AEDRIAN
“M-Mom! W-What are you doing?” I shouted and immediately stopped her from what she was about to do. My hands trembled as I held hers. All my strength left me. The moment I saw Mom in that state, it felt as though my world was collapsing. As if the sky itself were falling on me, crushing me until I could no longer breathe—until I died.
She broke down into sobs, repeating only Dad’s name over and over again. Did she miss him that much that she wanted to follow him? I wanted to get angry at Dad. I wanted to dig up his coffin and yell at him because this was what his death had done to Mom.
I hugged her. I couldn’t stop myself from crying either. I never imagined Mom would do something like this. What if I had arrived too late? I might not have been able to stop her. Maybe right now I would be holding her lifeless body.
I couldn’t stop thinking about those possibilities. What if I ended up all alone? I’d go crazy. I might even end up doing the same thing to myself.
I escorted Mom to her room. I was afraid she might try it again. I was afraid she would leave me too. I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t want to lose them one by one and be left behind.
“Son, I’m sorry...” She held my hand. “I hope you can forgive me...”
“Mom, just please don’t ever do that again, okay? I don’t want to lose you too. You know how much I love you, so please don’t disappear from my life. I can’t handle losing you too...”
She caressed my cheek.
“I promise, son. I’ll stay strong for you, even though I miss your father so much.”
I hugged her.
I walked toward the classroom. I had no energy left, especially after what happened last night. What if I went home and found Mom gone?
I don’t know why, but my strength seemed to return the moment I saw her. I smiled.
I was about to enter the room when Betty blocked my path.
“Aedrian, can we talk for a moment? Professor Tobias isn’t here yet.”
I agreed, and we went to a corner near the stairs.
“What is it?”
She took a deep breath before speaking.
“Do you remember when I told you I’d be the next one to die?”
I recalled what she had said before.
“I don’t know whether I should be thankful that I’m still alive today...” she said with a hesitant smile.
“What do you mean? How did you know you’d be next? And who’s going to kill you?”
I noticed her trembling hands and restless eyes.
“I-I found out something about him...” Tears began to gather in her eyes.
“About who?”
“A-About L.”
“L?” I lowered my voice even further.
She nodded.
“He’s the one behind all of this.”
“So his name is L...”
“H-He killed my cousin. He killed Apple Fratern. I learned it from the tape I found in my locker.”
The tape?
Could it be the same tape I found in Marco’s locker? The tape Nica lost?
How did it end up with Betty?
“Where’s that tape? Give it to me. Maybe there’s something on it that can help us.”
She nodded.
“It’s in—”
“Mr. Alminario, Ms. Sandoval, what are you doing over there?”
Both of us turned toward Professor Tobias.
“N-Nothing, Sir. We were just about to head inside.”
I walked in behind him.
I glanced back at Betty.
“Help me, Aedrian. I don’t want to die yet...”
Before I could fully enter the classroom, I received a text message.
From: Lyca
Small at the north. Big at the south. Good luck.
xxxB
—end of message—
My eyes narrowed.
I knew it wasn’t Lyca texting me.
It had to be L—the one behind all of this.
I read the message again.
Three X’s meant target , and obviously, B stood for Betty .
I was sure he was planning something terrible again.
But I would make sure his plan failed before the appointed time.
“Are you planning to stand there for my entire class, Mr. Alminario?”
“Ah, right away, Sir.”
I entered the room and sat down.
I needed to keep my eyes on Betty.
If L wasn’t going to carry out the murder himself, he would definitely send someone else to do it for him.
And when that happened, that would be my chance to catch him.
Yes, I’d use Betty as bait to lure L out.
Good luck to my cheese.
I took out my phone and changed Lyca’s contact name.
I deleted three letters.
It wasn’t “Lyca” anymore.
Now it was simply “L.”
“Is something bad going to happen to Betty?”
I turned to my seatmate, who had suddenly spoken.
“H-Huh?”
“You’ve been holding your phone and staring at Betty for a while now. It’s impossible that you’re looking at her because you like her—the way you look at her is completely different. But fine, let’s say you do like her. Then why are you holding your phone? Were you about to text her, or did someone text you?”
She crossed her arms.
“Based on my deduction, L probably texted you again and told you that Betty is his next target. Am I right?”
Why had this annoyed me the first time she did it?
She was definitely good at making deductions.
I couldn’t help but smile, which only made her frown.
“What? Am I wrong?”
“I think I need your help.”
“Psh. You’re only realizing that now? What did you think I was before—a decoration? It took you this long to figure out you needed my help?”
“Aren’t you satisfied knowing that a man needs your help? That’s something worth bragging about.”
“Oh, really?”
For now, I decided to set aside the matter of her being a witness and focus on Betty.
I needed someone to help me keep an eye on her.
“Can I make money from that?”
“No, but you can get lunch because of it.”
I smiled.
When the bell rang, signaling lunch break, we immediately put our plan into action.
Instead of heading to the cafeteria, we followed Betty, looking for anyone suspicious around her.
“Are we seriously going to follow her all day? When are we supposed to eat? For all we know, she might not even eat lunch.”
“Shh... Patience is a virtue.”
“Betty, sorry we’re late. Have you been waiting long?”
Three girls approached her and hugged her one by one.
“It’s okay. I’m just getting hungry. Shall we head to the cafeteria?”
“Hey, she said let’s go.”
My seatmate grabbed my arm and pulled me along.
Looks like someone’s hungry.
“Carbonara again?” she asked.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Get the one with the lattice too! It looks delicious!”
She pointed at the apple pie with a bright smile.