Whispers chased Liora down every hallway now. They weren't loud, but they were everywhere — the half-hidden smirks, the glances that lingered too long. Every time Ethan walked past, someone would snicker, and she'd see his shoulders stiffen just a little more. The rumors Adrian had started were cruel — calculated, like everything he did.
Ethan didn't deserve it. He never had.
"Just ignore it," he'd told her that morning, pretending not to care, his usual calm voice a little too flat. "It'll fade."
But Liora knew better. Things Adrian set in motion didn't fade — they festered.
That evening, as she sat in the library pretending to study, she caught sight of Adrian across the room. He was leaning casually against a table, talking to someone, laughing like he hadn't just wrecked another person's peace. And for the first time, instead of shrinking under his gaze, something inside her solidified.
No more.
Liora pulled out her phone and scrolled back through the group chats where the rumors had first appeared. Screenshots. Posts. A few suspiciously similar comments from different accounts. If she could connect them — prove who had started them — maybe Ethan could be cleared.
Her pulse raced as she took picture after picture, compiling them in a folder. She didn't have a full plan yet, but she didn't need one. For once, she wasn't waiting for someone to protect her. She was going to protect him.
"Liora?"
She flinched. Ethan stood beside her, his brow furrowed. "You're still here? It's past nine."
"I'm… doing something." She hesitated, then turned the phone toward him. "I think I can find out who started it."
He looked at the screen, then at her — like he couldn't decide whether to be angry or touched. "You shouldn't get involved. Adrian's not—"
"—someone to be afraid of?" she cut in, sharper than she meant. "He already took enough from both of us."
The silence stretched between them. Then, quietly, Ethan sat down across from her. "You really think we can beat him?"
"We have to," she said. "Because if we don't, he'll just keep winning."
For the first time in weeks, Ethan smiled. It wasn't full or bright, but it was real — the kind that reached his eyes and made her chest ache a little.
Together, they spent the next hour piecing through the threads. She watched the way he worked — methodical, focused — and realized that being with him didn't make her feel weak or small. It made her feel capable.
By the time they left, the campus was quiet and dark. Liora hugged her bag close, her fingers brushing the folder of screenshots like a secret weapon. Adrian might still think he controlled the game, but he'd underestimated one thing — her patience had limits.
As they stepped into the cool night, Ethan murmured, "Whatever happens next, don't let him pull you down to his level."
"I won't," she said. "But I'm done letting him stand above me."
From a shadowed balcony above, unseen by either of them, Adrian watched them walk away — his jaw tight, his smile gone.
And for the first time, it wasn't Liora who looked afraid. It was him.