BEGINNING OF THE END.

.5.

"Jerusha, baby, you won't believe this!" Skylar screamed in her silvery voice, forcing me to lower my phone's volume.

I looked at her over my phone. She seemed to be at the poolside of their house, with a maidservant currently setting something down beside her.

She had sparked my curiosity, but I knew her—sometimes that politician's daughter could be crazy.

"Wednesday happens to be a holiday!" Justine joined in the madness, clearly affected by Skylar's energy.

"And so?" I said quickly, lazily getting off my couch and walking over to close my curtains properly.

I didn’t want anyone peeking in from outside.

"Ouch, that's cold," Skylar said, mock grimacing. "Justine, let's not tell her what's up."

"Yeah, she doesn’t want to hear," Justine said, popping popcorn into her mouth.

"Okay, what's up, girls?" I asked in a sing-song manner despite myself. The thought of Monday, only a few hours away, was making me sick.

They laughed, and again, I had to lower the volume on my phone.

I’d be in trouble if the noise got outside my room. After church on Sundays, The Powell Household became serene, peaceful—a day of rest. That was the rule.

"Should we?" Justine said, with an expression I couldn’t quite read.

What could it possibly be?

"Wait, wait, wait!" Skylar signaled, and I saw Justine sit up in the chair she was seated on. She was clearly not at home.

"Go on," Skylar said with a sheepish grin.

We looked at her.

"So... it's Raymond's birthday on Wednesday!"

Wait—what? Had I heard her right? An opportunity for him to pay for all the pain and embarrassment he'd caused me? That would be so cool.

"How do you know?" I asked, excitement creeping into my voice.

"Ah, she doesn’t trust us," Justine said in mock shock, and we all laughed.

"It's in the class group you left because of that stupid girl's irritating command... what's her foolish name?" Skylar said.

"Sienna? The one who low-key liked Raymond and was envious that he was getting close to you...?"

A knot began forming in my head.

I had thought everything happened because Raymond had set me up, knowing he could never win me over.

I’d also thought it was revenge on his part for rejecting his proposal, especially since the hallway CCTV cameras had coincidentally been ineffective.

But what if Sienna was behind everything? What if she’d blurred Raymond's face in the video and leaked the footage?

Or had it been a joint effort between the two of them?

Or, worse still, had everything unfolded as it had, with no one orchestrating anything?

What was happening?!

"Yeah, her. Do you know she was the one who started spreading the news? Saying that Archbishop Powell lashed you and that your CCTV footage had been 'brought to book'?"

"Really?!" I almost screamed.

Skylar and Justine knew everything because I’d told them. They had never left my side from Thursday till today. I remembered sadly how I had to return to class as Daddy and Rev. Bob were leaving the Dean's office. I hadn’t known how to hold my head high.