“I just got an email from the registrar," Michael said over the phone. “It says you withdrew due to health. Is that true?"
Sylvia pressed her back against the villa's stone wall, the phone cold in her palm. “That's... what they're saying."
“Are you okay?" His voice sharpened. “Tell me where you are. I'll come."
“No," she said too quickly. “I'm fine. Just—family stuff. Complicated."
“Complicated how?"
She looked around. The maid stood at the end of the hall, folding towels. A security camera blinked red near the ceiling.
“I have to go."
“Sylvia—"
She ended the call.
---
That afternoon, her textbooks vanished.
She found her notes in boxes labeled **STORAGE**, stacked beside luggage she hadn't packed.
Camila entered the room without knocking.
“You won't need those anymore," she s
