Chapter Two — Nothing Is What It Seems
1620 Words
Liana stared at the envelope in her hands.
Her mother’s handwriting was unmistakable.
She had seen it countless times growing up—on birthday cards, notes left beside her breakfast, little reminders stuck to the refrigerator.
But she had never seen her mother’s handwriting on an envelope that had been hidden away for years.
Her fingers hovered over the seal.
For a moment, she considered putting it back.
Maybe there was nothing important inside.
Maybe it was just another letter her mother had written before everything changed.
But deep down, Liana knew that wasn’t true.
She carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a single folded sheet of paper.
Her hands trembled slightly as she opened it.
The first line made her stop breathing for a second.
My Liana,
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
She swallowed and continued reading.
If you are reading this, then something has happened that we prayed would never happen.
Liana’s heart began to pound.
She read on.
First, I need you to know something that should never have been in doubt.
Your father and I loved you more than anything in this world.
Every decision we made, every sacrifice, every secret we kept—we made them because we wanted you to have a future that belonged to you.
A tear slipped down Liana’s cheek.
She wiped it away quickly.
There are things about our past that we never told you. Things we believed were better left behind. One day, you may hear stories about us from people who knew us before you were born.
Please, Liana. Don’t believe everything you are told.
Her eyes moved slowly across the page.
There is another thing you need to understand.
If someone ever tells you that what happened to us was simply an accident, don’t accept that answer too easily.
Liana froze.
Her eyes remained fixed on the sentence.
The accident.
She had always been told that her parents had died in a terrible car accident.
Brake failure.
That was what everyone had said.
That was what she had grown up believing.
So why had her mother written this?
She continued.
Your father and I made arrangements for your future because we never wanted you to be left with nothing.
Some things belong to you. Things we worked hard to protect.
You may not understand what I mean right now, and perhaps it is better that you don’t. But when the time comes, you will know.
Liana’s breathing became uneven.
Things that belonged to her?
What things?
She read the next paragraph.
There are people we trusted. People who knew us before you were old enough to understand the world around you. If you ever find yourself searching for answers, look for the people who truly knew us.
Not the people who only claim they did.
The room suddenly felt too quiet.
Liana lowered the letter for a moment.
She stared at the photograph of her parents sitting on her bedside table.
Her father was smiling.
Her mother had one arm around her.
She had been so young.
Too young to remember everything.
But suddenly, a memory surfaced.
A conversation she had overheard when she was little.
Her parents had been speaking quietly in their bedroom.
She couldn’t remember the entire conversation.
Only a few words.
“If anything happens…”
And then her father’s voice.
“She has to know.”
At the time, she hadn’t understood what they meant.
She had forgotten about it years ago.
Until now.
Liana looked back at the letter.
The final lines were written differently, as if her mother had paused several times while writing them.
I wish we could be there to watch you become the woman you dream of becoming.
You always said you wanted to be a doctor.
Never let anyone take that dream away from you.
Study hard. Be kind. Be brave.
And most importantly, never let the things that happened to us make you afraid to live.
We are so proud of you, Liana.
Love always,
Mom and Dad.
The tears finally came.
Liana pressed the letter against her chest and cried silently.
She wanted to ask them questions.
So many questions.
Why had they hidden things from her?
What belonged to her?
Who were the people they trusted?
And what really happened the morning they died?
But there was no one left to answer her.
Eventually, she folded the letter carefully and placed it back inside the envelope.
She wasn’t ready.
Not tonight.
Whatever secrets her parents had left behind could wait until morning.
For now, she just needed to breathe.
The next morning, Ravencrest International University was already alive with students.
Cars moved through the entrance while groups of students crossed the massive campus, some laughing, some rushing to class, others carrying coffee and textbooks.
Liana walked through the crowd with her medical textbooks pressed against her chest.
She was tired.
She hadn’t slept much.
But she couldn’t afford to let one strange letter derail everything.
Medicine demanded too much of her time already.
She had lectures, assignments, practicals, and eventually, a career waiting for her.
She couldn’t spend the entire morning thinking about secrets buried in her family’s past.
At least, that was what she told herself.
Her first lecture of the day wasn’t a medical class.
Ravencrest required students from different faculties to take several university-wide courses outside their main fields of study.
Today’s class was Critical Thinking, Ethics & Society.
Students from Medicine, Business, Law, Engineering, Psychology, and several other departments filled the lecture hall.
Liana found her usual seat a few rows from the front.
She opened her notebook.
The professor hadn’t arrived yet.
Then the door opened.
A young man walked into the lecture hall.
Liana barely glanced up at first.
Then she stopped.
Her eyes widened slightly.
She knew him.
The stranger from the bakery.
Ethan Cole.
He looked completely different in daylight.
No dark alley.
No group of aggressive boys.
No knife.
Just a quiet student carrying a backpack and looking around the room.
The professor entered behind him.
“Good morning, everyone.”
The room slowly quieted.
The professor placed his things on the desk before turning toward the new student.
“Before we begin, we have someone new joining us this semester.”
The young man straightened slightly.
“This is Ethan Cole. He’s a transfer student, so I’d appreciate it if everyone made him feel welcome.”
A few students murmured greetings.
“Thank you, sir.”
The professor looked around the room.
“There is an empty seat beside Liana.”
Liana’s eyes widened.
Seriously?
Ethan looked in her direction.
Their eyes met.
For the briefest moment, neither of them moved.
Then Ethan walked toward her.
He took the empty seat beside her.
“Hi,” he said quietly.
Liana looked at him.
“Hi.”
A small silence followed.
Then Ethan glanced at her.
“You’re the girl from last night.”
Liana raised an eyebrow.
“I’m pretty sure you already knew that.”
His lips twitched.
“You remember me.”
“Hard to forget someone who disarmed a guy with a knife.”
He gave a small nod.
“You’re welcome.”
Liana looked away.
“I didn’t need your help.”
“I know.”
She turned back toward him.
For some reason, that answer annoyed her.
“You always say that?”
“Only when it’s true.”
She stared at him for a second before shaking her head.
“You’re strange.”
“I’ve been told.”
Before she could respond, the professor began the lecture.
Liana opened her notebook.
Beside her, Ethan did the same.
Neither of them said anything else.
But every now and then, Liana caught herself wondering about him.
Not because he had saved her.
Not because she found him attractive.
She wasn’t interested in that.
It was something else.
There was just something about him that didn’t quite fit.
He didn’t behave like the other guys on campus.
He didn’t seem interested in impressing anyone.
He wasn’t constantly checking his phone or trying to get people’s attention.
He simply sat there, listened, and took notes.
And somehow, that made her more curious than if he had been trying to impress her.
The lecture ended almost an hour later.
Students began gathering their things.
Liana closed her notebook and stood.
Ethan’s phone suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Liana noticed.
He stepped away from the crowd and answered the call.
“Hello.”
A pause.
“I told you I’m not going back yet.”
Another pause.
His voice became quieter.
“No.”
Liana wasn’t intentionally listening.
She was simply close enough to hear.
“Tell my father I’ll call him when I can.”
He ended the call.
For a moment, he stood there staring at his phone.
Then he slipped it into his pocket.
When he turned around, his eyes met Liana’s.
She quickly looked away.
He didn’t say anything.
Neither did she.
Liana picked up her books and walked out of the lecture hall.
But one thought followed her.
Tell my father.
There was something about Ethan Cole that didn’t make sense.
And somehow, she had a feeling that she wasn’t the only one hiding something.
Last night, her mother had written:
Don’t believe everything you are told.
This morning, a boy named Ethan Cole had walked into her life with a voice that suggested there was much more to him than he wanted people to know.
Liana didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt like those words weren’t only about her parents.
She just didn’t know why.
Not yet.
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