Chapter 106 The freaking offer

Chapter 106 The freaking offer
"The envelope was crisp."

The envelope was crisp, cream-colored, with my name written across the front in elegant script. No return address. No stamp. It had been slipped under my dorm room door sometime between midnight and dawn, a ghost of a promise I wasn't sure I wanted to keep.

I picked it up with trembling fingers, my heart already racing. The paper was heavy, expensive, the kind Margaret used to favor. I turned it over, searching for a clue, a sign, anything that would tell me who had been standing outside my door while I slept.

Inside, a single sheet of paper. The handwriting was sharp, precise, nothing like Margaret's looping cursive.

"Ivy, I know you're scared. But I also know you're tired of running. I'm offering you a way out. A way to end this forever. Meet me tomorrow at the campus coffee shop. 2 PM. Come alone, or the truth dies with me."

No signature. But I recognized the handwriting.

Diana.

I read the letter three times, my hands shaking. Diana had already given me everything—the notebook, the proof about my father, the truth about the network. What else could she possibly have? What other secret could she be holding back?

The sun was barely up, the morning light pale and thin through my window. Beck was already at practice. Leo was at school. The apartment was empty, suffocating, the walls pressing in on me.

I shoved the letter in my desk drawer and grabbed my jacket. I needed air. I needed space. I needed to stop feeling like the world was closing in.

The campus was quiet, the cold air stinging my cheeks. Students shuffled past, heads down, earbuds in. Normal life. Normal people. Normal problems.

I walked to the coffee shop, my boots crunching on the frost-covered sidewalk. The bell above the door jingled as I pushed it open. The smell of roasted beans and burnt sugar wrapped around me like a familiar embrace.

A figure was waiting at the corner booth.

Not Diana.

Vanessa.

She stood up when I approached, a cup of coffee in her hand, her sharp eyes studying me like I was a specimen she'd been trying to dissect for months.

"Ivy. Thanks for coming."

I stopped a few feet away, my hands clenched at my sides. "Where's Diana?"

"She's not coming. I sent the letter."

"Then you lied."

"Only about the signature." She gestured to the empty chair across from her. "Sit."

I didn't sit. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm the only one who can save you."

I slid into the booth across from her, keeping my back to the wall, my eyes on the door. Old habits. Beck had taught me that. Always know your exits. Always know who's watching.

Vanessa was wearing a dark green turtleneck, her hair pulled back, her face unreadable. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. I didn't care.

"You've been playing both sides," I said.

"Always." She set down her cup. "That's how you survive in a world like this."

"What do you want?"

"Same thing I always wanted. To be free." She leaned forward, her voice dropping. "Your grandmother used me. Your mother used me. Victoria used me." She laughed, hollow and bitter. "I've been a pawn my entire life. I'm done being used."

"And you think I can help you?"

"I think you can help yourself." She pulled a folded paper from her pocket and slid it across the table. "This is a list of names. People who helped Victoria build the network. People who are still out there."

I looked at the list. Names I recognized. Names I didn't. My father's name was on it. So was Diana's. So was Vanessa's.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because I'm done running." She stood up. "Take it. Use it. Or don't. It doesn't matter to me either way."

She walked toward the door, then paused, her hand on the handle. "One more thing. Your father isn't the only one who pulled a gun on you. Victoria knows about the notebook. She knows you have it. She's coming for you, Ivy. And she's not going to miss."

The door jingled shut behind her.

I sat in the booth, staring at the list. My coffee grew cold. The morning crowd filtered in and out, oblivious to the weight in my hands.

The network was bigger than I'd ever imagined. Victoria wasn't just one woman, she was a spider, and she'd been spinning her web for years. My father, my mother, Margaret, Vanessa, Diana, they were all tangled in it. And now I was too.

My phone buzzed. Beck.

"Where are you?"

I typed back: "Coffee shop. Meet me?"

"On my way."

I looked at the list again. Names. Dates. Locations. Evidence of a lifetime of secrets.

Beck arrived ten minutes later, his hair still wet from practice, his jacket unzipped. He slid into the booth across from me, his eyes searching my face.

"What's going on?"

"Vanessa gave me a list. Names of people connected to Victoria."

He took the paper, studied it, his jaw tightening with every name. "This is everyone."

"I know."

"This is the entire network."

"I know." I met his eyes. "Which means Victoria is still out there."

"Which means we know who to look for." He set the list down and reached across the table, his hand covering mine. "We're not alone, Ivy."

"I know."

"Then stop acting like you are."

We left the coffee shop together, the list folded in my pocket. The sun was higher now, the campus buzzing with students, laughter, normal life. I almost felt normal.

Almost.

But my phone buzzed as we reached the parking lot.

"I'll be watching."

I didn't show Beck. I shoved my phone in my pocket and kept walking.

The list was in my bag. The truth was in my hands. Victoria was still out there, and she knew I had the notebook.

I had no idea who was watching.

But I knew one thing for certain: they weren't done with me yet.

And neither was I.