Page 1 of Ice-Cold Obsession

Chapter 1

SCARLETT

I PUSH THE DOOR TOmy new dorm room open and let out a breath. No one else is here. The space only belongs to me, and that’s exactly what I need.

It took some cash and a carefully worded email to make it happen. I framed it as needing privacy for personal reasons, and the housing coordinator didn’t mind. Mistakes happen all the time in student housing, and, apparently, I’m one of them.

I drop my bags and move straight to the closet. The lockbox comes out of my backpack first, and I set it on the floor before crouching down to open it.

The photo of my sister is on top. Carla stares back at me, frozen in a moment I can barely remember now. Her smile is wide and genuine, like it was before Gabriel Santelli destroyed her.

I run my fingers over her face and lean closer to the image. “I’m going to make him pay,” I whisper. “I promise.”

My throat tightens, but I don’t let myself cry. Crying won’t bring her back. It won’t undo the night she jumped into the ocean from a cliff. When they found her body later, everyone called it suicide because that’s what it looked like.

But I know better. I know who pushed her to do it.

I pull out the stack of papers underneath the photo. Everything I’ve gathered about Gabriel over the past year lives in these pages. I’ve studied him like an enemy in war, and I know exactly how to get close to him.

His picture is in the center of the first sheet. He has dark hair and blue eyes that probably make every girl on campus forget how to think straight. He’s objectively attractive, and I hate that I can see why Carla fell for him. But looks don’t mean anything when the person behind them is a monster.

I tape the photo to the inside of the closet door and start pinning up my notes around it. Everything I need to know about Gabriel’s life is here, organized and ready. His class schedule because he’s predictable. The rink times because hockey owns his life. The bars and parties his teammates frequent because he’s always surrounded by people who worship him.

Under all the notes, I find the printed texts. Screenshots from Carla’s phone that I salvaged before anyone else could see them. The messages are cryptic but suggestive, hinting at something between her and Gabriel. A secret relationship. I’m sure of it, even though he’s never publicly acknowledged dating her.

Meet me after midnightwith a location pin dropped somewhere off campus.I can’t stop thinking about itfollowed by Carla’s response,Me too.Another one from Gabriel:You know we have to be carefuland Carla writing backI know.

But the pattern is clear. Gabriel would send a message, Carla would respond immediately, and then there’d be silence. Days of nothing. And then another cryptic text from him, pulling her back in.

I pin those up too and step back to look at the display. This is my war board and my reminder of why I’m here.

Gabriel thinks he got away with what he did to Carla. He goes around campus like some kind of god because he’s the hockey team captain and everyone loves him. But I’m going to tear that all down. His team, his reputation, and everything he cares about.

The plan is simple. I’ll get close to him by becoming exactly what Carla was before he broke her. Sweet, innocent, and trusting. It won’t be easy because I’m none of those things, but I’ll do it for her.

I’ve spent months preparing and watching Gabriel from a distance through social media and campus gossip sites. I know his type. He dates girls who are easy and uncomplicated. Girls who don’t ask for too much or expect him to be anything more than the golden boy everyone thinks he is. He uses them and discards them, and no one ever calls him out because he’s Gabriel fucking Santelli.

But Carla was different. She wasn’t easy or uncomplicated. She was shy and thoughtful, and she believed in people. She believed in him, and that belief destroyed her.

I close the lockbox and shove it to the back of the closet behind my shoes. The door clicks shut, hiding my research from view. To anyone else, this room looks normal. It’s clean, quiet, and belonging to a girl who just wants to move on.

My phone buzzes on the desk. It’s my mom.

How’s the room? Did you get settled okay?

I type back quickly.Yeah, it’s good. No roommate, so I have the whole place to myself.

Her response comes through almost immediately.That’s wonderful, sweetheart. I’m so glad you’re doing this. Carla would be proud of you.

My jaw tightens. Carla wouldn’t be proud. She’d probably beg me to stop, let it go, and move on with my life. But Carla’s not here anymore, and I can’t let it go. Not when Gabriel gets to live his perfect life while she’s dead.

I don’t respond to Mom. Instead, I scroll through Gabriel’s social media profile. He recently posted a photo of him and his teammates in someone’s backyard, drinks in their hands and grins plastered on their faces. The caption saysReady for tonight,with a fire emoji.

There’s a party. Of course there is. Hockey players don’t miss opportunities to get drunk and celebrate themselves.

I screenshot the post and zoom in on Gabriel’s face. He looks relaxed and happy, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world and didn’t drive my sister to kill herself.

My stomach twists, but I force myself to keep looking. I need to memorize every detail. The way he smiles, the way he stands, and the people he surrounds himself with. If I’m going to infiltrate his life, I need to know how to blend in.