Maya couldn't turn the page.
Her own name stared back at her.
MAYA CARTER.
Underneath it was another name.
Daniel Hart.
Then Reynolds.
Then a final name.
Eleanor Hart.
Brielle read over her shoulder.
“What does that mean?”
Maya shook her head.
“I don't know.”
They kept reading.
The notebook explained everything.
Eleanor had discovered that scholarship money was being redirected through shell organizations.
But the money wasn't being stolen for personal wealth.
It was being used to buy influence.
Donations.
School board votes.
Political favors.
Contracts.
The scholarship foundation was being used as a private network of leverage.
Reynolds had helped manage it.
Daniel had discovered the scheme and tried to stop it.
Eleanor had planned to expose everyone.
But before she could, she died.
Maya looked at Brielle.
“So your father wasn't the villain.”
“No.”
“He was trying to protect the foundation.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother helped him.”
“Yes.”
Maya looked at the final page.
There was one sentence.
Evelyn's handwriting.
I don't know who I can trust anymore.
Then another.
If I disappear, Maya must never be given the scholarship.
Maya's heart stopped.
“What?”
Brielle read it.
“Why wouldn't she want you to have the scholarship?”
Maya turned the page.
Nothing.
The notebook ended there.
“No,” Maya whispered.
She flipped through every page.
Blank.
Then she remembered something.
Ink can disappear.
Her mother had worked with financial documents.
Maya ran to the chemistry classroom.
Brielle followed.
They found a UV light used for science projects.
Under the light, faint writing appeared on the final page.
Maya read it.
Her face went pale.
The scholarship wasn't meant to help her.
It was meant to control her.
Maya looked at Brielle.
“What does that mean?”
Before Brielle could answer, the cafeteria doors opened.
Principal Reynolds entered.
He was alone.
“You two need to come with me.”
Maya closed the notebook.
“No.”
His expression changed.
“I wasn't asking.”
Brielle stepped between them.
“You're not taking her anywhere.”
Reynolds smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
He looked at Maya.
“Your mother was not investigating my family.”
Maya froze.
“She was investigating you.”
Reynolds nodded.
“And she discovered something that neither of you have understood.”
“What?”
He looked at the notebook.
“Your mother didn't die because she knew the truth.”
A pause.
“She died because she was trying to protect the person who caused it.”
Maya's stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Reynolds looked at Brielle.
Then back at Maya.
“You.”