While my boyfriend, Caleb Lawson, is in the shower, I grab his phone on a whim and drop a message in the group chat he's in with his friends. "Guess who I'm with tonight."

I expect them to say my name, but their reply blindsides me.

"That freshman who used to chase you when you were a sophomore? She's obsessed with you. She's definitely easier than your girlfriend. Want us to swing by tonight?"

My gut tells me he's hiding more than an affair. Just as I start scrolling through his messages with the freshman, a notification from her pops up. "Caleb, I agree to the threesome. I'll do anything you want."

Seconds later, another message appears in the group chat.

"Just be careful this time. We don't need another body on our hands."

I stared blankly at the messages, my chest tightening so much that I could hardly breathe.

It wasn't until footsteps sounded behind me that I snapped back to reality and quickly marked the chat as unread.

A second later, my boyfriend, Caleb Lawson, rested his damp head on my shoulder. "What are you looking at, babe?"

Something about his voice sounded cold. A layer of sweat broke out on my forehead. Before he could get suspicious, I pulled up the message from the freshman and shoved the phone at him.

"Why don't you explain what this 'threesome' means? Are you planning to cheat on me?"

He quickly snatched the phone away from me. Instead of checking his chat with the freshman, he tapped on the pinned group chat.

Then, he narrowed his eyes at me. "You were snooping in my group chat?"

The accusation sent chills down my back, but I forced myself not to flinch.

"Yeah, I did. I wanted to see if your buddies would bring up some other girl's name," I snapped. "I didn't expect to catch your little admirer throwing herself at you instead. I didn't even get to read what they wrote because of her. Did they talk about her too?"

Caleb finally locked his phone and pulled me into his arms. "Don't overthink it. You're the girlfriend I spent three months trying to win over. I'm too busy cherishing you to even consider cheating."

"Then what about her?"

He sighed. "That girl wouldn't stop bothering me, so I said those things on purpose. As for the threesome, I just wanted to scare her off."

It all sounded reasonable. If I hadn't seen that last message in the group chat, I might have believed him. But now, I couldn't ignore the possibility that he and his so-called friends had taken someone's life.

Caleb noticed how stiff I was and leaned closer to study my face. "Babe, you really didn't see what my friends said?"

"No, why?" My heart skipped a beat, but I reached for his hand. "Are you afraid I'll find out you did something behind my back?"

He chuckled, then switched to coaxing words and apologies.

He pushed me down onto the bed. Just before his weight pinned me in place, I caught a glimpse of a vase standing right behind him. It had been moved forward, clearly closer than before.

My stomach twisted with dread. If he realized that I knew, tonight might be the end of me.

While my mind spun, Caleb started stripping my clothes off in a frenzy. I instinctively wanted to fight him off, but I was afraid it would alert him. So, I told myself to endure it just this once.

Then, by sheer luck, I suddenly got my period.

It gave me the perfect excuse. I shoved him away and blurted out, "Terrible timing. I need to clean up in the bathroom first."

Caleb was considerate and even offered to get me a pad.

While I washed my underwear, he leaned against the doorframe, looking distracted. After a long pause, he hesitated and said, "Babe, I'm afraid I might lose control if I stay with you tonight. Can I go grab some drinks with the guys? I promise I'll be back soon."

My gut instinct told me he wasn't just going out for drinks. Still, I let out a relieved sigh and kissed him lightly. "All right, but don't stay out too late."

Caleb left in high spirits.

Once he was gone, I pulled up the freshman group chat and tried to track down the girl from his messages by matching her profile picture.

What I found stunned me.

It was the same girl everyone had called a stinking thief during her first year—Jane Cooper.

Back then, I'd been on the welcoming committee and even helped her move her luggage. But right after leaving the dorm, I realized that my phone was missing. I panicked and ran back, only for her roommates to find it tucked away in her drawer.

I wanted to give her a chance, so I asked her roommates to keep quiet. But within days, she was at it again. She stole her roommate's makeup and even skimmed class funds to buy jewelry.

Eventually, she lashed out and shoved a roommate down the stairs, resulting in the latter being hospitalized for a month.

Her reputation spread throughout the department after that. Thanks to her size and the stench that seemed to cling to her, everyone ended up calling her the "stinking thief".

I'd never imagined that she would be the one Caleb chose.

Before I could reach out and warn her to stay away from him, I received a video from her.

The video showed a group of guys surrounding her like a pack of wolves. She clung to Caleb's neck and pressed her drunken lips to his.

The second their lips touched, bile rose in my throat. I rushed to the bathroom and threw up.

I couldn't believe it. The same guy who'd been so respectful while pursuing me and so gentle after we started dating was cheating behind my back.

I was ready to call him and confront him. I wanted to end things right then and there.

But then, I noticed something on the table in the very last second of the video. It sent chills down my spine.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. Then, my blood surged through me all at once. My heart pounded so quickly that I had a hard time catching my breath.

It was a peculiar little hair tie. The design showed two girls hand-drawn with uneven lines.

No one else would recognize it, but I knew exactly what it was. As kids, my best friend, Kylie Zimmer, and I had drawn the design ourselves and had two custom hair ties made.

Only two of them existed. One was packed away in a box I never touched, and the other one was with Kylie. It had been buried with her when she died years ago.

And yet, here it was, in the video.

Panic ripped through me so fast that it felt like a stampede rushing through me. I sat frozen in place until the door creaked open.

I realized that I'd been staring into thin air for two hours, and by then, my legs felt numb.

I pretended to scroll on my phone as I made up my mind. I wasn't going anywhere until I found out the truth.

Caleb was so exhausted that he didn't notice a thing. He took a shower, collapsed on the bed, and was out in minutes.

I silently lay beside him, my back turned to him, while the image of that hair tie etched itself into my brain.

The next morning, I went to class with Caleb as though nothing had happened. We'd just reached the lecture hall doors when Jane blocked our path.

"Caleb slept with me! Do you still think you're his girlfriend? Do us all a favor and step aside, or I'll have his baby and dump it on you!" she announced.

Students who'd been rushing to class stopped in their tracks, watching the scene unfold before them. My face flushed.

Caleb rushed to explain himself. "Babe, don't listen to her! You know what kind of reputation she has around here!"

A few of our classmates chimed in to defend him.

"Yeah, Caleb's crazy about you. Everyone knows that."

"That Jane chick's always stealing stuff, and now she's trying to be a homewrecker? She should take a look in the mirror. As if Caleb would ever go for her."

Their insults didn't faze Jane. She glared at Caleb. "I've got proof that we slept together. If you don't dump her, I'll post the video online and let the whole world see what you really are."

A cold sweat broke out across Caleb's forehead. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a word.

I, on the other hand, stayed calm.

I studied Jane. She looked the same as she had the first time we met. She was short and plump with acne scars pitted across her face.

Then I thought of Kylie. She'd always been a natural beauty and managed to make countless boys in school fall for her, even without makeup. On top of that, she'd also had curves that made even me envy her.

I was sure that she and Jane were not the same person.

But how did Jane end up with that hair tie then?

I pushed my unease aside and walked right up to her in front of everyone. "I believe in Caleb," I said. "And I'm not breaking up with him because of you."

Jane's eyes widened as she stared at me in disbelief.

Caleb looked relieved, but deep down, he was terrified. What he'd done with her last night was real, and the thought of the evidence in her hands scared him.

That night, he slipped out again with some excuse about meeting the guys at a cybercafe.

I followed him.

He led me to an old housing block. The streets were pitch-black, and there were no surveillance cameras in sight. I glanced at my phone, which showed that it was 11:57 pm.

I was about to follow him into the apartment building when a hand landed on my shoulder. I held my breath, but then a wave of heat hit me, carrying a thick, foul stench.

"What are you doing here?" A girl's voice echoed in my ear.

I spun around and shook her hand off. Jane stood before me with a trash bag in hand. I clamped my hand over my nose to block out the stench.

Jane tilted her head down and chuckled. Then, she looked at me, her eyes filled with mockery. "Disgusted, huh? You think you're better than me? Last night, your boyfriend was begging for me. You should've seen how hard he held on to me at the end. I could barely breathe."

With that, she aimed the trash bag at my face and loosened her grip on it.

Inside was a tangle of used condoms.