Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Chapter 3
Evelyn's Pov

Sleep didn’t come easily that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lila’s smile , perfect, poisonous , and the way Daniel had looked at me, like he was holding a secret.
By morning, my pillow was still damp from tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed.
The campus buzzed as usual when I walked to class, sunlight cutting through the early fog. It should’ve felt normal. It didn’t. Every conversation, every laugh, felt like static in my ears.
Whispers followed me everywhere. I’d stopped trying to ignore them , until I heard his name.
“Did you hear about Daniel?”
The words came from two girls ahead of me, walking across the quad with steaming coffees and matching coats.
“What about him?” the other asked.
“I heard he was the one who fought with Alex before he died.”
My heart skipped. I slowed my pace, listening.
“They said it got bad. Like, physical. Apparently, Lila had to break it up.”
“No way.”
“I’m serious. My roommate saw them near the lake that night. Alex and Daniel. There was shouting.”
Shouting. Near the lake.
I gripped my notebook so tightly it bent.
They kept talking, oblivious to me behind them.
“Maybe that’s why Lila’s been so weird lately. You know how she gets , obsessed with fixing people. And Daniel’s got that… reputation.”
“What reputation?”
The first girl lowered her voice. “His family’s a mess. He got in trouble last year , some fight at a bar. And they say he doesn’t play nice when he’s angry.”
They turned down another path, leaving me frozen in place.
Daniel.
The way he’d looked at me at the party , guarded, but not cruel. The way Lila had grabbed his arm like she owned him.
Could he really have been the last person to see Alex alive?
By noon, I couldn’t focus on anything. My classes blurred into white noise. When the lecture finally ended, I found myself heading toward the library courtyard , quiet, shaded, and far from the chatter.
And then I saw him.
Daniel stood by the fountain, leaning against the stone edge, a cigarette between his fingers. His head was tilted back, eyes half-closed against the sunlight.
He looked too calm. Too composed for someone with blood rumors trailing behind him.
Before I could stop myself, I walked toward him.
He noticed me instantly, like he’d been expecting it. “Evelyn.”
“Daniel.”
He smiled faintly. “You look like you have questions.”
I folded my arms. “Do you always assume people want to interrogate you?”
“Only when they stare like they’re planning to.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“I heard something,” I said finally. “About you. And Alex.”
His expression didn’t change, but the air between us did. It tightened.
“What exactly did you hear?”
“That you fought. That you were seen near the lake the night he died.”
Silence. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, then something else , regret, maybe.
“People talk,” he said after a moment. “You’ll learn that about Westbridge. They love their scandals.”
“So it’s not true?”
He crushed the cigarette against the fountain’s edge. “Depends what part you mean.”
“That you fought.”
He exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the water. “Yeah. We argued. But I didn’t kill him.”
The bluntness of it stole my breath.
“Why?” I asked. “Why did you fight?”
He hesitated , just for a heartbeat. “Because he accused me of something I didn’t do.”
“What?”
“Ask Lila,” he said quietly.
Her name hung in the air between us like smoke.
I stepped closer. “So she was there?”
His jaw tightened. “She’s always there.”
There was a weight in his voice that sent a chill down my spine.
Before I could press further, a group of students walked by, glancing at us with curious eyes. Daniel pushed off the fountain and straightened.
“Careful what you listen to,” he said. “Not everyone here tells the truth.”
“Does that include you?”
He met my gaze. “Especially me.”
Then he walked away, leaving the faint scent of smoke and something heavier , guilt, maybe , in the air.
That night, the wind howled outside my dorm. I sat by the window, replaying our conversation over and over.
He admitted they’d fought. Near the lake.
If the police were right about the time of death, Daniel could’ve been the last person to see Alex alive.
But something didn’t fit. If he was guilty, why admit to anything at all? Why not deny it completely?
And why tell me to ask Lila?
I opened my laptop and searched for Alex’s name. The university’s announcement page showed his photo , smiling, unaware of the storm waiting ahead. Beneath it, a short note: Memorial service scheduled next Friday at the chapel.
I scrolled further, landing on an old campus article , a photo of Lila and Daniel together, arm in arm, grinning under bright stage lights. “Student Council President and Vice Chair Lead Charity Gala.”
They’d looked perfect. Like the golden couple everyone adored.
But now, seeing them together felt like staring at two masks glued in place.
I closed the laptop, my reflection ghosted in the screen , pale, sleepless, determined.
If Daniel was involved, I’d find out. And if Lila was lying… I’d make her regret it.
The next day, I sat alone in the student café, nursing a coffee that had long gone cold. My mind was heavy, tangled in possibilities.
“Mind if I sit?”
I looked up. Daniel.
He slid into the seat across from me before I could answer, his dark hoodie shadowing his face.
“You following me now?” I asked.
He smirked. “Maybe. You’re not easy to ignore.”
“What do you want?”
“To make something clear,” he said, leaning forward. “I know what people are saying. About me. About that night. But whatever you think you know, it’s wrong.”
His tone was calm, but there was an edge underneath , not defensive, more like warning.
I met his gaze. “Then tell me the truth.”
He studied me for a moment, then said quietly, “The night Alex died, he called me. Said he needed to talk. He sounded… off. Angry. I went to meet him near the lake. He accused me of sleeping with Lila.”
My pulse spiked. “Were you?”
“No.” His answer came too quickly. “She flirts with everyone, but I’m not her type.”
“What happened next?”
“He shoved me. I shoved back. It wasn’t serious. Then he said something , something about her , and walked off. That’s the last time I saw him.”
He leaned back, running a hand through his hair. “You can believe that or not. I don’t care. But I didn’t kill your boyfriend.”
My throat tightened at the word boyfriend. “Then who did?”
He looked away. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
After he left, I sat there for a long time, staring at the half-empty coffee cup.
He could be lying. Or telling the truth. Either way, both paths led back to the same person , Lila.
Why would Alex accuse Daniel of sleeping with her unless there was a reason?
The more I thought about it, the more tangled it became.
Maybe Lila had played them both.
Maybe Alex had found out something she couldn’t afford to let slip.
Maybe… she’d silenced him for it.

That evening, I returned to the lake again. The wind rippled across the surface, scattering the reflection of the moon. The spot where they’d found Alex still looked the same , calm, ordinary, deceptive.
I crouched by the water, my hand brushing the cold wood of the dock.
“Why did you meet him there, Alex?” I whispered. “What were you trying to tell me?”
Behind me, a twig snapped.
I turned sharply , nothing but shadows. My heart raced.
Then a low voice said, “You shouldn’t be here.”
Daniel stepped out from behind a tree, his eyes dark under the streetlight.
“I could say the same to you,” I said, forcing calm.
“I followed you,” he admitted. “Lila’s been asking questions about you. Thought you should know.”
I stiffened. “Why?”
“She doesn’t like people digging where they don’t belong.”
I took a step closer. “You’re helping me now?”
He gave a small, humorless laugh. “Let’s just say I don’t like being her puppet.”
The wind lifted his hair, revealing a faint bruise near his jaw , half-healed, but unmistakable.
I stared. “She hit you?”
He didn’t answer. His silence was enough.
“She’s dangerous, Evelyn,” he said quietly. “Be careful.”
“Then why stay with her?”
His gaze held mine, something fierce flickering in his eyes. “Because if I leave, she’ll destroy me.”
The words sent a chill straight through me.
Before I could respond, he stepped back into the shadows. “You want the truth about Alex? Then stop watching from the sidelines.”
“What does that mean?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “It means start playing her game.”
And then he was gone, swallowed by the dark.
I stood there alone, the lake whispering against the dock, my reflection trembling in the water.
Start playing her game.
If that was what it took to find out the truth, then so be it.