My Fairytale Was A Cruel Lie

nds shaking so badly she could barely control the mouse. She ran recovery software. She checked the version history. Nothing. I

ure and cold it sharpened her thoughts into a single, pier

ttery draining faster than usual, she had installed discreet monitoring software. She had a

t, initiated a multi-pass deletion protocol designed to make data unrecoverable, and then corrupted the ba

the library with a terrifying calm a

ounging on Cayden's bed, scrolling through his phone. Cayden was at her desk, humming to herself

aving her wet nails in the air. "What's w

ere locked on Gage. "Did you kn

phone, annoyed. "Know wh

. It's gon

a perfect pantomime of shock. "Oh my god, Ara

d her gaze to her roo

ears. "What are you implying? That I had somethi

ur user ID, logged into my laptop, d

face. Gage sat up, his expressio

g her. "That's a crazy accusation. You probably deleted i

nce, Gage," Aracely said,

uld make one phone call and get you into any grad school you want. You don't need some d

l blow. He didn't just not care; he actively despised

ou are," he added with a sneer. "Maybe you couldn'

t thread of her affe

ying Cayden' s final project for her art history class-a meticulously

erate it seemed to happen in slow

-" Cayden

ashed over the keyboard. The screen flickered, sparked,

h hanging open. "My project! It's

devastated face, then to Gage's stunned expressi

e devoid of emotion. "It's just a stupid project

e room, pulled a duffel bag from her cl

u doing?" Ga

said, not looking

e door. She didn't look back. She didn't need to. She could feel