Chapter 5

Lily’s threat left me unsettled.

I shook off her hand and didn’t look back.

When I returned to our room, Julia was sitting at my desk, looking at my computer.

The evidence I had collected was still on the screen.

She looked embarrassed when she saw me, and guilty too.

“Claire, I’m sorry… Earlier, I…”

“It’s okay,” I interrupted. “I don’t blame you.”

She wasn’t the person this had happened to. It was understandable that Lily’s performance had fooled her.

Julia sighed. “I honestly never imagined Lily was like this. She always seems so innocent…”

“You can know someone’s face without knowing who they really are,” I said flatly.

“So what now? Did Ms. Morgan ask you to apologize?” Julia sounded worried.

“Yes.”

“And did you…”

“I refused.” I opened my storage cabinet and took a small box from the very back. “We’re calling the police.”

Julia flinched. “Seriously? If this gets any bigger, it could hurt you too. Won’t it end up on your record?”

“If we don’t call, am I supposed to graduate with everyone thinking I’m a pervert who secretly films her roommates?” I asked.

I opened the box. Inside lay a bracelet.

The same one Lily had posted on Instagram.

When I first noticed it was missing, I hadn’t said anything. I suspected she had taken it, and I figured she would wear it.

Instead, I had quietly bought an identical one.

Then I had taken it to the new jewelry store beneath our residence hall and had my initials engraved on it: CE.

They were tucked into a tiny, hidden spot on the clasp.

A thief wouldn’t notice details like that.

“Is that…” Julia recognized it.

“This is the original bracelet she stole from me,” I said. “Or rather, the one she posted on Instagram was a fake. This one is the genuine bracelet she took from my jewelry box.”

Julia stared at me.

“What do you mean?”

“When my mom sent it, she was worried about customs complications, so she mailed me the receipt and certificate separately. They list the bracelet’s unique serial number.”

I pulled up photos of the certificate and receipt and showed them to Julia.

“The bracelet on Lily’s Instagram is a high-quality knockoff. She was smart enough to know she couldn’t wear mine around me without getting caught. So she stole the real one, then bought a fake to show off online.”

“And the day after she posted that photo, I reported the theft.”

I spoke slowly. Julia listened closely.

Her eyes grew wider and wider.

“So your real evidence isn’t the camera footage. It’s this?”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “The footage only proves she took my food. That’s petty theft. But this bracelet is worth twelve thousand dollars. That’s another matter.”

“Then why didn’t you bring it out sooner?”

“Because I was waiting.” I looked at Julia and spoke each word clearly. “Waiting for her to make this bigger. Waiting for her to climb as high as she could before I pulled her down.”

I didn’t just want to clear my name.

I wanted her exposed.

Julia sucked in a breath, staring at me in shock.

Maybe she thought I was a little frightening.

I didn’t care.

If you repay cruelty with kindness, what do you have left for people who deserve it?

With someone like Lily, showing mercy was just another way of hurting yourself.

Just then, my phone rang.

It was Ms. Morgan.

She sounded exhausted.

“Claire, come to my office. Lily… has agreed to settle this with you.”