Chapter 1

To catch whoever was stealing my food deliveries, I installed a camera in my dorm room.

Sure enough, it caught my roommate.

I posted the video in our roommate group chat. She immediately messaged me privately, saying she would do anything if I deleted it.

I ignored her. So she turned around and posted the video on our campus confessions page with the caption: “My roommate is secretly filming my private life. I’m honestly terrified.”

My phone buzzed while I was out on the balcony bringing in my laundry.

I opened it to a flood of messages from Lily Bennett.

“Claire Evans, what the hell is your problem?”

“It’s just one food delivery! I’ll pay you back. Was this really necessary?”

“Delete the video. Please.”

“If you delete it, I’ll do anything you want.”

I stared at the screen without expression, folding my white T-shirts one by one.

Our other roommate, Julia Brooks, had dropped a shocked reaction GIF in the group chat but said nothing.

The chat was dead silent.

Instead of replying to Lily, I took screenshots of her messages and sent them straight to the group.

Then I tagged everyone.

“First, this wasn’t the first time. Five missing food deliveries last month, three facial cleansers, and two bottles of perfume. You should be grateful I haven’t called the police.”

“Second, when you say you’ll do anything, does that include returning everything you stole and compensating me for the distress you’ve caused?”

My fingers moved steadily across the screen.

After sending the messages, I put my phone away and went back to airing out my comforter.

The sun was warm. As it soaked into the bedding, I felt as though everything had finally settled.

What I didn’t realize was that the dust was only beginning to rise.

Less than ten minutes later, my phone started blowing up.

Countless friend requests poured in, along with calls and texts from unfamiliar numbers.

Julia kept tagging me in our group chat.

“Claire! Check the campus confessions page!”

My stomach dropped. I opened the familiar account.

The newest post had a headline in bold black letters—

【SHOCKING: Student Secretly Filmed by Creepy Roommate in Westbridge University Dorm!】

Attached was the surveillance video I had posted in our roommate chat.

It had been cut down to the most suggestive part.

Lily, wearing a skimpy spaghetti-strap nightdress, bent over my desk to pick up my takeout container.

The camera had caught her from behind and slightly to the side. From that angle, it looked especially… voyeuristic.

Below the video was a post Lily had submitted through a burner account. Her words sounded helpless and terrified.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m so scared. I accidentally picked up the wrong food, and she filmed me with a camera she hid in our room. Then she posted the video in our group chat to threaten me…”

“She said if I didn’t do what she wanted, she would ruin me.”

“I’m just an ordinary girl. I can’t fight her. Every day, I live in fear of being watched. I’m falling apart.”

The comments had already exploded.

“What the fuck? Is this girl a pervert? Putting a camera in a dorm room? That’s disgusting.”

“Look at that angle. She was obviously trying to film this poor girl’s body.”

“I know Lily Bennett. She’s that gorgeous freshman everyone talks about. She looks so sweet. I can’t believe this happened to her.”

“Find her! Expose this sick creep!”

My fingers tightened around my phone until my knuckles turned white.

What a perfect way to twist the truth—and play the victim before I could expose her.