My half-sister poured a glass of cabernet straight over my head in front of sixty donors, then gasped and told our father I’d shoved her.
The metallic tang of cabernet still clung to my hair, even after I’d scrubbed at it in the dorm shower. Chloe, my roommate, had offered furious comfort, but the sting of Julianne’s public display felt sharper than any actual pain. It was the injustice that burned.
Then, a quiet tap on our door. It was Toby.
He waited until Chloe had slipped away to distract our RA. “The AV room,” he whispered, his voice low. “Midnight. The footage.”
My heart gave a heavy thump against my ribs. I knew what footage he meant. He’d mentioned the new security camera he’d mounted above the chandelier for a student film project.
Midnight felt like an eternity. The campus was a silhouette of hushed academic buildings and manicured lawns. Toby and I moved like shadows across the quad, the cool night air prickling my skin.
The AV room was dark and smelled faintly of dust and ozone. Toby fumbled for a light switch, then quickly dimmed the overheads to a soft glow. Rows of screens and blinking lights surrounded us.
“It’s here,” Toby said, his fingers flying across a keyboard. The main monitor flickered. “I hooked up the new camera a couple days ago. High-def. Just for a test run.”
He navigated through folders, clicking. My breath hitched in my throat. I saw the Senior Art Showcase, the donors mingling, the soft lights on my charcoal portfolio.
Then, Julianne.
The camera, positioned perfectly, showed everything. Julianne stood next to me, a glass of dark red wine in her hand. A faint, almost imperceptible smile played on her lips.
She tilted the glass. Deliberately.
The cabernet cascaded over my head, soaking my dress, blurring the edges of my scholarship sketches. It wasn’t an accident. Not even close.
My hands clenched at my sides. On the screen, Julianne’s face contorted into that fake gasp, those feigned tears, her mouth shaping the lie she told our father. “She shoved me!”
The video paused for a split second, then rewound slightly. Toby fast-forwarded.
Julianne was still on screen, her eyes darting to my fallen portfolio. A subtle shift in her weight, then a foot came down. Hard.
A sickening crunch echoed, almost unheard over the video’s ambient hum. She’d stomped on the binder, grinding her heel into my charcoal drawings, scattering the delicate lines across the marble floor.
“She… she smiled,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. It was a cold, hard smile of pure satisfaction.
Toby didn’t look away from the screen. “Yeah,” he said, his own jaw tight. “She did.”
The video was indisputable. No one could deny it now. This wasn’t just my word against hers. This was a silent, unblinking witness to her cruelty.
My hands trembled as I reached out, touching the cold glass of the monitor. The evidence of Julianne’s calculated malice was right there, sharp and clear.
“What do we do?” Toby asked, finally turning to me, his eyes grave in the dim light.
I didn’t answer right away. A surge of icy resolve moved through me. Julianne had wanted to erase my future. She didn’t know I now held the power to erase hers.
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