Confrontation

Ava's heart sank as she stared at Lily, who was standing in the middle of her ransacked room. Her first thought was that Lily was the one who had done this, but as she looked closer, she noticed a look of confusion and shock on Lily's face.

"What happened here?" Lily asked, her voice trembling.

Ava took a deep breath, trying to steady her own nerves. "I don't know. I just came back from the library and found my room like this."

Lily nodded, still looking shaken. "I was on my way back from the courtyard when I saw the door open. I thought you might be in trouble, so I came in to check."

Ava felt a wave of relief wash over her. She didn't want to believe that Lily could betray her like this, but the events of the past few days had made her paranoid.

"Thanks, Lily," she said, grateful for her friend's concern. "I don't know who could have done this."

Lily looked around the room, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "It looks like someone was searching for something. Do you have anything valuable that someone might be after?"

Ava shook her head. "Not really. Just some old books and a few trinkets."

Lily frowned, her mind racing. "What about the book that you were reading in the library? The one about your family?"

Ava's heart skipped a beat. She had left the book on her desk before she went to the library, and it was nowhere to be seen now.

"I had it with me earlier, but I must have left it here," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Do you think someone could have taken it?"

Lily nodded, her expression grim. "It's possible. If someone knows about your family's past, they might have come here looking for that book."

Ava felt a sense of dread wash over her. She had a feeling that Jaxon might be involved, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions without more evidence.

"We need to find out who did this," she said, determined. "I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."

Lily nodded in agreement. "We'll start investigating tomorrow. But for now, we need to clean up this mess and make sure that nothing else is missing."

As they began to sort through the wreckage, Ava's mind raced with possibilities. Who could be after her family's secrets? And what did they want with her? She knew that she was in danger, but she also knew that she had Lily by her side, and together, they could face anything.