“Evelyn.”
“I’m serious.”
Felicia accepted the coffee, her gaze still lowered. “You know what’s most interesting?”
“What?”
“She’s getting bolder.”
Evelyn frowned, and Felicia continued. “A cautious person wouldn’t have gone this far.”
“What does that mean?”
Felicia took a slow sip of coffee. “She’s starting to feel untouchable.”
That night, the light in Felicia’s room was still on. Several photographs and notes were spread across her desk, along with detailed reports marked with dates and a list that continued to grow.
It was eleven twenty-seven when a soft knock sounded on Felicia’s bedroom door.
“Come in.”
Mira entered with a tablet in hand. “There’s more.”
Felicia raised her head, and Mira handed her the tablet. “This week’s report.”
Felicia took it. The screen displayed a long list.
Bags, jewelry, shoes, accessories, cars, club memberships. One by one, everything was recorded—all of Felicia’s belongings that Serena had been using.
Some had been used without permission, while others were taken under the excuse of borrowing them. But almost all of them had been used in public.
Felicia read to the end without a change in her expression. That was precisely what made Mira uncomfortable. “Miss...”
“Hmm?”
“Are we going to do something?”
The room fell silent. Outside the window, rain began to fall, its drops tapping softly against the glass. Felicia closed the tablet, then looked at a photo of Serena smiling at a school event.
The girl was so beautiful, as perfect as an angel, even though Felicia knew exactly what kind of face hid behind that smile.
“Not yet.” Felicia’s answer was perfectly calm.
Mira fell silent. “Why?”
Felicia stood and walked to the corkboard mounted on the wall. Dozens of photos had already been arranged there, several connected by red string.
Some were dated, while others had small notes attached. Serena with a servant, and at another time, Serena with an elite student.
Serena carrying her bag, Serena using the Lee family’s car, and Serena allowing other people to call Felix her father.
The evidence continued to pile up, becoming clearer by the day. Felicia touched one of the photos, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Because people like Serena never stop when they’re winning.”
Mira stared at the board. Slowly, she began to understand that Felicia wasn’t waiting. She was letting Serena go farther—far enough that she could never turn back.
Elsewhere, in her bedroom, Serena sat in front of her vanity. Her phone was filled with notifications, invitations, messages, lunch requests, invitations to join social events, and requests for pictures together.
Her smile slowly widened. More and more people were choosing her with each passing day. Even some of the students who had once been close to Felicia were starting to come to Serena first.
Everything was going perfectly, exactly as planned. However, just as Serena was about to turn off her phone screen, her eyes caught a photo one of the students had uploaded that afternoon.
It showed her laughing with the school’s elite crowd. Everything was perfect except for one thing. In the background, far away and barely visible, Felicia stood on the third-floor balcony, looking down.
The girl’s gaze was flat. She wasn’t angry or sad, and there wasn’t even a trace of jealousy. She was simply watching. For some reason, that made Serena feel something unpleasant creeping up her back.
Serena stared at the photo for a while longer before locking her phone. Outside the window, the rain grew heavier, while in another room, Felicia still stood before the board covered in evidence.
The desk lamp illuminated the photographs covering the wall. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, and when they finally came together, someone would lose everything.
There was only one question now: Which would shatter first—the mask Serena had worn or the world she had spent all this time building?