Boris couldn't stand her being upset.

He snapped, shouting at me through the phone.

"Stella, why are you so selfish? Your grades are that good—what's it cost you to share a few answers with Karen?"

"Of course. Someone as miserable as you can't stand seeing anyone else have something good!"

"I'm telling you, tomorrow you're helping whether you want to or not. Otherwise, don't blame me for dragging your dirty little secret into the open. See how long you last as everyone's perfect top student then!"

He hung up, seething.

Dirty little secret.

I stood frozen where I was.

He was actually threatening me with what happened that night.

The pain hit my chest in a swarm, wave after wave, until I could barely breathe.

But by the next morning,

the woman in the mirror still hadn't appeared.

The moment I walked into the exam hall,

Boris rushed over, guilt written all over his face.

"Stella, I'm sorry. I... last night, I didn't mean it."

"You know I'd never actually do something like that. Don't hold it against me, okay?"

A dull pain still throbbed in my chest.

Not every apology deserves forgiveness.

I kept my eyes forward and walked straight past him.

He grabbed my hand hard, glanced around in a panic, and lowered his voice.

"Stella, don't be like this. The exam's about to start. Please stop being mad?"

"I messaged you all night saying sorry—you didn't answer once. I know that's not fair to you, but just help me out here, okay? I really do just feel bad for Karen, that's it."

"Don't worry. Once we both get into Kingston University, I'll cut things off with her, clean. I'll stay right by your side and we'll settle down properly."

He leaned down slightly,

coaxing me the way he had a hundred times before.

Any other day, I would have caved.

But the image of that ruined woman in the mirror wouldn't leave me.

I looked into his eyes and spoke calmly.

"Boris, your grades aren't bad either. Why don't you help her yourself?"

His expression froze. His gaze darted away.

My heart sank.

This was more complicated than I'd thought.

Before I could think further,

the bell rang and the proctors filed in.

Karen raised her brows at me, smug as anything.

"Big Sis Stella, I'm going to need your help today~"

I scoffed.

I didn't bother responding. I shut everything else out

and focused on the exam.

I wasn't even halfway through the paper before Karen lost patience.

She kept kicking the back of my chair, coughing on purpose, dropping her pen on the floor—one little stunt after another, nonstop.

I frowned slightly and glanced up without thinking.

Every single proctor was looking the other way, as if by agreement.

After the exam, Karen glared at me with open hatred, her face twisted.

She spat the words at me—

"Just you wait, Stella Fox!"

"Sooner or later you'll come crawling to me!"

Then she put on her wounded act and leaned in to whisper something in Boris's ear.

Boris looked torn.

But it didn't take long before he wavered, nodded, and turned to me with a smile.

"Stella, forget it. If you don't want to, I won't push."

"After all, you're the one who's going to be my wife. I'm not going to let some outsider come between us."

"Let me take you to that private restaurant on the west side of town tonight, okay? Think of it as me making it up to you."

"No thanks. I need to review for tomorrow."

I shook my head.

The disappointment inside me kept sinking deeper.

There was something wrong in his eyes—unmistakably wrong.

But no matter how I turned it over, I couldn't understand how we'd ended up here.

We grew up together, Boris and I. So close our parents had already bought the apartment, the car—everything for the wedding.

After college, we'd get married. That was always the understanding.

I got home.

And the last thing I expected happened.

The woman in the mirror was back.

Worse than before—barely hanging on, each word dragged out of her like it might be her last.

"Stella, from now until the exam is over, do not eat alone with Boris."

"He's going to drug your food."

"What?!"

My pupils contracted to pinpoints.

The cold hit all at once, so deep it didn't stop at skin or bone.

I'd made so many excuses for him.

Told myself he was just confused, blinded by Karen, not thinking straight.

We'd grown up together. Even without romance, we were still family.

But in his eyes, I was already someone who needed to be drugged into compliance.

She watched me with aching pity, each breath a struggle, her voice fading with every word.

"Stella, you have to be careful from here on out. Based on everything I know about them, they won't stop until they get what they want."

"Karen is more dangerous than she looks. And you have to watch out in the exam room—"

But before she could finish, she went limp and collapsed.

"Stella! Stella!"

I lunged at the mirror, palms slamming against the glass.

"Finish what you were saying! Watch out for what in the exam room?"

But there was nothing I could do. She was already gone.

Calm down.

I forced myself to breathe. Told myself over and over: stay calm.

Panic wouldn't solve anything.

But the fear kept spreading through me, deep and quiet.

Every time she appeared she was weaker, and now she'd cut out mid-sentence again.

The danger hadn't passed. My future hadn't changed.

My gaze drifted to the computer screen.

And something fierce and bright flared inside me.

Boris didn't know this, but a week ago I'd already received my acceptance letter from the National Justice Academy.

It was the school I'd dreamed of. But because I wanted to stay with Boris,

I'd been stupid enough to hesitate.

Not anymore. There was still time.

I took a long, slow breath and began typing my reply.

"I'm very glad to receive your acceptance letter. I will do my utmost to live up to your school's expectations."

"Additionally, I wish to file a formal report under my real name. I have evidence that individuals are organizing cheating during the national college entrance exam, and the case involves other serious crimes."

I knew this alone wasn't enough.

The evidence was still thin.

The real question was how I was going to break out of this trap myself.

The woman in the mirror hadn't finished her warning.

I couldn't afford to let my guard down. I took out every piece of stationery I owned and began inspecting them one by one.

I even held my ruler up to the light and checked every groove along the markings.

Boris's family had power—real power.

But not nearly enough to make every proctor in the exam hall look the other way.

Unless someone with a far longer reach was pulling the strings.

My phone buzzed once. A message brimming with confidence.

"Stella, tomorrow is the day you're finished!"

I smiled. Cold and thin.

We'll see about that.

The next morning, I walked into the exam hall.

I didn't sit down. I went straight to my desk and started checking it—top, bottom, every edge, every seam.

"Aw, Big Sis Stella, what are you doing?"

Karen sneered at me from her seat.

"Really? Flipping the whole thing over? What, you think you're some kind of detective now?"

The room cracked up instantly.

"Well, she *is* a top student—so nervous she's losing it. Cut her some slack. What if someone really is out to get her? Ha!"

"Please. Who'd bother?"

Boris went pale. He was at my side in two steps, grabbing my arm.

"Stella, have you lost your mind?"

"Sit down—now. People are already calling you delusional. You want the whole room talking?"

"Get off me!"

I wrenched free of his hand.

The doubt inside me kept growing.

Nothing.

The inside of the desk was clean. Completely empty.

But she wouldn't lie to me.

I checked again, refusing to give up.

The mocking behind me grew louder.

Then.

My fingers grazed the inner wall of the desk and caught on an unnatural ridge.

I held my breath. A false compartment.

Something was inside.

If I'd missed that detail, if I hadn't found it—

My life would have been over.

My heart hammered so hard I could barely keep my hands from shaking.

I straightened slowly and raised my right hand.

"Teacher—reporting. There's something inside my desk."

My voice wasn't loud, but it landed like a stone dropped into still water.

The exam room went dead silent.

Every head turned toward me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Boris's face draining of color.

My fingertips were still trembling.

Not from fear.

Because all of it was real.

He had actually gambled with my future—staked my entire life on it.

If the exam had started and they'd found it afterward—

Not just a voided score. Ten years of work, burned to ash.

I'd have carried that stain for the rest of my life.

And all of it, every last bit of it, was for Karen Summers.

"Everyone stay exactly where you are! Nobody move!"

It was too big. Within minutes, police flooded the hallway. Uniforms pushed through the door, and the whole building locked down around us. They moved everyone to a backup exam room.

Karen stared at me, her eyes burning with resentment and venom.

"Stella Fox! You bitch! Don't think this means you've won!"

I didn't make a scene. I didn't confront them openly.

They were in the dark. I was exposed. No point tipping my hand.

Finally, the message I'd been waiting for arrived.

"Miss Fox, we're en route. This is a priority matter—please keep your phone on and stay reachable."

But strangely, the woman in the mirror still hadn't appeared.

My heart climbed back into my throat.

Before I could think about it—

I felt the stares around me shift, fingers pointing, whispers sharpening.

"That's her, right? Never would've guessed. Top of her class, my ass."

"Tsk tsk. Shameless. Acting all pure and innocent this whole time."

"You never really know a person."

That was when Karen appeared, clinging to Boris's arm, head tilted, a sweet little smile on her face as she walked right up to me.

"Big Sis Stella, what a small world. I just never would've guessed you were this kind of person."

I had no interest in playing along. I started to walk past her.

Then she pulled out her phone and shoved the screen in my face.

Every image was from that night. Me backed into a corner, pinned there, unable to fight back—every humiliating second of it.

Blood roared straight to my skull.

My whole body shook with a rage I couldn't contain.

"Boris Gilbert!"

I stared straight at him, unblinking, shaking.

He was the only one who knew about that night.

Both my parents were officers. Years ago, someone with a grudge had come after them and hunted me down.

They found me and trapped me in an alley.

That night, Boris came crashing in. He was covered in blood, put himself between me and them, and dragged me out alive.

And then I understood.

Why the version of me in the mirror had been willing to help him cheat.

Why she'd compromised, step by step, until there was nothing left of her.

Because Boris had a free pass with me. He always had. One that could never be questioned.

I never once imagined that the person who saved me back then—

Would be the one to destroy me.