Chapter 173
Steven wore a pained expression, his face practically saying, “No matter how hard you press me, my hands are tied.”
Emily pressed her lips together and fixed her gaze on Steven, as if weighing whether he was telling the truth.
Tina said Quiana had jumped to her death, while Steven claimed she just transferred schools. Emily thought, ‘Were they even talking about the same Quiana?‘
After a long moment, Emily finally spoke up and asked, “Why did Quiana transfer schools?” She kept her real questions to herself.
Since Steven had seen what was in the file but still chose not to tell the truth, there had to be something even more important than the file itself that made him keep his mouth shut.
Steven, thinking Emily believed him, breathed a silent sigh of relief. “If a student wants to transfer, how would I know the reason?
“We have so many students coming and going every year. Even though I’m the principal, I can’t possibly know everything about every single one of them.”
Everything he said sounded perfectly reasonable, and there wasn’t the slightest hint he wa Emily didn’t buy a word of it.
a
lying in his expression or tone. But
Quiana wasn’t exactly a rare name, and with all the years Shandell High School had been around, there was no way she was the only student ever named Quiana.
But Steven immediately knew exactly which Quiana she meant, without needing to ask for any more information.
Emily knew there was something fishy going on. Still, no matter what she asked, Steven just kept insisting he didn’t know anything. He even turned the question back on her, asking, “Why are you looking for Quiana?”
Given Emily’s background, she and Quiana never would have crossed paths, and it had been years since any of this happened. Steven thought, ‘So, why is she suddenly bringing it up now?‘
Emily cast her eyes down at Steven, her face giving nothing away. “A friend of mine asked me to pass along a message to her.”
“A friend? And how would your friend even know Quiana?” Steven asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
Emily replied, “My friend is Quiana’s brother.”
Steven’s face changed in a flash, his eyes suddenly wide with panic. It only lasted a moment, but Emily, who had been staring at him the whole time, caught it right away.
‘Could it be that Quiana’s situation is actually connected to Zack?‘ she wondered.
If that was true, then the Quiana Steven mentioned was probably the very person she was searching for.
Emily felt a spark of hope, quietly pressing down the uneasiness that had been lingering in her heart.
Steven might be hiding something, but he said Quiana just transferred, and Zack said the same about his sister. Maybe the Quiana she was looking for really did just transfer schools.
Emily tried to comført herself with that thought. She kept chatting with Steven for a while, deliberately steering the conversation toward Zack.
Chapter 173
Sure enough, every time she mentioned Zack, Steven’s face looked a little off, but he never let anything slip, Emily didn’t let on that she was suspicious, and she acted like she totally bought his story.
But as soon as she left, she had someone dig up the list of every student who’d either committed suicide or transferred out during their senior year at Shandell High School in the past few years.
Of course, she hoped the Quiana she was looking for was the one Steven meant, but Jackson always said one had to be ready for
the worst.
She had to find Quiana. The things Zack never got to say to Quiana were regrets he took to his grave. Emily was determined to finish what he couldn’t.
While she was looking into the student list, Emily also had someone start digging into the Windrose family in Xalativa
Based on Steven’s reaction, it seemed pretty likely that Quiana’s situation was somehow tied to Zack, but Emily knew what kind of person Zack was.
The only thing that could have made Quiana transfer or caused something else to happen to her was the Windrose family in Xalativa, the family Zack belonged to.
If it really was the Windrose family in Xalativa… Emily felt her head start to ache. The Windrose family’s status in Xalativa was just like the Bennett family’s in Cloudridge. They were both at the very top of the social ladder.
If Quiana’s situation really involved the Windrose family, Emily might honestly be out of her depth with what she could do at that time. Emily headed back to the Bennett residence, lost in thought.
