The email from Dr. Halvorsen still burned in the back of my mind, an unopened wound I couldn’t stop pressing on.

Every time my phone buzzed, my stomach flipped. Every time a professor’s gaze lingered too long, I wondered if they already knew. My father had gone cold ever since Angela whispered her poison into his ear. His silence at the dinner table was worse than his rage—it was a verdict, waiting for execution.

And Rhett… Rhett had started to notice the shadows under my eyes, the ...