Chapter 4

Finally, my mom steered the conversation toward college life. "Flora, you and Alex actually went to the same university, even though you weren't in the same year."

"Yeah, it's a small world," Flora replied with a smile.

Here came my chance.

My heart was in my throat.

I set down my fork and wiped my mouth, trying to look casual.

I forced my voice to sound relaxed. "Oh, by the way, I had a high school classmate named Mark. He ended up going to our university, too."

I dropped the made-up name. "He was in my year, studying computer science. Do you know him?"

After I finished speaking, the living room became eerily quiet for a moment.

I could hear my heart thundering in my chest.

I locked my gaze on Flora's face. Time felt like it was crawling by.

I saw her smile stiffen for half a second.

She blinked quickly, almost too fast to notice.

Her fingers instinctively curled under the table for a second.

All of it happened so fast. If I hadn't been watching her like a hawk, I never would've caught it.

Then Flora spoke.

She didn't hesitate like my mom expected, and she didn't just say she didn't know Mark either. Instead, she went for a cleverer response.

She tilted her head, putting on a thoughtful look like she was really trying to remember.

"Mark?" Flora echoed softly. "The name kind of rings a bell, but there were a lot of guys in computer science, you know."

She glanced at me, her eyes showing just the right hint of curiosity. "What does he look like? Anything that stands out about him? Maybe I've seen him around and just didn't connect the name."

Cold sweat soaked my back.

My mom was right.

Flora didn't deny it. She was testing me.

She was fishing for more details so she could craft a more convincing story.

A normal person wouldn't act like that.

A normal person would just say "I don't know him", or "No idea. There were so many students at our school".

Only someone who was feeling guilty would try to throw the question back.

I froze, not sure what to say next.

My dad was caught off guard, too, clearly not expecting that move.

But my mom was quick on her feet. She laughed and tried to smooth things over. "Come on, that was ages ago. No one can remember everyone from back then."

She turned to me, giving me a gentle scolding. "Alex, how could Flora possibly remember all the guys from your department?"

With that, she smoothly steered the conversation away.

Flora went along with it, smiling. "Yeah, Mrs. Lee is right. I'm really bad with names."

The crisis was over. The mood at the table lightened up again.

But my heart hit rock bottom.

I looked up and caught my mom's gaze.

There was no hint of pride or relief in her eyes—just a heavy, unreadable seriousness.

Her gaze was saying, "Alex, you see that? I wasn't making things up. There's definitely something wrong with this woman."

The rest of the meal was pure torture. Every bite tasted like ash, and every second felt like an eternity.

Flora acted like nothing was wrong, still chatting and laughing like everything was normal.

But I knew that beneath that calm surface, there was a whirlpool of secrets.

*****

After dinner, I drove Flora home.

The heater was on, but I felt chilled to the bone.

We didn't say a word the whole way.

I used to love these quiet moments with Flora. They felt like we got each other without saying anything.

But tonight, the silence was suffocating, like a boulder pressing down on my chest.

I secretly stole a look at Flora from the corner of my eye.

She was resting against the passenger seat, and her head turned toward the window, watching the view race by.

The neon lights danced across her delicate profile, flickering on and off.

Her face was calm, with a hint of fatigue.

She looked just like a regular girl, worn out after a family dinner.

But I couldn't believe anything I saw anymore.

Her answer about Mark felt like a venomous sting, piercing straight into my heart.

Why did she lie?

If she had to lie about something as simple as a college classmate, what else was she hiding?

Who was she?

What was she really after?

Questions raced through my mind, tearing me up inside.