Ch. On graduation night, 9 On graduation night, 9

Chapter 9 

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The cloud account didn’t open to the five-person photos or childhood videos they had expected to see. 

Instead, the first thing on the screen was a folder labeled with my name. 

Inside were the wolf-core research awards I’d earned over the years, my experimental records, and two invitations from Frostland Academy’s mentors. 

The first invitation had been sent two years earlier. 

Frostland had offered to reserve a place for me in its core research program. 

My reply was still there. 

[Thank you for recognizing my work, but I’ve already promised to stay here in Blood Moon territory and attend Moonvale with the people who matter most to me.] 

The second invitation had arrived a year later. 

I had turned that one down too. 

[We promised we wouldn’t separate. As much as I want Frostland, I’d rather stay here with them.] 

Asher stared at the two rejection letters. 

It felt as if something heavy had settled over his chest. 

“She turned them down twice because of us.” 

All this time, they had comforted themselves with the same excuse. 

Aria wanted Frostland anyway. 

They had convinced themselves that the four fake applications had only forced me to make the right choice— the choice I had been too afraid to make on my own. 

Only now were they forced to face the truth. 

Without those four fake applications, I had been preparing to give up my dream for a third time. 

I had chosen them over Frostland. 

They had chosen Lyra over me. 

Asher continued searching through the cloud account and opened the automatic backup section. 

That was when he found an offline-uploaded video none of them had seen before. 

My camera had started recording by accident when one of the girls grabbed it in the archives building. 

Most of the image was blocked by fabric, but their mocking voices could still be heard clearly. 

When the picture became visible again, the scene had already shifted to my house. 

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Chapter 9 

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I had placed the camera on a shelf in my bedroom, facing the desk. 

When Damian and the others stormed into the room, everything they did was captured. 

On the screen, Lyra stood behind them. 

She waited until no one was looking. 

Then she slipped the moonstone pendant from her sleeve and pushed it into the narrow gap between my desk and the wall. 

A few seconds later, she deliberately bent down and picked it up. 

“Found it.” 

She turned toward me, her eyes slowly filling with tears. 

“Aria, if you regretted giving it to me, you could’ve just said so. 

“You didn’t need to steal it back.” 

The room around the screen went completely silent. 

But the video kept playing. 

They hadn’t investigated. 

They hadn’t listened when I tried to explain. 

Damian had immediately stepped in front of Lyra. 

Asher had grabbed my arm. 

Rowan had blocked the doorway. 

And Julian had stood there while Damian deleted every video that included me. 

Now they were forced to watch themselves storm into my private territory and decide, without a shred of evidence, that I was a thief. 

Asher slowly looked down at his hand. 

On the screen, his fingers were wrapped so tightly around my wrist that the skin had turned red. 

But I hadn’t begged him to let go. 

I had only kept saying the same thing. 

“Don’t touch my things.” 

Again. 

And again. 

Not one of them had stopped. 

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Chaples 

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside the room. 

Lyra pushed the door open. 

The moment she saw the video projected on the screen, all the color drained from her face. 

“Why are you watching that?” 

Damian slowly turned toward her. 

“Aria didn’t take the pendant.” 

Lyra stood frozen. 

She didn’t answer. 

“You hid it in her room.” 

Damian’s voice grew colder with every word. 

“Then you accused her of stealing it right in front of us.” 

“Why?” 

Lyra’s tears came almost instantly. 

“I was scared.” 

“That pendant represented the childhood all of you shared.” 

Her voice shook. 

“As long as Aria was still here, she would always be the most important one to you.” 

“So you wanted us to hate her?” 

“I just wanted to know if you would choose me.” 

She looked at all four of them through her tears. 

“But didn’t you already prove that you would?” 

“Even when Aria told you I planted the pendant, you still believed me.” 

Her voice broke. 

“Now she’s gone, and suddenly you want to investigate everything.” 

“What difference does it make anymore?” 

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