Love in Danger

CHAPTER 1

Isabella let out a harsh sigh, then dropped the cigarette she failed to light onto the asphalt.

"I hate winter."

Not only because Isabella would have trouble lighting her cigarette, but also because winter was the season when she lost her best friend, the best person in her life, Alisa Horrison.

"Hey!"

Isabella turned around and stuffed both hands into the pockets of her black fur coat.

"Do you think you can do that?"

One of Isabella's eyebrows lifted when suddenly a man-who she didn't even know where he came from-walked toward her. Isabella observed him. He was tall and muscular, wearing a fur coat and a gray scarf with yellow polka dots. He was masculine and adorable at the same time.

"This." Suddenly, he picked up the cigarette butt Isabella had thrown away and showed it with a displeased look. "You can't just throw trash around like this. Plus, this is a campus area. A public place. A place where smoking is prohibited. I'm going to punish you."

"Are you a professor?"

"No."

"Then?"

"I'm Zach."

"I wasn't asking, anyway."

Zach adjusted his coat, then lifted his chin arrogantly. "I'm a teaching assistant here. I work with Mr. Brown. Nice to meet you, Naughty Girl." Zach offered the cigarette to Isabella. "Throw this in the trash, or you will-"

"Or I'll what?" Isabella interrupted.

Seeing Isabella's boldness, Zach got provoked. He pointed at her face, ready to bombard her with a thousand insults. But before he could, a voice from the other side interrupted their attention.

"Miss. Moore? Mr. Troll?"

Isabella and Zach both turned to the voice at the same time.

An older man with white hair stood there. He smiled and waved his hand before walking toward them. Up close, the man adjusted his glasses that had slipped down his nose. He was still smiling and said, "People these days really don't know manners. Shouldn't you be the ones approaching the elderly, not the other way around?" Isabella and Zach exchanged confused looks, suddenly being judged. The old man, Bennedict Cullan, quickly assessed the situation between them. "Ah, forget it. By the way... I'm Uncle Ben. Hi! Nice to meet you both."

Uncle Ben extended his hand, and Zach accepted it promptly, while Isabella just stared, not returning the handshake. This made Ben lower his hand, slightly disappointed and awkward.

"The snow will get heavier, you both should come inside with me."

Zach nodded. "Sure."

"Should I walk with this patrol guy?"

Isabella's words made Zach and Ben go silent. Ben tried to say something, but Zach quickly raised his hand to the air.

"He's a police-"

"What did you just say? Hey, you look younger than me, you should know better!"

Isabella took a step forward, looking defiant. She stared straight at Zach and replied, "Hey, 'the guy much older than me,' isn't minding other people's business also not a good thing?"

Zach's face turned red. He almost exploded.

But Ben quickly stopped him. "Excuse me, guys. We should go inside now or we'll really get drenched."

Zach looked up at the sky, confirming that Uncle Ben's words were true. He snorted and immediately walked into the four-story building in front of them. Uncle Ben raised one hand to give way for Isabella to follow.

The three of them entered the first floor of the building and stopped in front of a room labeled Alisa Harrison and Anne Hathaway.

"So, this is Alisa's room?" Zach asked Ben, who nodded firmly in response.

"As the news spread on social media, Alisa was found here. She... yeah, I don't need to explain any further."

Zach nodded, seeming to understand the direction of the conversation. Meanwhile, he just realized that Isabella was still standing next to him with a fixed expression. Her eyes were staring straight at the door, not budging at all.

Zach cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward silence between them.

"Excuse me, Miss." Isabella blinked, as if she had just woken from a dream. She turned to look at him. "You need to leave. This room is mine."

"Um, actually-" Ben suddenly spoke between them, causing both Zach and Isabella to look at him. Ben smiled and continued, "You'll be sharing a room with Miss. Moore."

Zach furrowed his brows. "What?"

"I'll share a room with this stiff guy?"

Zach shot Isabella a disapproving look. She really was a judgmental girl, always cursing. So annoying!

"Stiff guy?" Zach couldn't accept Isabella's words, so he protested to Ben. "Can you explain what you meant by that?"

Bennedict cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses again. Oh, really, he should buy a new pair of glasses with the hundreds of thousands of dollars he earned each month instead of keeping these worn-out ones. "You, and Miss. Moore, will stay in the same room until you both achieve your respective goals. This is a decision made by the NYPD leadership and Mr. Harrison. I can't change anything, and neither can you."

"But-"

"Sorry, Mr. Troll. I have to go now."

Bennedict hurried away as fast as he could, though it still looked slow. Zach grunted as he watched the CEO's secretary from Golden Group leave from where he stood. It took him a few seconds to process the situation, but suddenly Isabella walked past him and opened the door in front of them.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?! You shouldn't do that!"

Isabella turned around. Her face was expressionless. "Why?"

"Why? You're asking 'why'? Does it make sense to you to share a room with a stranger you've never met before?"

There was a pause, before Isabella shrugged and said, "We're just sharing a room, not a bed. It's not a problem for me. If it's a problem for you, you can leave. See you."

Zach snorted again, staring at Isabella as she entered the room with an unbelieving expression. "That girl is really crazy!" but also intriguing.

CHAPTER 2

"Oh my God! I can't take it anymore, Andrew. I'm going to-Argh!"

The climax. Finally, they-Andrew and Lily-reached their climax. It wasn't their first time having sex, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

Lily rolled over, lying next to Andrew, who was catching his breath from their activity. "Do you think we could do this next season?"

Andrew turned to her, noticing Lily's face was as red as a tomato. He smiled slightly, then tried to sit up and caressed Lily's cheek. "Of course. Why not?"

"I heard Uncle Ben is going to change the rules. We won't be free like this anymore."

"You don't need to worry. Anyway, we need to hurry. Uncle Ben is going to gather all the students in the Hall. It'll be a problem if we're late." Andrew stood up first, starting to put on his pants that were lying on the floor from when they started. "I'll head out first, you can come after me."

"This is really annoying, you know?"

Andrew kissed Lily's lips after he finished putting on all his clothes. "See you at the hall, Lily."

"Bye, Andrew."

Lily sighed deeply when Andrew left and closed the door. Her blue eyes stared at the ceiling. It was just a white ceiling. It had been a few months since Lily had been in a relationship with Andrew, and secretly, they had broken the student rules... not to engage in casual sex on campus, especially in the dormitories.

But love is blind.

Lily grabbed her phone after putting on her bra and underwear and checked the message she had sent to Alisa.

"Why hasn't Alisa replied? Is she still sleeping?" Lily's finger hovered over the call icon, but she heard the microphone sound in the hallway and quickly put on the rest of her clothes.

Uncle Ben had called for all the students to gather in the Hall, meaning everyone needed to show up immediately, or they would face the consequences.

Lily sat next to Andrew as if they were in the same group. Andrew smiled when he saw Lily, and he always did that. Until the event started, Lily suddenly realized that Alisa wasn't anywhere to be found.

Andrew then noticed the concern on his girlfriend's face and whispered to make sure, "Are you okay?"

"I haven't seen Alisa." Lily lowered her voice too, as Uncle Ben began to walk up to the podium in the university Hall.

"Can you text her?"

"Alisa hasn't replied," Lily said.

Andrew clicked his tongue. "That's bad."

But Lily couldn't call Alisa because she heard the microphone on the podium buzzing. Uncle Ben was ready to deliver his speech, which meant they all had to be quiet and listen.

"Good morning, my dear children!"

Now, everyone in the Hall was paying attention to Uncle Ben.

"We're entering the winter week. There are several activities we will be doing, and one of them is the winter festival. You are required to participate in one of the competitions at the festival if you want to get an A in your final exam this season. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir!" All the students answered in unison.

After informing everyone of some things, Uncle Ben finally dismissed the students in the Hall. However, he seemed to be heading toward the campus secretary responsible for checking the attendance list for the event.

Everyone started rushing out after filling out the attendance sheet provided by the responsible secretary. So did Andrew and Lily. They stood and filled out the attendance.

"How about now? Can you reach Alisa?"

But Lily shook her head anxiously. She kept pressing the edge of her phone, hoping Alisa would reply to the dozens of messages she had sent, but she got nothing. Andrew also started thinking of a solution and offered a suggestion.

"Maybe we should check her room. Alisa might still be asleep?"

"I'm not sure. She's never like this before." Lily looked at Uncle Ben, who was starting to check the attendance data, and then bit her lip, worried. "But it doesn't hurt to try. Uncle Ben seems to be moving toward the attendance list."

"I'll catch up. You can go ahead."

"Alright."

As they had agreed, Lily headed to the dorm to check on Alisa, her best friend. This wasn't like her. Alisa was the cheerful type and always on time. There was no such thing as "late" in her life.

Eventually, Lily reached Alisa's room. Alisa shared it with Anne, but Lily saw Anne with her friends in the Hall. Unfortunately, they weren't close, and Anne seemed in a hurry, so Lily couldn't talk or ask about Alisa.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Alisa? Are you in there?" Lily looked around to make sure Uncle Ben wasn't nearby. Then, she knocked again and raised her voice. "Alisa, you have to wake up! The event in the Hall is over. You're going to get in trouble if you don't come out. Alisa!"

With courage, Lily tried turning the doorknob, and it wasn't locked. It seemed Anne hadn't locked the door, or maybe Anne had locked it, but Alisa had opened it.

"Alisa?"

Lily tried to enter their room.

Unfortunately, the two beds she saw were in disarray and empty.

"Where's Alisa?"

Lily also checked the bathroom inside the room but found nothing. This was very strange. Lily tried texting Andrew, informing him that Alisa wasn't in the room. However, Lily's gaze shifted to the hallway bathroom across from Alisa's room. The door was closed. The hallway was silent.

But Lily had a bad feeling about this. She quickly texted Andrew to come over before heading toward the hallway bathroom and opening the door carefully.

Finally, what she found there was...

"AAAARGHHHH!"

CHAPTER 3

"So, you two were the ones who found the body there?"

The man asking the question was Zach, Detective Zach Troll. A private detective working alongside his partner, Nathaniel-a senior detective from the NYPD-they were at their headquarters when an emergency call came in. Zach and Nathaniel immediately secured the scene by setting up a police line in front of the women's restroom to prevent other curious students from entering the scene where their friend had died.

While waiting for other officers to arrive to take Alisa's body away, Zach took the initiative to secure the two key witnesses: Lily and Andrew, who were the first to discover the girl's body. Following Uncle Ben's instructions, they were taken to the secretary's office to minimize the shock they had just experienced.

"How close were you to Alisa Harrison?" Zach tapped the end of his pen against his notebook, preparing to record everything the two now-pale, unfocused witnesses had to say. "What was Alisa like while living in the dorm?"

Lily was the first to turn toward Zach. Her eyes were swollen, and her cheeks were still wet from the tears that kept flowing. "Alisa was my best friend. She was the first friend I had here," she said nervously.

"Was she a good student?"

Lily nodded in agreement. "She was the best student I've ever met. She's beautiful, smart, cheerful, and had everything." Tears streamed down her chubby cheeks again, and her voice cracked as she continued, "Suicide is something that doesn't reflect who she was, Detective."

Zach muttered as he wrote Lily's statement in his journal. Then, his serious face with sharp lines shifted to Andrew. The man looked even sadder than Lily. His head was bowed, his eyes filled with emptiness.

"And you... how do you know Alisa Harrison? Were you close friends?"

Andrew blinked twice before his head lifted, his eyes meeting Zach's. "She wasn't my friend."

"Then how do you know Alisa Harrison?"

Andrew took a deep breath and stared directly at Zach. "Alisa was my girlfriend."

Hasty footsteps were heard then. It was the forensic team from the NYPD that Zach had called for. After two of them examined the scene, took photos, and noted the condition of the body, they immediately moved Alisa's lifeless body into a body bag. One of them zipped the bag closed before four officers carefully lifted the body bag together.

All the students who heard about Alisa's death immediately gathered around the scene, as if this horrific incident had become an intriguing spectacle for them.

Many of these students secretly took pictures with their phones and shared them online, even though a ban had been announced earlier.

What made the news of her death even more intriguing was the fact that Alisa was the only daughter of William Harrison, the largest investor in the dormitory and university. No one had expected the girl with the perfect life to choose such a tragic way to end her life. Rumors about Alisa's parents' relationship spread quickly. The affair scandal, which had previously subsided, was now becoming a hot topic again on all television channels.

"Have you checked Alisa's room, Nate?" Zach entered the women's restroom that had been cordoned off with police tape and approached Nathaniel. "The condition here doesn't seem to be much help."

Nathaniel turned toward the sound and nodded in agreement. Wearing latex gloves, Nathaniel held a small journal and pen in his hand. He was also recording the scene, as he usually did at a crime scene. His face looked grim as he stared at a page full of analysis.

"There's no blood found in the room or on the way here, no sharp objects, alcohol, or other drugs, except for a fruit knife, which matches the injury to Alisa. It looks like a clear case of suicide."

Zach frowned. "What about the luminol test?"

"I already did it. No blood at all," Nathaniel replied firmly.

The 27-year-old man then squinted at Nathaniel. "What about fingerprints?"

Nathaniel answered by shrugging. "I've already handed them over to the field forensic team. We'll know the results soon." Nathaniel, wearing a gray scarf around his neck, then stuffed his journal and pen into his thick jacket pocket and looked back at Zach. "By the way, you seem to not trust me, Zach. Is something wrong?"

A short grunt escaped Zach's mouth. He gazed at the spot where Alisa's body had been found, his brow furrowing again.

Before he looked back at Nathaniel, he spoke. "I'm not doubting you, Nate," he protested. "But seeing the cut was made with just one attempt and estimating the wound, along with the positioning of the wound on her left wrist, makes me hesitate to call this a pure suicide case."

Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest and gave Zach a curious look. "Maybe the girl was brave enough to slit her wrist in one try. Kids these days have advanced technology backing them up. She could have copied a scene from a movie or found a method on the internet. Nothing is hard in the modern era, Zach," Nathaniel said casually, trying to dismiss all the suspicions Zach had raised. "Isn't that right, 'Partner'?"

Zach glared at Nathaniel, annoyed, and snorted in frustration at Nathaniel's sarcasm. Nathaniel even dared to raise his head and wink playfully at Zach, who was technically his senior in the office. Nathaniel was really irritating.

"But the girl slashed her left wrist, Nateeee."

"So what?" Nathaniel shook his head and shrugged indifferently. A confident smile appeared on Nathaniel's lips. "Aren't all the suicides we handle like this? They cut their left wrist, like slicing fruit. So, what's the problem?"