Silence. Everyone froze.
The lights had gone out except for one spotlight.
And standing inside that light…
Headmistress Fallon.
She was supposed to be gone.
Dead. Fired or probably, missing.
But here she was, looking calm. Wearing a sharp black suit and gloves. Her eyes scanned the ballroom like a hawk.
Two masked figures stood behind her, one tall and strong, the other slim and quiet.
Fallon stepped forward.
"I warned you," she said softly. "This was never about rules or punishments. It was about control."
Whispers spread across the room like wildfire.
Some students backed away slowly.
Some clutched their phones.
The teachers, especially the younger ones looked just as confused.
Adrian, standing near the stairs, stared at Fallon like a ghost that had just spoken.
Amara's heartbeat pounded in her ears.
She didn't blink.
Toni shifted closer to her, eyes on the masked ones behind Fallon.
"I know that height," Toni whispered. "That's not a guard."
"I know," Amara murmured. "That's Candidate D."
---
Author's Note:
"Candidate D" was shown in Chapter 37's Providence files as INACTIVE, meaning they were removed or hidden from the main project.
Now, they've reappeared and they're not on Amara or Toni's side.
---
Fallon smiled slightly. "You thought you were exposing Providence? You've only awakened it. Everything you showed tonight… was old data. Meant to be discovered."
Amara felt cold.
"It was a trap," Toni whispered. "We played right into it."
Fallon nodded as if reading their thoughts.
"Providence is not one building. Not one project. It's a system. And it adapts. I disappeared to rebuild it better and stronger."
She stepped aside.
One of the masked figures walked forward and took off their mask.
The crowd gasped.
It was Ina.
She wasn't smiling. Just... blank.
Her eyes didn't even register Amara or Toni.
"She's reprogrammed," Toni whispered. "They've used her."
Adrian stepped forward, confused and angry.
"What is this, Fallon? What did you do to her?"
Fallon only replied, "She was always loyal. You just never noticed."
Then, the second masked figure stepped into the light.
He removed his mask.
It wasn't a student.
It was a grown man, maybe in his twenties. Sharp jaw. Cold eyes. Scar running through his left brow.
Amara's breath hitched.
She had seen him before.
In one of her father's private photo albums.
"My half-brother," she said under her breath. "He was dead."
"No," Fallon said calmly. "He was recruited. Candidate D. The original."
---
Panic grew in the room.
Some parents tried to leave but security closed the exits.
Fallon raised her hand again, and the screens behind her lit up once more.
They showed real-time footage of the school every hallway, every dorm, every hidden corner.
"This school," Fallon said, "has been watching all of you. Not to punish anyone but to find the strongest."
Her voice dropped lower.
"To create the next generation of leaders who'd be Ruthless, sharp and obedient."
She looked at Amara.
"You passed."
Then at Toni.
"You disobeyed."
And finally at Adrian.
"You hesitated."
Fallon turned to the crowd. "The Crest Ball was never for celebration but was a test."
Gasps.
Students looked around in panic.
Adrian clenched his fists. "You used all of us like test subjects?"
Fallon tilted her head.
"No, Adrian. I gave you power. You just didn't use it."
---
Suddenly, alarms began to sound.
A voice came through the speakers.
"Unauthorized broadcast detected. External override initiated."
Fallon's calm faded.
"What is this?"
Then… another video started playing.
It wasn't Providence files nor government footage.
But… footage of Fallon herself, taken from hidden angles. Meetings. Threats. Money passed under tables. Students crying.
A new female voice echoed through the ballroom.
"You tried to control us with fear. But we know your secrets now."
Amara's lips parted.
"That's… that's my voice."
Toni stared at her. "You didn't upload this."
"No," Amara said, her voice shaking.
"But someone else did."
---
End of Chapter 38