Sofia woke to the creak of her bedroom window easing open. She couldn't sleep over at Naomi's house as Naomi fell sick suddenly and she had to be admitted to the emergency department.
Her eyes snapped open. Cold air drifted in, along with the silhouette of a man stepping through the frame.
Ian.
He moved like a shadow, quiet and calm, as if this were normal. Expected. His expression wasn't angry—it was worse. He looked amused.
"I always felt it wasn't her," he said softly. "But I wanted to see who you were."
Sofia jerked up in bed, heart pounding in her ears. "How did you—what are you—"
He raised a finger. "You don't want to make this messy. I'm not here to hurt you."
She flinched as he stepped closer, her blankets clutched to her chest.
"I liked the game," he said, his voice gentle. "But you lied. And there are always consequences."
He reached into his coat pocket and held up a small USB drive between his fingers.
"Every message. Every photo. Every word you sent pretending to be Harper. I backed it all up."
Sofia's mouth went dry. "What do you want?"
Ian walked slowly to her desk and placed the USB down. "Let's just say I value the truth."
"I didn't mean to…" she began, then stopped. Her voice was shaking. "I just wanted them to break up."
He looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"I didn't care if she cheated," Sofia continued, words rushing out now. "I just wanted my dad to leave her. I wanted things to go back to how they were before. I thought if I made it look like she was seeing someone else, it would end things. That's all I wanted."
"And you thought pretending to be her online would do that?"
"I thought if I made it real enough, convincing enough… it would work," she whispered. "I didn't know you'd start following her. I didn't know you'd get this close."
Ian's eyes narrowed slightly. "But you didn't stop."
"I couldn't," she admitted, her voice barely a whisper. "I liked the attention. I liked… how easy it was. I didn't think you'd find out. I didn't think you'd come here."
There was a long silence.
Then Ian slowly picked up his phone from his coat pocket and turned it toward her. A red recording light blinked on the screen.
Sofia's breath caught.
"You—" she started.
"You told me everything," Ian said softly.
She lunged for it, but he stepped away easily, slipping it into his coat pocket. "Now I have your confession. In your voice. Clear and perfect."
Sofia's chest heaved. "Please don't show anyone."
"I won't," he said. "Unless you force my hand."
Her vision blurred with panic. "What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing," he said simply. "Say nothing. Do nothing. If you tell anyone—your dad, Harper, anyone at school—that I came here, or what you did… I'll send this recording to everyone. Your father's school. Harper's office. Maybe even upload it somewhere fun."
Her knees gave out and she sank onto the bed.
"You played a dangerous game," he said, quietly. "And now you know what happens when you lose."
He turned back to the window.
"One more thing," he said before slipping out. "You're lucky I don't care about revenge. Just truth."
And then he was gone.
Sofia sat in the moonlit silence, her breath shallow, the world around her collapsing in slow motion.
She had wanted to break up her dad and Harper.
Instead, she'd broken something else entirely.
And now she had no idea how to fix it.