A full week slipped by after everything that happened, and to Harry’s surprise, life finally felt like it was settling into place. The chaos from Marcus’s outburst had faded, replaced by a quiet sense of victory that followed Harry everywhere he went. The last real update he heard about Marcus was the headline circulating around campus, Marcus Winters had been expelled from Crestview University.Harry hadn’t believed it at first, but the news spread so fast that it was impossible for even Marcus’s powerful father to smother it. The videos of Marcus attacking Harry had gone viral, popping up on every major social platform. Once the school board saw how public the situation had become, they had no choice but to take action. Even if they had wanted to bury it, they couldn’t, not this time.For Harry, it felt like justice served. He was going to graduate, and Marcus wouldn’t. Simple as that. In Harry’s eyes, that alone was a win.Outside of that drama, Harry kept pushing forward with his

Harry figured it was finally time to treat himself a little more. Too many good things were happening in his life, and he felt the best way to enjoy it all was to actually spend some money on himself. He’d earned this lifestyle. So he swapped out his old phone for a new one and decided to overhaul his wardrobe too. Since he didn’t have a set style, he picked out all kinds of outfits, casual, classy, sporty, anything he felt suited him. And he made sure to shop alone this time. Keeping his distance from Mila was now a permanent choice, not something he planned to reconsider. If he was going to live like a wealthy man, he might as well look the part. People treated you differently once they sensed you came from money, and Harry intended to take full advantage of that strange reality. He had more than four hundred million. What was the point of having it if he couldn’t enjoy a bit of it? So he grabbed the latest gaming console too. He could indulge his inner child simply because he

Harry scanned the dimly lit street for the closest place to get off the humid night air, his shirt already clinging to his back like a second skin. The glowing sign of the Grand Mirage Hotel loomed ahead, its gold lettering and marble entrance screaming luxury he rarely bothered with. The price tag on the room made him wince when he handed over his card, but the relief of air-conditioning and a proper bed for Carmen outweighed the sting. He was glad he'd chosen it; anything less would have felt wrong tonight.He guided her up the elevator and down the plush carpeted hallway, one arm steadying her waist while she giggled about nothing in particular. Inside the suite he flicked on the soft bedside lamps, the golden light spilling over crisp white linens. Carmen swayed, definitely tipsy, but her eyes were clear enough that she knew exactly where she was and who she was with. She flopped backward onto the king-sized bed with an exaggerated sigh, shoes still dangling from her toes. Harry k

Harry stepped into the bathroom and yanked the plastic shower curtain back into place with more force than necessary. The hot water hit his shoulders like a punishment, steam rising in thick clouds around him. He had only nursed two or three drinks all night, nothing that should have turned him into this. Yet his body was on fire, blood pounding south with an insistence that felt almost chemical. He had skimmed those online reviews weeks ago, the ones that joked about the bar’s “special” house cocktails, the ones that promised heightened everything if you were lucky (or unlucky) enough to be sensitive to the mix. He had laughed them off at the time. Tonight wasn’t funny anymore.The ache between his legs was relentless, a steel bar that refused to soften no matter how many times he told himself to calm down. Alcohol could loosen inhibitions, sure, but this felt engineered, like someone had slipped a triple dose of something illegal into both their glasses. Harry braced one palm agains

Harry stood in the cooling bathroom, water dripping from his hair onto the marble floor, staring at the empty space Carmen had occupied seconds ago. Shock rippled through him, but it wasn’t the violent, soul-shaking kind; more like the dull thud of inevitability finally landing. He had known, somewhere in the back of his mind, that the moment the haze lifted she would run. Married women always did, sooner or later. Tonight had simply been sooner.He didn’t feel guilty about her husband. That man was a stranger, owed nothing. The only person Harry had almost betrayed was himself, and even then he’d managed to stop short of the final line. Mouths and breasts and spilled milk were bad, yes, but they weren’t the same as burying himself inside her and erasing every trace of the life she had waiting at home. He could still look in the mirror tomorrow.A quick glance at his phone confirmed what he already suspected: Carmen’s number was dead. Blocked. Gone. The system in his head that tracked