> "He stopped playing to win.
Now he plays to reveal."
— Old chessroom scribble
---
⏳ The Clock Is Ticking
Sharon didn't sleep that night.
Neither did Reina.
The files were now hidden beneath the abandoned lockers behind the music hall — a temporary fix. Sharon knew it wouldn't hold for long. Whoever sent that message had eyes on Zuri. Meaning… they had eyes on all of them.
Jayden met them near the edge of the football pitch at dawn. He looked like he hadn't slept either — or maybe he never slept anymore. His hoodie was zipped all the way up, headphones around his neck like always. But his eyes… they held something heavier than usual.
"You opened the box," he said. It wasn't a question.
"How did you know?" Reina asked.
Jayden gave a slow, tired smile. "Because they just wiped the access records for the west wing's sensor logs. That's usually what they do when someone goes off-script."
He looked at Sharon. "They know your name now. You can't un-trigger that."
---
♟ The Chessroom
It wasn't on any map. But Jayden led them straight to it.
An unused storage room in the old boys' dormitory, one floor below the infirmary. Inside was dust, broken furniture — and a folded, heavily scarred chessboard nailed to the wall. Each piece was handmade. Carved wood, scorched black and cracked white.
And seated on a stool in the corner was a boy. Probably older than them. Pale. Left hand heavily bandaged, the fingers slightly twisted.
He didn't turn around.
Jayden whispered, "That's Ugo. He was here when Mara still was. He doesn't play anymore — not with pieces."
Sharon stepped closer. "Are you Mara's brother?"
"No," the boy said without looking. "She wasn't my sister. Not by blood. But she was the only one who knew how to win without moving a piece."
Reina frowned. "What does that even mean?"
Ugo finally turned.
His eyes were sharp. Unblinking. "It means you're not playing chess. You're on the board. And you don't even know who's playing you."
---
📜 The Truth About Mara
"She found the glitch," Ugo said. "A way to bypass the internal surveillance feeds. She was trying to leak something about the medical wing — about how they were giving students medication without proper records. Some of it… affected behavior. Memory. Focus."
Reina sucked in a breath. "Behavioral monitoring?"
Ugo nodded.
"Mara was going to report it to the board — not knowing they were in on it. And then one day, she disappeared. They said she dropped out. But I found a withdrawal form… dated after she was already gone. Signed by a dead staff member."
Jayden muttered a curse.
"She left notes. Scattered. I kept what I could. But the fire — they erased everything she touched."
Sharon stepped forward. "We found a file. Nora Adams. Her records were tampered with."
Ugo's voice softened. "Then you're further than anyone's gotten."
---
🧠 The Burned Hand's Secret
"I don't want to be involved," Ugo said. "But I owe Mara. And if you've come this far… then maybe she was right."
He reached under his chair and pulled out a faded journal — the pages water-warped, but legible.
He handed it to Sharon.
"Mara's last days. Everything she suspected. She wrote it for someone who wouldn't give up."
He looked at Sharon, then Jayden. "That's you, isn't it?"
Sharon's fingers closed around the journal like it was fragile glass.
Jayden nodded grimly. "She's already in it."
---
🔔 Emergency Assembly
At 10 a.m., every student was called to the central hall.
Bianca stood at the front — flawless as always — flanked by two unfamiliar men in suits. Board members. Their eyes were cold.
"There has been a recent security breach," Bianca began. "We regret to inform you that certain materials belonging to the institution were accessed without authorization."
Sharon felt a chill.
Bianca's voice softened. "We've identified a shortlist of students for questioning — not disciplinary. Just safety protocol."
Jayden checked his phone and showed Reina.
> 📩 From Ugo:
"They've traced the box. Someone's talking. You need to move. NOW."
Sharon looked around the hall, heart hammering.
Something was very, very wrong.
---
📌 End of Chapter Twenty
> The game has changed.
The board is real.
And one of the pieces just betrayed them.
---
🔜 Coming in Chapter Twenty-One: Voices in the Wires
Sharon reads Mara's journal — and discovers someone she thought was a friend was involved.
The group is split as the board targets individual students for questioning.
A new message arrives from an unknown ally: "Not everyone on the board agrees with what's happening."
Reina makes a bold move… but it might get her expelled.