Backstabber's diary (part-4)
Backstabber's Diary
Episode 4: The Golden Lie
"Sometimes the biggest liar wears the cleanest crown." — Backstabber's Diary, Page 4
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Velmont Academy loved its trophies.
Not the kind made of gold, but the kind that bled perfection. Gleaming smiles. Polished resumes. Volunteer badges stitched onto blazers. The school didn't build students. It manufactured products.
And the golden boy of it all was Aidan Vale.
President of the student body. Head of the National Honors League. Debate team champion three years running. He had a voice like silk and a gaze that could pin you down or lift you up, depending on what he needed.
He wasn't just admired.
He was untouchable.
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But perfection has fingerprints.
And Rhea had just found one.
It began with a receipt.
A printed invoice, stuffed into a library donation envelope.
> Paid to: SkyImage Studios Service: Digital Manipulation – Historical Records (Custom Package) Client: A. Vale
Digital manipulation.
Historical records.
Custom package.
That same week, Velmont had unveiled a memorial wall in the east corridor, commemorating student achievements. Among them, a huge plaque with Aidan's name. His GPA, club records, attendance, volunteer hours.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
Rhea shared the receipt with Caleb. He stared at it for a full minute.
"We find the source files," he said.
"And we see what the golden boy buried."
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The server room was three floors above the gym. Restricted access. But Caleb had old keys, and Rhea had nerves like ice.
Inside, it smelled of metal and dust. Lights blinked like watchful eyes. They located the drive tied to the memorial wall and plugged in.
And there it was.
An archived folder: Vale_Aidan_GPA_Records_Backup.
Inside were three versions of his transcript.
The earliest version showed a GPA of 3.6. Not bad. But not valedictorian.
The next: 3.8. Progress?
The last—the one posted publicly: 4.0. Flawless.
All edited within the span of a month.
"He didn't earn his title," Rhea said.
"He paid for it," Caleb whispered. "And he used the school's own glorification machine to sell the lie."
They downloaded the evidence.
---
That night, Rhea printed the files. No leaks. No messages.
She hand-delivered the envelope.
To Aidan's desk.
Right before morning assembly.
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The auditorium was packed.
Aidan stood at the podium, welcoming the new semester, beaming down at his classmates. He quoted authors, cracked jokes, and called for unity and excellence.
And then he opened the envelope.
His hands stopped.
His eyes scanned.
His smile flickered.
Only for a second.
But Rhea caught it.
He looked up, directly at her.
And winked.
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She found a note in her locker later.
Folded in four. On gold paper.
> "You really think Velmont wants truth? It wants a story. I just made mine better."
She turned the page.
> "Expose me, and they'll bury you first. This school protects its investments."
She didn't reply. She didn't need to.
Because by sunset, another post went live.
From the school's anonymous confession page.
> "Velmont's golden boy edits his history. The only thing real is the lie he tells himself."
Attached: screenshots of the transcripts.
Students exploded. Comments. Shares. The truth spread like wildfire in a haystack soaked in pride.
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Two days later, Aidan stepped down from the honor committee.
Official reason? "Personal focus on college applications."
Real reason? The system chose silence over scandal.
But the mask cracked.
And that was enough.
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In her diary, Rhea wrote:
> "Golden crowns are just painted metal. And paint peels. Aidan Vale: Unmasked."
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Caleb looked over her shoulder. "That makes three."
"And there are more."
"You going to stop when you reach the bottom?"
She shook her head. "Not until the foundation breaks."
---
But something changed that week.
Rhea began noticing shadows.
Students she didn't know watching her longer than usual. Hallway conversations going silent when she passed. Even teachers pausing, their expressions unreadable.
And one day, in the girls' bathroom, her diary went missing.
She found it in her locker an hour later.
A sticky note attached:
> "Careful. The page you turn might be your last."
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That night, Caleb came to her door.
Unannounced.
His voice was tight. "I need to show you something. Now."
They took the back gate to the library basement. Inside a drawer locked behind old chemistry books, he pulled out a second diary.
Hers.
Except it wasn't.
It was a copy.
Word for word.
"Someone cloned it," he said. "And they're keeping track."
She turned the pages. Her secrets. Her notes. Her plans.
But one page was different.
It had names she hadn't written yet.
Names she was only thinking about.
She looked up.
"Someone's inside my head."
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Author's Note ❤️
The higher the pedestal, the harder the fall.
Aidan Vale wore his perfection like armor. But even gold bends under enough pressure.
Velmont's masks are slipping. The lies are getting louder. And now?
Someone knows everything.
Not just what Rhea's done.
But what she's about to do.
Next episode: The Copycat Where secrets echo louder than truth. And the hunter might not be alone anymore.
Stay with me. Let the fire spread.
🐼 Aarya Patil
Your writer. Your ink-stained witness. Your favorite backstabber.