CHAPTER 114: UNLOCKED: THIS ISN’T NEW

One moment, Merlina had been walking hand in hand with Craig down Avenue de Camoens, now, barely twelve hours later, she was back in the narrow hallway of Belford’s dormitory.

Her little suitcase bumping over the scratched linoleum floor as she reached her door.

She knocked once. Then waited. The door creaked open an inch before the third knock even fully landed.

Phoebe stood in the doorway, one arm crossed tightly under the other. Her gaze swept over Merlina with quiet judgement.

No greeting.

Just an eye roll sharp enough to slice through the silence, then she stepped aside without a word.

Merlina hesitated, the handle of her suitcase suddenly heavy in her grip, she dragged it in and shut the door behind her.

Megan was curled up on her bed, legs tucked beneath her, scrolling through her phone. She didn’t even glance up.

"Hey," Merlina said quietly.

But nothing.

Just the faint buzz of Megan’s phone vibrating against the blanket.

Merlina let out a breath and set her suitcase by her desk. "Okay. How long are you guys going to give me the silent treatment?"

Still nothing.

She ran a hand through her hair, voice tight. "Look, I know what I did was wrong. I should’ve been honest. I just... I didn’t know how. But can we at least talk about it?"

Megan’s thumb kept scrolling. Phoebe crossed her arms a little tighter.

And Merlina waited.

She waited a beat longer than she should have. Then she shook her head softly, a glint of quiet hurt in her eyes. A soft breath, a sad, resigned exhale escaped. She dropped her bag onto the chair with a dull thud.

Shoulders squared but heavy, she grabbed her towel and toiletry pouch and walked toward the bathroom without another word.

The door clicked shut, and a moment later, the shower hissed to life.

In the room, silence thickened. Phoebe stared at Merlina’s phone lying face down on the desk, mockingly casual, like it had nothing to hide.

Her arms remained crossed, but her fingers twitched. A long moment passed. She told herself she wasn’t this kind of person. She didn’t snoop, didn’t go looking for things she wasn’t supposed to see.

But Merlina had been lying to them. Again and again. And maybe, just maybe, they deserved to know the real truth, even if this wasn’t the way to get it.

Phoebe uncrossed her arms, walked across the room and picked it up.

Megan looked up now, slowly. "What are you doing?"

Phoebe didn’t answer right away. She flipped Merlina’s phone over, pressed the screen until it lit up.

Locked.

"Phoebe?" Megan called again, sharper this time.

"Relax," Phoebe murmured, barely looking up. "I just wanna know what she’s been up to."

"That’s literally trespassing," Megan muttered. "You realize that, right?"

But Phoebe was already typing. The lock screen slid away without a hitch.

"You know, I’ve known her password since forever," she said under her breath, her eyes beginning to move. "Just never thought of looking until now."

She swiped once. Then again.

And again.

Her thumb froze mid-motion.

For a second, she didn’t breathe.

"Oh. My. God." She turned the phone toward Megan like it was proof in a trial. Her voice was small, almost disbelieving. "Look."

There it was.

A photo, bright and painfully recent. Taken just a day ago.

The Eiffel Tower glittered in the background, golden and dreamy, like something plucked from a fairytale. And in the foreground, were Merlina and Craig. Cheeks pressed together, smiling like they had nothing to hide.

Behind her, Megan sat up slowly, frowning. "Wait... when was that taken?"

Phoebe squinted at the timestamp. "Yesterday. Literally yesterday. She was with him. In Paris."

She didn’t stop there, she kept swiping, each image hurt more than the last.

Another photo, Craig kissing Merlina’s cheek, Merlina laughing into his neck, their hands intertwined as they made a heart shape with their fingers, against the backdrop of the Seine.

The kind of photos people posted when they weren’t hiding anymore. When they were sure.

Megan looked stunned. "He flew her to Paris?"

Phoebe nodded, jaw tight. "This is...deep, Megan."

She shifted closer, turning the phone toward Megan. A whole album of them, the soft kind of intimacy that didn’t need rehearsing.

Megan recoiled slightly, unable to keep looking. "She’s actually shameless."

"Yup." Phoebe didn’t even sound surprised anymore. Just tired.

Still holding the phone, she opened the Messages app.

Nothing.

No texts between them. Just a blank slate where there should’ve been something. Her brow furrowed.

Then, without thinking, she tapped into Instagram. Scrolled to Craig’s name. Opened the DMs.

And stilled.

Their thread was long, it went back months. A private world built quietly, message by message. Check-ins from Craig. Short replies from Merlina.

Messages from Craig saying he wasn’t trying to complicate things, Phoebe couldn’t quite understand.

She kept scrolling, until one message stopped her cold.

Craig: I didn’t imagine it, right? The way you melted into me when we kissed... that was real.

Phoebe’s eyes widened. Her thumb hovered, then tapped the timestamp.

December 10th. Weeks before Adriana and Craig had officially broken up.

Phoebe’s stomach twisted. She had never felt more foolish. All this time, Merlina had been right there, sleeping across the room, acting like nothing was going on, while this was happening behind their backs.

Phoebe scrolled slowly, her face pale. "This isn’t new Megan. They’ve been intimate this whole time. Even when we thought they hated each other."

Megan looked up from her phone, and shook her head, "You know, at least Craig had the decency of breaking up with Adriana, how long was Merlina going to lead Louis on?"

Just then, Phoebe head a noise from the bathroom, with the speed of lightning, she dropped Merlina’s phone back onto the desk and spun on her heel, crossed the room in a few quick strides, and sank onto her bed with the innocence of someone who hadn’t just uncovered a deep buried secret.

Megan adjusted her blanket, eyes flicking back to her phone, though her body had tensed.

The door opened.

Merlina stepped out in her bathrobe, damp hair curling slightly at the ends. She paused as both girls looked up at her. They weren’t speaking, just watching.

Her grip on her toiletry pouch tightened. "What?" she asked, voice low, tired.

No answer.

Merlina sighed and turned toward her dresser. The silence pressed in again, heavier than steam. There was nothing colder than being frozen out by people you lived with, ate with, laughed with, every single day.

She fumbled for a change of clothes, the awkward quiet stretching.

Then Phoebe’s voice sliced through it.

"So, Merlina," she said, faux-casual, "how long have you been fucking Craig Lesnar?"

Merlina stilled. She turned, slowly, an exhausted expression on her face.

"Don’t look at me like that." Phoebe said, smile sharp. "You said you wanted to talk. I want to talk about how long you’ve been screwing Craig Lesnar behind everyone’s backs, while you were still pretending to date Louis."

"At least be honest with us," Megan added, her tone quieter but no less hurt. "We deserve that."

Merlina’s voice cracked slightly when she answered. "I said I wanted to talk. Just... not like this."

"Not like what

?" Phoebe laughed, too loud, too bitter. "Not like two people you live with just found out you’ve been sneaking around for months?"

Phoebe stood abruptly, marched straight to Merlina’s dresser, and grabbed the phone again like she had every right to it now.

"You’ve both been at it," she snapped, holding the screen up as if it were evidence in a trial. "Craig’s been texting you for months. You’ve been meeting up with him. You didn’t say a single thing."

Merlina’s breath caught in her throat.

Phoebe’s finger jabbed at the screen. "These messages? They go way back. Way back. You made us think you hated him. You let us hate him for you."

She tossed the phone onto Merlina’s bed like it disgusted her. "God, you guys were together in Spain, weren’t you? That winter break you went MIA. Craig was there."

Merlina’s jaw clenched. Her voice came low, tight. "Wait...you went through my phone?"

Without waiting for a response, she walked over to her bed, slow and controlled, like she was holding something in.

Her hand reached for the phone lying between the folds of her blanket. She picked it up, swiped it open without breaking eye contact.

Her lips parted slightly, disbelief written all over her face as her eyes flicked over the open screens. The messages. The photos. The tabs Phoebe had left behind.

Still no words.

Just the sharp inhale through her nose, the way her fingers tightened around the phone. The way she looked at Phoebe, like she didn’t recognize her.

Phoebe crossed her arms. "Don’t look at me like you’re the one who’s been betrayed. We needed answers," Phoebe snapped. "You weren’t giving us any."

"And we found more than answers," Megan said. "Paris? Really?"

Merlina’s stomach turned. She hadn’t even gotten dressed yet, and the walls were already closing in. "He saw that I was having the worst day. After everything with the press, you both saw what happened. I needed space and he offered."

"Oh, please spare me the romantic detour," Megan said, folding her arms. "Louis did nothing to you, Mel. He has been there for you. And you do this? Right now, even when you know what we’re going through?"

Merlina looked down. "I didn’t mean for it to happen like this."

"No one ever does," Megan said flatly. "But unlike you, I can’t sit here and lie. I’m disappointed in you. Merlina. Deeply. I don’t even know who you are. But hey, if you feel good flaunting this new thing, with Craig. Go ahead."

Phoebe let out a bitter chuckle. "God, you really think you’re special, huh?"

Merlina blinked, stunned. "What?"

"You think you’re different," Phoebe said, rising from her bed now, slow and deliberate. "That what he had with Adriana was fake...and this—" she gestured vaguely, bitterly, "whatever it is between you two...is real?"

She let out a humorless laugh. "But news-flash, Merlina. You’re just...a phase. Nothing more."

Merlina’s eyes dropped to the floor.

"He’s going to do to you exactly what he did to her." Phoebe took a step closer. Her voice dropped, sharper now, more cruel. "From Adriana...to Merlina...and next?" She paused. "Maybe a Sabrina."

The name echoed in the quiet.

Merlina stiffened, with her lips parted. She stood frozen, bathrobe cinched tight around her body, a single drop of water sliding down her neck from her damp hair.

Ashamed.

That was the word for it.

Because somewhere, deep down beneath her anger, her confusion, and the mess she couldn’t untangle, Phoebe’s words stung. Not because they were entirely true...but because a part of her feared they could be.

Merlina swallowed hard, her voice barely a whisper now. "You don’t have to say these things to me. I messed up and I know. I should’ve said something, but I was scared. I just...I didn’t want to lose you."

"Well," Megan said, voice like glass, "maybe you already have."