ENEMIES THEN LOVER

CHAPTER 3

THE SECRET HE HIDE

Elena barely slept that night.

The unknown messages kept replaying in her mind.

Stay away from Adrian Cole.

Ask him what happened last year.

What had Adrian done?

And why did a complete stranger seem so determined to keep her away from him?

She picked up her phone and opened the messages again.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.

Elena: Who are you?

The reply came almost immediately.

Unknown Number: Someone who doesn't want you making the same mistake everyone else did.

Elena frowned.

Elena: What mistake?

This time, there was no reply.

She threw her phone onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow.

"Perfect," she muttered. "I've been here for barely a week, and my life is already a drama series."

Unfortunately, she had no idea how right she was.

---

THE NEXT MORNING — WESTBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

Elena walked into the lecture hall determined to ignore Adrian.

She had more important things to worry about than an arrogant boy with mysterious secrets.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed to enjoy testing her patience.

"Good morning, partner."

She closed her eyes briefly.

Please, God. Not today.

Adrian dropped into the seat beside her.

"Why do you look like you want to murder someone?"

"Because someone won't stop talking."

He placed a hand over his chest.

"Ouch. And here I was thinking you missed me."

"In your dreams, Cole."

He grinned.

"You're always thinking about my dreams. Should I be concerned?"

Elena turned toward him.

"Do you ever take anything seriously?"

His smile faded slightly.

"Sometimes."

"Really? That's shocking."

"Careful, Elena. You might discover I have other qualities besides being handsome."

She let out a disbelieving laugh.

"Handsome? Who told you that? Your mirror?"

Adrian laughed.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you."

"Neither does arrogance, but here you are."

Before he could respond, the professor entered the room.

Elena immediately faced forward.

But something bothered her.

For a moment, Adrian had looked different when she asked whether he ever took anything seriously.

Almost sad.

She wondered what he was hiding.

Then she remembered the messages.

Ask him what happened last year.

She swallowed.

Maybe she should.

Maybe she shouldn't.

Either way, she needed answers.

---

THE GIRL IN THE RED JACKET

After the lecture, Elena was heading toward the cafeteria when someone stepped into her path.

A tall girl with long black hair and a red jacket.

She looked Elena up and down before folding her arms.

"You're Elena, right?"

Elena stopped.

"Yes. And you are?"

"Victoria Hayes."

The name meant nothing to Elena.

Victoria glanced toward the lecture hall.

"You're getting pretty close to Adrian."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"We're project partners."

"Of course."

Something about Victoria's smile made Elena uncomfortable.

"What exactly do you want?"

Victoria stepped closer.

"Just a little advice. Stay away from him."

Elena's stomach tightened.

Not again.

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?"

For the first time, Victoria looked surprised.

"Everyone?"

Elena immediately regretted saying it.

Victoria's eyes narrowed.

"Who else has been talking to you?"

"That's none of your business."

Victoria gave a short laugh.

"You really have no idea who you're dealing with, do you?"

Elena lifted her chin.

"Apparently, neither do you."

Victoria's smile disappeared.

"Listen carefully. Adrian isn't the person you think he is."

"And you know him so well?"

"Better than you ever will."

Before Elena could respond, Victoria walked away.

Elena stood there, watching her disappear into the crowd.

Two warnings in less than twenty-four hours.

This was no coincidence.

---

AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY

That afternoon, Elena returned to the library to collect a notebook she had forgotten.

The room was almost empty.

She found her notebook beneath the table where she and Adrian had worked the previous day.

As she picked it up, a folded piece of paper slipped from between its pages.

She frowned.

It wasn't hers.

Curiosity got the better of her.

She unfolded it.

There were only three things on the page.

A photograph.

A date.

And a name.

ADRIAN COLE.

Elena stared at the photograph.

It showed Adrian standing outside a hospital, his face pale and his shirt wrinkled. Beside him stood another boy, whose face had been partly hidden by the camera angle.

On the back, someone had written:

September 14. The night everything changed.

Elena checked the date.

It was from the previous year.

Her heart began to beat faster.

"What are you doing?"

She nearly dropped the photograph.

Adrian stood a few feet away, staring at the paper in her hands.

For once, he wasn't smiling.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

His voice was low.

Elena looked from the photograph to his face.

"It fell out of my notebook."

"Give it to me."

"Not until you tell me what it is."

His jaw tightened.

"Elena, I'm not asking you again."

"And I'm not giving it to you until you explain why someone is sending me threatening messages about you!"

Silence.

Adrian's expression changed.

"What messages?"

She hesitated.

Then she pulled out her phone and showed him.

He read the messages once.

Then again.

Something dark flickered across his face.

"Who sent these?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you what happened last year!"

Adrian looked at the photograph.

For a moment, he seemed to forget she was standing there.

Then he spoke.

"Stay away from this, Elena."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely."

"You can't expect me to work with you on a project worth forty percent of my grade while refusing to tell me why someone is threatening me!"

"I'm trying to protect you."

The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

Elena went still.

Protect her?

From what?

She gave a bitter laugh.

"You barely know me."

Adrian looked directly into her eyes.

"That's what you think."

Her breath caught.

"What does that mean?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Instead, he took the photograph from her trembling fingers.

"You should go home."

"Adrian—"

"Please, Elena."

It was the first time he had ever said her name without teasing her.

And the first time he had ever looked genuinely afraid.

She gathered her things and walked away.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that the photograph had changed everything.

---

THE CALL

That evening, Adrian stood alone on the balcony of his apartment.

His phone rang.

He answered without checking the caller ID.

"What do you want?"

A familiar voice came through.

"She found the photograph, didn't she?"

Adrian closed his eyes.

"How do you know about that?"

"Because you should have destroyed it a long time ago."

"Leave Elena out of this."

The person laughed softly.

"You're making the same mistake again, Adrian."

His grip tightened around the phone.

"I said leave her alone."

"You don't get to decide that anymore."

The call ended.

Adrian stared at the screen.

For a long moment, he didn't move.

Then he whispered something he had promised himself he would never say again.

"I'm sorry, Daniel."

---

THE MESSAGE

Elena was sitting on her bed when her phone buzzed.

An unknown number.

Again.

This time, there was no warning.

No threat.

Just a single photograph.

Elena opened it.

Her entire body went still.

It was a picture of her.

Not from university.

Not from that morning.

It had been taken years ago.

In the background stood a woman Elena had spent years trying to forget.

Her mother.

Beneath the photograph was a message.

Unknown Number: You want to know what happened last year?

Another message appeared.

Unknown Number: Ask Adrian why his family knows yours.

Elena stared at the screen, unable to breathe normally.

Her family?

What did Adrian's family have to do with hers?

And why did the photograph make it seem as though someone had been watching her long before she arrived at Westbridge?

Her phone buzzed one final time.

Unknown Number: Your new beginning was never an accident.

Elena slowly lowered the phone.

For the first time, she understood something terrifying.

Adrian wasn't the only person hiding a secret.

Her own past was coming back for her.

And whatever had happened last year was only the beginning.

TO BE CONTINUED…