Chapter 42 – The Letter That Was Never Meant to Be Found
Nova woke up to find the manuscript… missing.
The final copy—the version she and Bea had poured themselves into, the one they had sent—was still in the inbox. But the real one, the one with the twist ending they hadn't dared to include, had vanished.
The one with the secret chapter.
The one with her confession.
Bea found her on the floor of their writing room, surrounded by torn paper and scattered candles.
Nova looked up. "Someone knows."
Bea knelt. "Knows what?"
Nova's voice cracked. "That I'm not just writing the story…"
She reached into the drawer and pulled out a copy of the original draft. A version no one else had seen—not even Bea.
At the end of it was a letter:
> To the reader who makes it this far,
You were never meant to know the truth. But here it is anyway.
I was the fire. I started it. The night everything burned—I wasn't running.
I was watching.
Nova
---
Bea froze. "Why would you write this?"
Nova closed her eyes. "Because if we're going to win… if we're going to make this real… the story has to bleed. Even if it bleeds with guilt."
Bea didn't respond. She only reached out, took Nova's hand in hers, and whispered:
"We're not changing the ending."
Nova looked at her, confused.
Bea's eyes shone. "We're adding a new one."