Emily stared at the threatening message, her fingers trembling against her phone screen. The attached photo was grainy but unmistakable. Her seventeen-year-old self, arms crossed, standing outside the principal’s office. The day everything almost fell apart.
How does someone even have this?
She jumped when her apartment intercom buzzed.
"Emily? It’s Daniel. Can we talk?"
Her heart pounded. Did he know about the message? Was he here to confront her?
---
Daniel’s usually warm green eyes were shadowed with worry. "Someone sent my father a letter," he said, voice low. "They claimed you were the reason I lost my scholarship. That you…" He hesitated.
"That I what, Daniel?"
"That you lied to protect me."
Emily’s breath caught. The truth was so much worse than a lie.
(Neither noticed the black sedan idling across the street, its tinted windows hiding a watching figure.)
---
That day, during senior year. Daniel’s soccer scholarship hung by a thread after the team was caught cheating on exams. But only Emily knew the real culprit wasn’t Daniel. It was his best friend Jason, who’d begged her to stay quiet.
"Daniel’s family has money," Jason had pleaded. "But I need this scholarship or my dad will…"
She’d kept his secret. Until now.
---
Present Day. Jason Asher sat in the black sedan, smirking at the surveillance photos.
Feeling triumph because Daniel’s father had fired him from Wright Enterprises last year.
His plan was to destroy Daniel’s reputation. Starting with the one person he’d always cared about.
His phone lit up with an outgoing message:
"Tell Daniel the truth by sundown… or I will."
---
Emily’s front door burst open. Not by Daniel.
Jason stood there, holding a familiar-looking envelope.
"Hello, Emily. Miss me?"
(Behind him, Daniel’s car screeched to a halt in the driveway. too late to stop what came next.)
Hello. Hope you all are well and healthy. Thanks for reading this story. And please come and read my other story.
