—No.

One word.

Nothing more.

Yet the entire auditorium became so quiet that I could hear the old air conditioner humming above us.

Ryan stared at me.

For the first time that morning, Emma’s carefully fragile expression cracked.

Ryan laughed.

—Stop joking, Isabella.

—I’m not joking.

His smile disappeared.

—More than thirty students may lose their university placements because of what happened.

—Because of what you did.

A murmur swept through the room.

Ryan’s face hardened.

—I’m your fiancé.

—And?

He seemed genuinely confused.

That almost made me laugh.

For years, Ryan had treated my family’s resources as an extension of himself.

My car was his.

My lawyers were his.

My father’s connections were his.

My money was his.

Even my future had somehow become his property.

Ryan leaned closer.

—Don’t embarrass me in public.

I met his eyes.

—You tore up thirty students’ exams in public.

Several students laughed.

Emma immediately grabbed his sleeve.

—Ryan, forget it. Isabella is probably angry because you defended me.

There it was.

The trap.

If I objected, I was jealous.

If I stayed silent, they used me.

In my previous life, I had spent years trapped between those two choices.

Not anymore.

I turned toward Emma.

—Whether Ryan defends you has nothing to do with me.

Her face stiffened.

Then I looked at everyone else.

—Anyone whose exam was destroyed should preserve every piece of evidence and follow the school’s official process. My family will not pay compensation on Ryan Ashford’s behalf.

Ryan stood abruptly.

—Isabella!

At that exact moment, his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

His expression changed.

He answered.

—What?

A pause.

—That’s impossible.

Another pause.

His eyes slowly moved toward me.

—Who canceled the cards?

I smiled.

He understood.

Ryan ended the call and lowered his voice.

—You canceled my accounts?

—My family’s supplementary cards.

—They’re mine!

—No. You were authorized to use them.

Emma’s hand slowly slipped away from his arm.

Ryan noticed.

So did I.

Interesting.

Ten minutes earlier, he had been promising her a Maldives villa.

Now he couldn’t even pay for the flights.

The auditorium doors opened again.

This time Victor Shaw entered with two school administrators.

Victor didn’t look at Ryan.

He walked directly to me.

—Miss Morgan.

Ryan stepped forward.

—Victor, perfect. Handle this situation.

Victor finally looked at him.

—Mr. Ashford, I no longer accept instructions from you.

Ryan went pale.

—What?

Victor placed a folder on the table.

—Furthermore, the Morgan Group has formally withdrawn authorization for you to represent the family in any financial or legal matter.

The whispers became louder.

Ryan stared at me as though I had suddenly become a stranger.

Perhaps I had.

Or perhaps this was the first time he was actually seeing me.

Then one administrator cleared his throat.

—There is another matter.

Everyone turned.

—The Department has confirmed that the reserve examination was compromised before today’s incident.

My stomach tightened.

Here it was.

Exactly as before.

But the administrator continued with words I had never heard in my previous life.

—Investigators are examining how the reserve paper was leaked. Preliminary records indicate the leak may be connected to someone who had advance access to today’s examination arrangements.

Emma’s face lost all color.

Ryan immediately stepped in front of her.

—What are you implying?

—Nothing yet.

The administrator’s gaze shifted toward Emma.

—Miss Bell, however, you will need to remain for questioning.

Emma’s fingers trembled.

—Ryan…

He took her hand.

—Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.

I almost smiled.

Those were the words he had always used.

I’ll handle it.

Except Ryan had never handled anything.

I had.

Money.

Lawyers.

Connections.

Damage control.

He had spent years believing the bridge beneath his feet belonged to him without realizing I was the one holding it up.

Now I simply stepped away.

Three hours later, my father arrived.

Ryan immediately approached him.

—Uncle Morgan—

My father walked past him.

Straight to me.

—Bella.

His eyes searched my face.

—Are you hurt?

I shook my head.

—No.

He exhaled.

Then he asked the question I had waited an entire lifetime to hear.

—What do you want me to do?

I looked at Ryan.

He was watching me confidently.

Even now, he believed I would surrender.

I remembered the airplane.

The drugged drink.

The open door.

The hatred in his eyes.

Then I looked at my father.

—End the engagement.

Ryan’s face went blank.

Emma gasped.

My father didn’t argue.

He simply nodded.

—All right.

—Uncle Morgan!

Ryan finally panicked.

He rushed forward.

—You can’t do that! Our families agreed years ago!

My father turned.

His voice was colder than I remembered.

—There are no two families, Ryan.

Ryan froze.

My father continued.

—I raised you because my late friend asked me to make sure you had a future. Isabella’s grandfather later suggested the engagement. My daughter accepted it because she cared about you.

He paused.

—That was never permission for you to mistreat her.

Ryan looked at me.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

And suddenly I knew.

He remembered.

Not everything, perhaps.

But something.

Because he whispered words no one in this life should have known.

—Isabella… you promised you’d never leave me.

My blood turned cold.

That sentence hadn’t been spoken during this lifetime.

He had said it years later.

On our engagement anniversary.

I stared at him.

Ryan stared back.

The noise around us seemed to disappear.

He had returned too.

And judging by his expression, he had just realized that I knew.

But before either of us could speak, Victor approached my father and whispered something.

My father’s expression changed.

—Are you certain?

—Completely.

Victor opened the folder.

Inside was a printed access record from the examination system.

Someone had downloaded information connected to the reserve paper forty-eight hours earlier.

The account belonged to a temporary administrative assistant.

But the contact number attached to the recovery profile belonged to someone else.

Victor placed the page in front of us.

Ryan looked down.

Then slowly turned toward Emma.

Emma backed away.

—Ryan, I can explain.

His face became terrifyingly still.

Because the phone number was hers.

And suddenly I understood why history had never made sense.

Emma hadn’t merely been caught cheating.

Someone had helped her obtain material she was never supposed to see.

Ryan looked at me as if begging me to do what I had always done.

Fix it.

Protect him.

Protect Emma.

Protect the future he thought belonged to him.

I picked up my bag.

—Isabella, wait.

I stopped at the door.

Ryan’s voice shook.

—You know what’s going to happen next, don’t you?

I looked back.

—Yes.

His eyes widened.

I smiled.

—That’s why I’m leaving you here to face it yourself.

Then Victor’s phone rang.

He answered, listened for several seconds, and looked directly at me.

—Miss Morgan, there’s something else.

I paused.

—What?

His next sentence erased my smile.

—The investigators found a second login connected to the leaked exam.

Ryan frowned.

Emma went completely white.

Victor turned the page around.

The name printed beneath the access record was one I recognized immediately.

It wasn’t Emma Bell.

It wasn’t Ryan Ashford.

It was someone from the Morgan family.