strained. "I'm at the Ashford Gallery. Setting up for Vanessa's exhibition. She told me to call you. She says... Jesus, Adrian, she says you need to come here right now or she's calling the police about Prague. What happened in Prague?"
My blood runs cold. "Don't trust her, Marcus. Whatever she's told you is a lie."
"She showed me a video. You and some girl. Then news footage of a murder. Adrian, what the hell did you do?"
"Nothing. I did nothing. Vanessa's the one who—"
"Just come to the gallery. Please. She says she'll explain everything. That we can all talk this out like adults." Marcus's voice drops. "I haven't spoken to you in five years because I believed her lies before. Maybe... maybe I was wrong. Come talk. Please."
The line goes dead.
I look at Scarlett. "It's a trap. She has my brother there. She's using him as bait."
"For both of us," Scarlett says. "The messages were all leading us to the same place. The gallery. Noon."
"So we don't go."
"Or we go together." Scarlett's eyes are bright with determination. "She wants us separated, scared, making mistakes. What if we do the opposite? What if we walk in there together and call her bluff?"
"That's insane."
"This whole thing is insane!" Scarlett grabs my arm. "Adrian, she murdered someone. She destroyed your career. She's manipulating my ex-boyfriend and threatening Maya and probably doing ten other terrible things we don't know about. If we don't stop her now, she wins. Again."
Maya nods. "The girl has a point. Sometimes the only way out is through."
I look between them. These two women I barely know, ready to walk into danger because of my past. Because of my mistakes.
"If we do this," I say slowly, "we do it smart. We record everything. We get proof. And if it goes wrong—"
"It won't," Scarlett interrupts.
"If it goes wrong," I continue firmly, "you both run. You let me take the fall. Promise me."
"Not promising that," Scarlett says.
"Scarlett—"
"We're wasting time." She checks her phone. "We have twenty minutes to get to the gallery. Are we doing this or not?"
I should say no. Should protect them by facing Vanessa alone.
But I'm tired of being alone. Tired of carrying five years of guilt and shame by myself.
"We do this together," I say.
We're halfway out the door when Maya's phone buzzes. She looks at it and her face goes white.
"Guys. We have a problem."
She shows us the screen. A news alert from the campus newspaper:
"BREAKING: Student comes forward claiming Professor Adrian Cross sexually harassed her during his first week at Ashford. University launches criminal investigation. Professor Cross could face charges."
Below the headline, a photo. A student I don't recognize, crying, holding a press conference.
"I've never seen her before," I breathe.
"She's not claiming you hurt her," Maya says, reading the article. "She's claiming you sent her inappropriate messages. Offered to raise her grade in exchange for... services. And she has screenshots."
"That's impossible. I haven't even started teaching yet—"
My phone buzzes. A text from Vanessa's real number this time.
"Surprised? The girl is an actress. Cost me $10,000 but worth every penny. By tonight, you'll be arrested. By Monday, you'll be in jail. Unless you come to the gallery and hear my offer. I'm willing to make all this go away, Adrian. For a price. Tick tock. 15 minutes."
I stare at the message.
"She's framing you for sexual harassment," Scarlett says. "With fake evidence."
"And she'll make it all disappear if I give her what she wants."
"What does she want?"
That's when I realize. This was never about revenge. This was never about hurting me.
"She wants me back," I whisper. "She wants to own me. Control my art, my career, my life. Just like she did six years ago."
"So what's the price?" Maya asks.
My phone buzzes with one final message:
"The price is simple. You come back to me. You marry me. You let me take credit for your art for the rest of your life. And in exchange, I make all your problems disappear. The harassment charges. The Prague video. Even little Scarlett's scholarship troubles. Everyone wins. Except you refuse, and I destroy all three of you. See you in 12 minutes. Don't be late."