Page 40 of A University of Betrayal

“Why on earth...”

“I have absolutely no idea, but read the letter first. Maybe you’ll understand it better than I do.”

Julian opened the letter and read. His gaze remained unchanged until he read the last line aloud. “Thinking of you...Alarik?”He looked at me with widened eyes. “Wait, are we talking abouttheAlarik Copeland here?”

“Do you know another one?” I teased him.

His expression didn’t change. I could see that he had at least as many questions as I did. He didn’t say anything but kept reading the letter, so I simply spoke the question that was burning on my tongue.

“Do you think she was his student?”

Julian’s head went up. My theory seemed to be bothering him too... and something else.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, it’s just... weird.” Julian looked thoughtfully at the piece of paper in his hands, and I noticed a lot of little scratches on them. Oddly, many that could never have been made while gardening. “I’ve known him for so long. He used to be friends with my father and is the director of the university. It makes no sense. He would never date a student…”

He took a closer look at the letter. “1997... that was twenty years ago. If I’m not mistaken, he was just about the same age as we are now.”

“That’s when my mother was studying here,” I interjected thoughtfully.

“Alice,”Julian whispered thoughtfully. “Where did you find the letter again?”

“In Mum’s... book room.”

“You guys have a book room?”

I raised my hands defensively. “Don’t look so surprised at me. I didn’t know my mother was such a book nerd myself.”

“It seems to run in the family,” he laughed, easing the tension that the letter had created in our minds.

“Back when I was little, Alarik used to let me into his apartment at the Copeland estate. There were so many books there,God.I wonder when he read them all,” he continued, a smile spreading across his lips.

Julian’s description made me a little envious. Oh, how much I would love to see these rooms. But the thought that the name Alice could be a pseudonym for my mother kept growing in my mind. Because if that were the case...

“Do you think they had a secret relationship?” I asked Julian, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

My thoughts drifted further and further away.Alarik Copeland and my mother...

“Anyway, that would explain why he wanted it to stay a secret, and then the wrong name, too.” He looked at me again. “Maybe he wanted to protect her?”

It confused me to be faced with so many pieces of the puzzle at once. Mum clearly had too many secrets, but something didn’t fit here at all. She wasn’t the type for risky things like this, or was I wrong? Maybe Mum had been someone completely different back then. After all, she had read a lot, unlike now. Would I have recognized her if we had met on campus?

Also, Mum’s eyes were a grayish blue. And I would be surprised if Alarik was color-blind. Or maybe he was just a typical man when it came to colors?

“Were there any more letters?” Julian’s question only led to more questions in my already overwhelmed head.

“I honestly don’t know,” I confessed and looked up, straight into his eyes. “Do you think there could be more?”

“Quite possibly,” Julian replied.

“But this letter alone seems to be a breach of the rules. Why would my mother...” I sighed. “She doesn’t normally break rules. I don’t understand.”

“Our parents were young once, too,” Julian said, as if that was justification for my mother’s behavior. “But you’re right, something rings a bell. Maybe the fact that Alarik is the son of the former Alpha and should never have written such a letter, especially not to a Quatura. Besides, he was very good friends with my father.”

“What are you trying to say?” I asked in confusion.

Was he implying that his dad and my mum used to...

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