> "Power doesn't destroy what it fears.
It erases it — so no one remembers to be afraid."
— Unknown
---
💄 Bianca Breaks Her Silence
Sharon waited until the hallway was nearly empty after Lit class, then stepped in front of Bianca's locker.
"Why did you lie about the Circle?"
Bianca paused. "Which lie?"
Sharon's eyes narrowed. "You said Sade was unstable. You said she imagined things. But you were there, Bianca. You sat beside her in Literary Club."
Bianca's fingers tensed around her books. "She was unstable."
"Or scared."
Bianca didn't move.
Sharon stepped closer. "Who is Ade Martins to you?"
Bianca flinched.
Bingo.
"I don't talk about him," she whispered. "No one does. Not if they want to graduate."
"That's not an answer."
Bianca finally looked her in the eyes.
"Fine. He was the Circle's first king. Before the rules. Before the masks. Before the deaths."
Then her voice cracked.
"They don't bury the bodies here, Sharon. They bury the truth."
---
🧧 Zuri Gets a Warning
That night, Zuri didn't show up to study hall.
Sharon found her sitting in the dorm stairwell, holding a red envelope.
No name. No seal.
Just a white chess pawn drawn on the front.
Inside: a photo.
Zuri's younger brother — standing outside his school.
And one line beneath it:
> "Tell your roommate to stop digging. Or next time, it won't be a photo."
Zuri's hands shook. "I didn't even do anything."
"You asked questions," Sharon said coldly. "That's always enough."
---
👁️ Reina's Revelation
Later, Sharon found Reina in the old greenroom — the one behind the stage where the Circle had gathered weeks before.
Reina didn't look surprised.
"You found the file?"
"I found more than that," Sharon said. "I found Sade's journal. The second one."
Reina nodded.
"There were three."
Sharon froze. "Three?"
Reina stepped closer.
"One she kept for herself. One she shared with me. And one she hid. In a locker no one knows exists."
"Where?"
Reina smiled faintly. "The observatory. Behind the mirror. You'll need gloves."
Sharon's pulse picked up. "What's in it?"
Reina hesitated.
Then:
> "The name of the first girl who tried to expose the Circle.
The one who came before Sade."
"Who?"
"I don't know. The name was scratched out in every record. But Sade remembered her. Said they made her disappear so completely, no one dared speak her name again."
---
🔚 End of Chapter Fourteen
> And on a quiet page of that hidden journal,
Sade had written:
"She tried. I tried. Now it's you."
---
🔜 Coming in Chapter Fifteen: The Girl With No Name
Sharon breaks into the observatory to find the hidden journal.
Reina helps — but leaves her at the last second.
Zuri starts acting strange… like she's hiding something.
And Sharon finally finds the name scratched out in the records — but someone's already trying to burn the proof.