Their Group Chat Hinted Murder, I Stayed

Chapter 3

Her yell cut through the campus air like a knife. All the students who had been hurrying to class froze in their tracks, stopping dead to gawk at the unfolding drama.

My face burned bright red in an instant.

Donald scrambled to explain, panic lacing his voice. "Babe, don't listen to this crazy woman's lies. You know exactly what kind of reputation she has in our department!"

Other clueless classmates chimed in, trying to talk me down.

"Yeah, everyone knows Donald is head over heels for you. We've all seen how he treats you."

"And this Alice Brown? She's a known thief, and now she's trying to home-wreck your relationship? She should take a good look in the mirror before shooting her shot. Like Donald would ever go for someone with a face like a pig?"

Alice didn't even flinch at the insults. She just fixed Donald with a venomous glare. "I've got proof we slept together. If you don't break up with her, I'll post the videos online for the whole world to see what a scumbag you really are."

Large beads of cold sweat immediately slid down Donald's forehead. His face went white with terror, his lips trembling so hard he couldn't get a single word out.

As for me, the person at the center of all this chaos? I was shockingly calm. I let my eyes rake over Alice from head to toe.

Just like the first time we met, she was short and massively overweight, her face covered in pockmarks and old acne scars. The chubby rolls of her cheeks squished her eyes so tight they were just tiny slits.

Alissa, my best friend, though? She'd been a natural beauty since we were kids. Even without a scrap of makeup on, guys were lining up left and right to ask her out. On top of that, she had a killer curvy figure that even I was jealous of. There was no way in hell this woman standing in front of me was Alissa. I was 100 percent sure of that.

But then where did that hair tie come from?

I pushed down the flutter of panic in my chest and, under the shocked stares of everyone around, walked slowly toward Alice. "I trust Donald. I'm never breaking up with him over something you say."

Alice's pupils shrank to pinpricks on the spot, and she stared at me in total disbelief.

Donald only looked grateful on the surface. He was no less tense underneath it all.

They'd definitely done something they shouldn't have last night. That much was obvious. Of course, he was scared Alice actually had the evidence she was threatening him with.

Late that night, he made up some excuse about going to play games at an internet cafe with his buddies and headed out alone again.

I snuck after him, keeping to the shadows until I watched him walk into a run-down old residential complex.

The streets were pitch black, not a single security camera in sight.

I glanced at the time on instinct. It was almost midnight.

I was just about to follow him into the apartment building when a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder out of nowhere. My breath caught in my throat instantly, and my whole scalp tingled with a sharp, cold rush of fear.

Before I could react, a wave of hot, rank air washed over me, thick with a stomach-churning stench.

A deep, muffled female voice rumbled from directly behind me. "Who said you could come to a place like this?"

I whipped around, yanking my shoulder free from her grip.

That was when I saw her, Alice, standing right behind me holding a garbage bag, like she'd materialized out of thin air.

I clapped a hand over my nose on instinct, trying to block out the foul odor.

Alice lowered her eyes and let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. When she lifted her gaze again, her eyes brimmed with unvarnished arrogance. "You think I'm gross? What gives you the right to look down on me? Your boyfriend was all over me last night when he was kissing me and sleeping with me. He couldn't get enough. You know how tight he held me when he finished? I was so turned on I could barely breathe," she said.

To rub it in, she deliberately held the garbage bag open right in front of my face.

Several used condoms were sitting right there, impossible to miss.

I gagged instantly, bolted for the nearest trash can, and retched until my head spun and my stomach ached.

Alice just stood there, watching me silently the whole time.

She didn't move until I was done heaving, then turned away without a single flicker of emotion on her face. "Don't ever show up around here again, and don't you dare try to take Donald from me. If you do, I'll make sure you pay for it."