Tears burned my eyes. "Why? Why would she investigate Blake Enterprises?"
"Because they killed our father."
My legs gave out. I sank onto a dusty chair, unable to process what I was hearing. "Our father? What are you talking about?"
Rachel sat across from me, her hands clasped tightly. "David Chen wasn't your biological father, Emma. He adopted you when you were two years old. Your real father was James Kim my father. He was a journalist investigating Blake Enterprises for corruption, money laundering, ties to organized crime. He was going to publish an exposé that would have destroyed them."
"No. No, that's not"
"He died in a car accident when you were two. The police said it was a hit-and-run. They never found who did it." Her voice cracked. "But Sarah found evidence. Emails, financial records, testimony from people who were too scared to come forward when my father died. She was building a case."
"And then she died," I whispered. "In a car accident. Just like"
"Just like our father. Yes." Rachel leaned forward. "Emma, the Blake family doesn't just destroy careers. They destroy lives. Anyone who gets too close to their secrets ends up dead or disappeared. Sarah knew the risks.
She told me if anything happened to her, someone would need to finish what she started."
I pulled out the necklace with shaking hands. "The messages said to bring this. Why?"
Rachel's eyes widened. "She kept it. Oh my God, she actually kept it hidden there." She reached for the locket. "May I?"
I handed it over, watching as she examined it carefully. Her fingers found a tiny clasp on the back I'd never noticed. The back of the locket popped open, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside was a micro SD card.
"This is it," Rachel breathed. "This is everything Sarah collected. Every piece of evidence against Blake Enterprises." She looked at me, her expression intense.
"Emma, what's on this card could bring down one of the most powerful families in the country. It could also get both of us killed."
"Then why tell me? Why not go to the police yourself?"
"Because I've tried. The Blakes own half the police force. Every time I've gotten close, evidence disappears, witnesses recant, or I get threatened." She pressed the SD card into my palm. "But you're different. You're on the inside now. Adrian Blake is interested in you I saw you two in the dining hall today. And Kai Sullivan is here, which means he's still trying to avenge his father."
"Wait Kai's father? But Kai said"
"That his father worked for Blake Enterprises? Technically true. Richard Sullivan was their CFO. He discovered the money laundering and went to the FBI.
Before he could testify, he was arrested for embezzlement charges that were completely fabricated. He lost everything. His career, his reputation, his marriage. Last I heard, he was living in a studio apartment, drinking himself to death." Rachel's expression hardened.
"Kai came to Riverside for revenge, Emma. He's getting close to you because you're the key to accessing Adrian Blake."
My world was tilting off its axis. Everything I thought I knew was a lie. Sarah had been here, at Riverside, investigating a murder. Our father my biological father had been killed by the Blake family. And both men I'd met today had been using me.
"I don't understand. If Adrian's family is so terrible, why is he here? Why literature and not business?"
"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Rachel stood, moving to the window to peer out at the campus. "Adrian Blake is either genuinely trying to escape his family's legacy, or he's the most dangerous one of all. Sarah wasn't sure which. She was starting to trust him when she died."
"You think Adrian killed her?"
"I think Adrian's family killed her. Whether he knew about it or ordered it himself…" She shrugged. "That's what you need to find out."
"Me? I'm just a college student. I can't"
"You're James Kim's daughter. Sarah Chen's sister. You're brilliant, you're brave, and you're already caught in the web whether you like it or not." Rachel turned to face me. "The Blake family knows who you are, Emma. Why do you think you got that full scholarship? Why do you think you were placed in Adrian's class, assigned as his partner? This isn't coincidence. They're either trying to control you or eliminate you. The question is: what are you going to do about it?"
My phone buzzed. A text from Adrian: "Where are you? I'm worried."
Then one from Kai: "Can't sleep. Keep thinking about you. Are you okay?"
Both of them, checking on me. Both of them, lying to me.
"What do I do?" I asked Rachel, my voice barely a whisper.
"You play the game. You get close to both of them. You figure out who you can trust and who wants you dead." She pulled out a burner phone, handing it to me. "Use this to contact me. Your regular phone is probably already being monitored. Don't tell anyone about me, don't tell anyone about what's on that SD card, and for God's sake, be careful.
The Blake family doesn't leave loose ends."
"You're Sarah's loose end. Why are you still alive?"
A sad smile crossed her face. "Because I'm nobody. A scholarship student from a dead journalist's family, no connections, no power. I'm not a threat as long as I stay quiet. But you?" She touched my shoulder. "You're James Kim's daughter with perfect access to the Blake heir. You're the biggest threat they've ever faced."
She walked toward the stairs, then paused. "Emma? Sarah's last words to me were 'take care of my sister.' I'm trying to honor that. But you need to understand: in this war, you can't trust anyone. Not Kai, not Adrian, not even me. The only person you can rely on is yourself."
Then she was gone, disappearing into the shadows like a ghost.
I stood alone in the old library, clutching a micro SD card that contained evidence of murder, surrounded by secrets and lies, caught between two men who wanted something from me.