Chapter 5 Chapter 5
Evelyn's Pov
Walking beside Lila felt like drifting next to a storm that hadn’t broken yet. Her steps were graceful, controlled, purposeful, as if she expected the entire campus to fall in line with her rhythm. Students greeted her with bright smiles, and she responded with the same polished warmth. But every time her eyes slid sideways toward me, the air grew tight.
We reached the café near the courtyard, a charming building with ivy crawling up the windows. The place was half full, chatter floating through the air in soft waves. Lila chose a table near the window, one that gave her a full view of the entire room. Control. Always control.
“Sit,” she said gently.
I took my seat, setting my bag on the chair beside me, feeling the weight of Alex’s note inside it like a pulse. Lila crossed her legs, her delicate hands resting on the table. For a moment, she stared at me with an almost tender expression
“You look pale,” she said. “I hope Daniel didn’t upset you.”
The question disguised itself as concern, but her voice carried steel under the softness. She wanted to know what we had discussed.
“No,” I replied carefully. “We were just talking.”
“About what?” Her eyes stayed fixed on mine.
“Classes,” I said. “Campus things.”
Lila smiled slowly, the kind of smile that said she didn’t believe me but appreciated the lie anyway. “Daniel has a habit of saying things he shouldn’t. Don’t take it personally.”
“I don’t,” I said.
A waitress arrived and took our orders. Lila asked for herbal tea. I asked for coffee, though my stomach felt too tight to drink anything. When the waitress left, Lila leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice.
“I want to help you,” she said. “I know how hard all of this is. Losing someone you love. I’ve lost people too.”
Her expression softened, but the softness felt hollow, like a reflection with no face behind it.
“I appreciate that,” I answered, though I wasn’t sure I meant it.
She reached across the table and gently touched my hand. Her skin was cool. Too cool.
“You’re stronger than you think,” she said. “But strength can be dangerous if you don’t understand how to use it. People twist it. They twist grief. They twist memories. I’ve seen it happen.”
Her eyes glimmered faintly, almost with sadness. “I don’t want that for you, Evelyn.”
I swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”
“Rumors,” she murmured. “People spare reading things about Alex. About Daniel. About you. None of it helps. None of it brings peace.”
Her thumb brushed the back of my hand before she withdrew. “I care about you.”
The weight of those words settled strangely. Caring wasn’t something she offered freely. Not without a reason.
Before I could respond, two girls from her student council group stopped by our table. Both of them smiled politely at me but focused mostly on Lila.
“We’re heading to the meeting room now,” one of them said. “Do you need us to prepare anything for the event tonight?”
“Nothing major,” Lila said. “I’ll come by later. Enjoy your break.”
They nodded and left. When the café door closed behind them, Lila turned back to me with a calm expression.
“You should come tonight,” she said. “It’s not a big event. Just a planning session for next month’s fundraiser. It would be good for you to be around people.”
A part of me wanted to refuse immediately. The other part—the part that remembered Daniel’s warning—knew better.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Eight,” she said. “I’ll send you the details.”
The waitress returned with our drinks. Lila lifted her cup with perfect elegance. “Tell me something, Evelyn,” she said softly. “Do you trust Daniel?”
The question dropped like a stone between us.
“I don’t know him well enough to trust him or not trust him,” I said truthfully.
“Good,” she said with a delicate nod. “You shouldn’t. Daniel has a way of twisting situations to make himself look innocent. He’s been in trouble before. He lies. A lot.”
Her eyes met mine. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Daniel’s bruise flashed in my mind. The hollow look in his eyes when he said she wouldn’t let him leave. The cold fear burrowed under his voice.
“She seemed interested in him. Obsessed,” Alex had said in his note.
I kept my tone neutral. “I’ll be careful.”
“I know you will.” She smiled. “You seem like a smart girl.”
I finished my drink quickly, eager to leave. Lila watched me the entire time, her gaze steady and unreadable.
Before I could stand, she reached into her bag and slid something across the table.
A bracelet.
Not just any bracelet.
Alex’s bracelet.
The thin black cord. The silver compass charm. The one he never took off.
My breath vanished. The world blurred. My fingers trembled as I reached for it.
“Where did you get this?” I whispered.
Lila lifted her tea to her lips, unbothered. “Daniel found it near the lake after they pulled the body out. He gave it to me. I thought you should have it.”
Her words cut deeper than they should have.
Daniel found it.
And gave it to her.
A lie. Or half a truth. Or something worse.
I swallowed past the tightness in my throat. “Why didn’t anyone return it sooner?”
She shrugged lightly. “People forget things.”
But she didn’t forget anything. Not ever. She remembered every detail. Every slight. Every weakness.
Her giving me the bracelet wasn’t kindness.
It was a message.
A reminder.
She knew more than she had said.
When we finished, she hugged me lightly before we left the café. The moment her arms wrapped around me, something inside me recoiled. Her perfume was sweet and sharp, floral with something dark under it.
“You’ll come tonight?” she asked again.
“Yes,” I said.
Her eyes glittered, satisfied. “Good. Wear something simple. Nothing flashy. People might misunderstand.”
She walked away with graceful steps, her coat swaying. Students parted instinctively around her, like she was gravity pulling everything into her orbit.
I stood frozen, the bracelet clutched in my fist until the compass charm pressed painfully into my skin.
When I finally turned, Daniel was standing across the courtyard behind a stone pillar, half hidden in shadow.
Watching.
His expression was unreadable. His jaw was tense. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets.
I walked toward him slowly.
“She gave it to me,” I said, holding up the bracelet.
Daniel looked down at it, his face tightening. “I didn’t give her that. I never even saw it.”
My heart stopped.
“She said you found it.”
“She lied,” he said coldly. “I didn’t touch anything that night. The police wouldn’t let anyone near the body.”
The truth settled into place like a blade.
Lila had Alex’s bracelet.
And she wanted me to know it.
My breath came unsteady. “Why does she have it?”
Daniel looked away, jaw clenched. “Because she takes things that don’t belong to her. And she doesn’t like letting go.”
The cold air wrapped around us, heavy and suffocating.
“She invited me to another event tonight,” I said. “At eight.”
Daniel’s eyes darkened. “Don’t go alone.”
“I have to,” I whispered. “If I want answers.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Then I’ll be nearby. Watching. She won’t see me.”
His presence steadied something in me even as fear tightened my spine. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said quietly. “I owe him that much.”
For a moment, neither of us moved. The campus felt too quiet, too still, like the world had paused for breath.
Finally, Daniel stepped back. “Be careful, Evelyn.”
I nodded.
But as I walked away, I realized something chilling.
Lila wasn’t just watching me.
She was waiting.
And whatever she had planned for tonight, I knew one thing for certain.
The real game was about to begin.