The Burn and the Blame

Silence.

Then sirens.

The lab was chaos—broken glass scattered like confetti across the floor, smoke billowing from a shattered beaker stand. Alarms shrieked through the building. Students screamed, stumbling out of the room as sprinklers began to rain down.

In the middle of it all lay Emma, motionless, half-covered by a fallen lab stool.

Lila was the first to reach her. "Emma?! Emma!" she screamed, shaking her shoulders.

A burn marked the edge of her arm, skin red and blistering. Her face was pale, speckled with ash.

Jake came rushing in seconds later, his eyes widening as he saw the devastation.

"No. No—Emma!" He knelt beside her, lifting her carefully into his arms. His hands trembled.

"What happened?!" he barked at the students around him.

No one answered.

"She was alone," Lila whispered, tears in her eyes. "You were supposed to be here…"

Jake didn't respond.

He couldn't.

His heart was pounding like a war drum. Not again. Not someone else he couldn't protect.

Later – Hospital Room

The heart monitor beeped steadily. Emma lay unconscious, her arm bandaged, oxygen mask over her mouth.

Jake sat beside her, head bowed, guilt eating at his soul.

"I left for five minutes," he whispered. "Five minutes."

He reached for her hand, hesitated—then wrapped his fingers gently around hers.

"You're not allowed to do this to me," he murmured. "Not you."

Outside the Hospital – That Evening

Alistair Valeria stood by the black car parked outside the hospital, talking into his phone.

"No. I don't want him near her. I don't care how smart he is or how many medals he's won. Get him expelled if you must."

Verona stood beside him, arms crossed, her expression sharp.

"You saw the footage," she said coldly. "He walked out minutes before the explosion. Coincidence? I don't think so."

Alistair narrowed his eyes. "He's a Rolister. And history has shown they're nothing but trouble."

Back at Campus – Days Later

Rumors swirled like poison through the air.

"She messed up the experiment."

"Someone tampered with her setup."

"Jake left on purpose."

"He wasn't even there when it happened."

"It wasn't an accident."

Jake walked through the halls in silence, his shoulders rigid. Eyes followed him, whispers echoing behind his back.

He didn't care.

Or at least, he told himself he didn't.

Until he saw Rhea smiling softly as she approached him near the main stairwell.

"I told you, she'd only bring chaos," Rhea said. "It's time to let her go."

Jake stopped walking. Turned to her slowly.

"Are you saying you had something to do with that explosion?"

Rhea blinked. "What? No! Of course not. But maybe it's a sign. Maybe it's time you stop chasing ghosts and start letting someone real in."

Jake looked at her with cold, unreadable eyes.

"Someone real doesn't use other people's pain as leverage."

He walked away.

And this time, even Rhea couldn't follow.

Inside the Girls' Dorm – That Night

Emma sat in bed, staring out the window. Her arm still throbbed, and her head felt like it had been split open with noise. But the worst pain was the silence.

No Jake.

Not a word.

Not a message.

Not a single visit after the hospital.

She clutched the edge of her blanket and whispered into the dark.

"Why did you leave me?"

Meanwhile – Jake's Room

Jake sat at his desk, the old newspaper clippings spread out before him again. The faces of his parents stared up at him from yellowed paper.

"Factory explosion: Two dead. Valeria Corporation cleared of all charges."

The same sentence. The same lie.

He pulled open the drawer. Inside, a small black notebook—his father's journal. He flipped through the brittle pages and paused at a line he'd read a hundred times.

"If anything happens to us, it wasn't an accident. The Valerias know what they've done."

Jake closed the book and whispered, "And now they think they can erase me too."

He stood.

His eyes were darker now. Determined.

"This ends with me."

End of Part 4