Chapter 27

Kyle looked at Natalie. “Vincent didn’t say anything before I left, but don’t worry—she’ll say yes. With the way things are for her, she won’t want to upset us.”

Natalie’s eyes betrayed a hint of irritation, but then she gave him a sweet look. “Our team’s already swamped with the school competition and the new project. If Josie can help out, that’d be great. But even if she’s not coming back, we should at least patch things up with her. Aiden sent those snacks and you because he doesn’t want to completely cut ties with her. If we don’t smooth things over, it might mess with everyone’s mood and work. And if that happens, Aiden might get mad at you.”

Natalie spoke gently, but Kyle started to sweat.

He wasn’t as sharp as Gavin or Vincent, and he didn’t come from money like Jaden or Aiden. If someone were getting kicked off the team, it’d probably be him. That was why he worked so hard to get on Aiden’s good side.

Back when Aiden cared about Josie, Kyle had used her to stay in Aiden’s favor. Now that Aiden cared about Natalie, Kyle knew he had to make sure Natalie stayed happy.

He’d always thought Natalie hated Josie and didn’t want her anywhere near the team. But now, he wasn’t so sure.

Kyle liked to think he was good at reading people, but right now, he had no clue what Natalie was really thinking.

“Do you really want to make up with her?” He looked at Natalie. “Or are you just trying to get her to work for—”

Before he could finish, Natalie’s face turned cold. “Kyle, what are you talking about? You guys and Josie have been friends for years. Even if you argued, you still care about her, right? I’m not talking about faking it. I really want you to make things right with her. I don’t want her to lose your friendship just because of me. I’m sure Aiden feels the same.”

Kyle blinked, thrown off.

Did I get it wrong? Maybe Natalie really does want to fix things, not just use Josie? he thought. Yeah, that makes sense. Natalie’s sweet and kind—she wouldn’t think like that. She just wants everyone to get along again. And Aiden’s always cared about Josie. He probably doesn’t want to stay mad at her either.

Kyle figured he must’ve misunderstood Natalie. Since it seemed like everyone genuinely wanted to fix things with Josie, Kyle decided he’d be nice and try to cheer her up later.

“I get it. I’ll be nice to her next time,” he said. “But you really don’t need to worry. I know her well—she’ll definitely help Vincent. You can ask him when he gets back.”

Then he headed off to take care of other stuff, not giving it another thought.

After Kyle left, Natalie pressed a hand to her chest. She had almost said too much. Good thing Kyle was clueless and didn’t catch what she really meant.

She’d thought that once Josie left the team, she’d be stuck—with nowhere to go and no hospital willing to take her. Then, Natalie could play the nice one and convince the guys to throw Josie a bone—a small, meaningless job on the team. That way, Josie could still graduate and keep David as her advisor—but nothing more.

Then Aiden and the other four would all think Natalie was sweet and beautiful, and they would be a lot harder on Josie. If things kept going that way, Natalie could just keep playing nice. It’d make Josie look like she didn’t matter. Josie would probably work even harder for the team, trying to fix her reputation. Then Natalie could pull a few tricks to take credit for Josie’s work. Josie would always be the one no one wanted around.

But now, things weren’t going the way Natalie had planned. Josie had walked away from the team and picked a subject nobody cared about. She acted like she didn’t want anything to do with them anymore.

That wasn’t good. Natalie couldn’t let Josie graduate with a different major.

She knew just how harsh people could be. Without Josie there to compare herself to, she wouldn’t shine as much. Aiden and the other four might stop putting her on a pedestal.

So she went to find Vincent to ask what had happened.

Meanwhile, Josie felt sick after running into Vincent and Kyle. She lost her appetite and didn’t feel like going to the cafeteria anymore. Instead, she grabbed a sandwich and headed straight back to her dorm.

As soon as she walked in, she opened her closet and pulled out her old diary. Right next to it was a box full of cheap, meaningless gifts Aiden and his crew had given her over the years.

She ignored the box and sat down by the trash can with the diary in her hands, ready to tear it up. She couldn’t let anyone use this stuff against her again. Before time turned back, Kyle had used this exact diary to spread lies about her.

Just as she was about to rip it apart, her roommates—Adeline and two others—walked in.

“What are you doing?” Adeline asked, surprised. “That’s your favorite diary. You used to treat it like gold. Why are you tearing it up now?”

Josie suddenly held out the notebook. “Here. Take a look at what I wrote.”

The three girls blinked, confused. They had no idea what she meant.

Josie didn’t know if Kyle would try to smear her again this time around. But just in case, she needed people who could back her up.

She said, “Even though it’s my personal diary, there’s nothing shady in it. It’s just stuff about my college life. But now I’m switching majors—it’s like a fresh start. So I want to put all this behind me.”

She paused and looked at the three of them seriously. “I hope you can be my witnesses.”

“Sure,” said a tall girl, grabbing the diary. “I’ll read it first.”

She was Zoey Harding—the prettiest girl in school, smart and stunning. A ton of guys wanted to date her.

But Zoey had only ever liked Aiden.

Before time turned back, Josie found that out after Aiden was already engaged to Natalie. That day, Zoey got drunk at their engagement party. Natalie had asked Josie to help her get home. When they were helping her inside, Zoey called out Aiden’s name—and Natalie looked furious.

Not long after that, Zoey got kidnapped on her way home from a night shift. People said five men attacked her that night. Afterward, she couldn’t take it and jumped off a building.

Back then, Josie had just thought Zoey was unlucky. But now she realized—it was probably Natalie.

Aiden had been the key to Natalie’s future success in the medical field. There was no way Natalie would let anyone take him from her. And Zoey was a real threat—she wasn’t just beautiful; she’d also been a top student for years.

Josie felt a chill running through her. Just imagining someone like Zoey going through something that awful made her heart ache.