Chapter 3: The Badge That Told the Truth
After the cafeteria incident, Ms. Harper brought Lily to her office.
She gave Lily a towel and a clean school jacket. Lily sat quietly, her hair still damp, her fingers trembling in her lap.
Outside, the entire school was already talking.
Students had filmed Ava pouring milk over Lily’s head, but none of their videos mattered as much as the small badge on Lily’s uniform.
Ms. Harper connected the badge to her computer.
Principal Whitmore stood near the window, looking deeply uncomfortable.
When the audio played, Ava’s voice filled the room clearly.
Her insults.
Lily’s warning.
Then the sentence that changed everything.
Ava had said Lily’s mother disappeared because she knew too much.
Ms. Harper stopped the recording.
“We need to call the police,” she said.
Principal Whitmore hesitated.
“This could damage the school’s reputation.”
Lily stood up.
“My mother is missing. Is your reputation more important than her life?”
The principal had no answer.
Before Ms. Harper could make the call, the office phone rang. Principal Whitmore answered. His expression changed almost immediately.
“Mrs. Sterling is coming.”
Cassandra Sterling arrived fifteen minutes later.
She wore a perfect cream suit and pearl earrings. She did not look worried. She looked annoyed, as if the whole situation was an inconvenience.
Ava stood beside her, eyes red but chin lifted.
Cassandra glanced at Lily’s wet hair.
“This is an unfortunate misunderstanding,” she said. “Teenagers say emotional things.”
Ms. Harper’s voice was firm.
“Your daughter suggested she knew something about Rose Parker’s disappearance.”
Cassandra’s expression hardened for one second.
Then she smiled.
“Lily, you should think carefully. The scholarship committee does not favor students who bring scandal to the school.”
Lily understood.
It was a threat.
If she kept asking questions, she could lose the scholarship her mother had worked so hard for.
For a moment, fear pressed down on her chest.
Then she remembered her mother’s tired hands. Her mother’s quiet smile. Her mother’s last message.
Lily lifted her head.
May you like
“I would rather lose a scholarship than stay silent while my mother is erased.”
For the first time, Cassandra Sterling stopped smiling.
