Chapter 7 - The Reflection in the GlassKayla watched Julian's locker video seventeen times before she finally understood what she was seeing.
The clip lasted eleven seconds.
Walter appeared in the storage corridor, opened his locker, and discovered a brown envelope inside.
A caption accused him of hiding scholarship money.
The video ended immediately after he picked up the envelope.
At first glance, it looked damning.
But Kayla had noticed the reflection in the trophy case across from the locker.
Now Luis's account gave that reflection new importance.
She paused the recording.
A pale blue sleeve appeared against the glass.
Then a distorted reflection of a young man's face.
And beside him, just beyond the edge of the camera, another figure seemed to move.
Kayla enlarged the frame.
She could not identify the second person.
But she knew the first.
Julian had worn that exact light blue shirt at a family dinner two weeks earlier.
She had a photograph of him wearing it.
The same collar.
The same small embroidered mark near the cuff.
Walter entered the room carrying a plate of toast.
"You're still looking at that?"
"I think I found something."
He put the plate down.
Kayla showed him the reflection.
Walter bent closer.
"That's Julian?"
"It looks like him."
Walter studied it.
Then he shook his head.
"Looks aren't enough."
"I know."
But Kayla wasn't willing to stop there.
She opened Julian's original social media post.
The caption read:
Grandpa got caught with the money. Ask him where it went.
Below it, someone had commented that they remembered seeing Walter accused of stealing supplies years earlier.
Kayla clicked the commenter's profile.
It belonged to an account created less than a month earlier.
The account had posted only four times.
Three comments defending Julian.
One attacking Walter.
Kayla felt a surge of anger.
She took a screenshot.
Then she checked another comment.
And another.
Two different accounts repeated nearly identical phrases about Walter being dishonest.
Someone was trying to make the accusation look widely accepted.
That didn't prove who controlled the accounts.
But it showed how quickly an unverified allegation had been amplified.
Kayla wanted to expose everything.
She opened her own profile and began writing.
MY GRANDFATHER WAS FRAMED BY HIS OWN FAMILY.
Her fingers flew across the screen.
She attached the reflection.
The false confession.
The work order.
Then she stopped.
Walter was watching her.
"What are you doing?"
"Posting the evidence."
"Have you asked Luis whether you can share his document?"
Kayla froze.
"No."
"Then don't."
She stared at the draft.
"People are calling you a thief."
"I know."
"You don't deserve this."
"I know that too."
He sat beside her.
"But if you put Luis's work paper online, people may know exactly who gave it to us."
Kayla slowly removed the attachment.
Walter continued.
"And if you accuse somebody of stealing without proof, you're doing what Julian did to me."
That hurt.
Because it was true.
She deleted the unfinished post.
Then she made a different decision.
She sent Rebecca a private copy of the video, the photograph, and a factual explanation of what the reflection appeared to show.
She also told Rebecca about Luis's willingness to speak to an independent investigator.
Rebecca responded twenty minutes later.
Do not alter the originals. I'm referring this to counsel and requesting formal preservation of the relevant records.
That evening, Julian called.
Kayla almost ignored him.
Instead, she answered.
"What do you want?"
His breathing was audible.
"Take down the graduation video."
"I didn't post it."
"Then tell everybody to stop sharing it."
"You shared videos of Grandpa."
"That was different."
"How?"
Silence.
Then Julian said, "You don't understand what you're getting into."
Kayla moved into the hallway so Walter couldn't hear.
"Then explain it."
Julian's voice hardened.
"Your grandfather signed the statement."
"Not the version you posted."
"You can't prove that."
"I have the original."
His breathing changed.
Kayla pressed further.
"And I know you were in the service corridor."
Julian said nothing.
"Why did you put that envelope in his locker?"
"I didn't steal any money."
She stopped.
That wasn't what she'd asked.
"Julian."
He spoke quickly.
"I didn't take anything from the foundation. Whatever happened with that money had nothing to do with me."
Kayla gripped her phone.
"Who told you to go into Grandpa's locker?"
A door shut somewhere on Julian's end.
His voice dropped.
"I thought it was just supposed to make him stop asking questions."
Kayla's mouth went dry.
"Whose questions?"
Julian whispered, "I have to go."
The call ended.
A moment later, a message appeared.
Forget this conversation.
Kayla stared at the screen.
Julian had finally admitted something.
But his words revealed an even more frightening possibility.
He might not have known where the money went.
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Someone else had given him a job.
And that person had wanted Walter frightened enough to stop looking.
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