All Chapters of The Return of the Campus Trillionaire: Chapter 161
- Chapter 170
221 chapters
CHAPTER 161
By the time Shelly reached her room, her mind was racing. Her phone buzzed with a new message, and instinctively, she opened it.“He’s refusing to leave you alone. He says only you can call it off. I warned him. I did my part.”Matt.Her stomach twisted. She had known her brother could be overprotective, but reading the message made her blood boil. How dare he take it upon himself to decide for her? She grabbed her phone, fingers trembling with frustration, and marched toward the common area, determined to confront him immediately.Matt was sitting at the couch, arms crossed, his dark eyes glinting when he saw her approach. He didn’t look apologetic; if anything, he looked ready for an argument.“Matt,” Shelly said sharply, standing with hands on her hips. “We need to talk.”Matt leaned back, casual but inflexible. “Oh, we do, huh? I thought I made myself clear already. You’re too close to him. And if you care about yourself at all, you’ll back off.”Shelly’s eyes narrowed. “Back off?
CHAPTER 162
Jared realized he had been distant on a Tuesday afternoon, somewhere between signing off on a contract he hadn’t fully read and staring at his phone for the third time without sending a message.Shelly’s name sat at the top of his screen.Unread. Unanswered. Waiting.He leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. Becky was recovering. The hospital updates were stable. The crisis that had consumed his every thought for days had eased—but the damage left behind hadn’t.Shelly had been quiet.Not cold. Not angry. Just… quieter than usual. The kind of quiet that didn’t demand attention but lingered, heavy and patient, like a question waiting to be asked.And unanswered.Jared rubbed a hand over his face. He hadn’t meant to disappear on her. He hadn’t meant to make her feel secondary, invisible, or forgotten. Life had simply come at him all at once—Becky’s accident, company pressure, family expectations—and Shelly had been strong enough to give him space.Too strong.That realization sat wr
CHAPTER 163
Shelly set her fork down gently, the soft clink against the plate cutting through the low hum of the restaurant.“Jared,” she said quietly.He looked up at once. “Yeah?”She held his gaze, steady and unflinching. “Can we stop pretending?”That landed harder than anger ever could.Jared stilled, his hand pausing mid-motion as he reached for his glass. “Pretending about…?”Shelly exhaled slowly, her shoulders rising and falling as if she’d been carrying something heavy all evening. “About everything being fine. About small talk. About this being just dinner.” She gestured lightly between them. “There’s something you’ve been trying to say since we sat down. I can feel it.”He swallowed.“I’m tired of dancing around it,” she continued, her voice calm but honest. “So please—just say it.”For a moment, Jared said nothing.The restaurant seemed to fade—the clink of cutlery, the murmur of nearby conversations, the music in the background—all of it dulled as he leaned back slightly, running a
CHAPTER 164
Director Hill sat alone in his office long after the campus had begun to quiet.The sun had already dipped below the skyline, leaving Los Angeles University bathed in artificial light—lamp posts glowing outside his window, the distant murmur of students fading into echoes. From this height, the university looked orderly. Controlled. Exactly the way he liked it.And yet, order was an illusion.Hill loosened his tie and leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled as his eyes drifted to the framed certificates on the wall. Degrees. Commendations. Letters of recognition. Years of careful obedience, strategic alliances, and quiet maneuvering had placed him here—Director of one of the most prestigious universities in the state.It should have been enough.But it wasn’t.His jaw tightened as his thoughts, as they so often did these days, circled back to one name.Jared Stevens.No—Jared. Just Jared, as he had been then. A student. A nobody. A problem he had dismissed too easily.Hill could st
CHAPTER 165
Director Hill chose the timing carefully.Not during office hours. Not when the campus buzzed with eyes and speculation. He waited until evening, when the university settled into its quieter rhythm—when ambition spoke more freely and guards were lower.Jonah was exactly where Hill expected him to be.The private lounge reserved for donors and special guests overlooked the western side of campus, all glass walls and understated luxury. Jonah sat comfortably on one of the leather sofas, one arm draped over the backrest, a drink untouched on the table beside him. He looked relaxed. Confident. Like someone already accustomed to being accommodated.Hill paused briefly at the entrance, observing.Jonah laughed at something on his phone, then glanced up—and smiled when he saw Hill.“Director,” Jonah said smoothly. “I was wondering when you’d come find me.”Hill returned the smile, measured and professional. “I prefer to speak when there’s space to think. May I?”Jonah gestured to the seat ac
CHAPTER 166
The conference room on the third floor of the administrative building was rarely used unless something important—or inconvenient—needed to be decided.That alone put several of the professors on edge.Director Hill sat at the head of the table, hands folded neatly, posture relaxed. Around him were senior faculty members, department heads, and two representatives from the university’s external relations office. Coffee cups sat untouched. Laptops lay open, screens glowing faintly.The agenda projected on the screen behind Hill was short.University Representation – External Academic & Corporate EngagementsHill cleared his throat lightly. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. As you’re aware, the university has received invitations to participate in several high-profile engagements over the coming academic cycle. Conferences. Donor forums. Corporate-sponsored academic panels.”He paused, letting the weight of that settle.“These events require student representation,” he conti
CHAPTER 167
By morning, the decision had already slipped out of the administrative building and into the bloodstream of Los Angeles University.It didn’t arrive all at once.It arrived in pieces.A whisper in the hallway between morning lectures.A hurried text sent mid-class.A post that disappeared ten minutes after it went up.A laugh that carried just a little too far in the cafeteria.By noon, everyone knew.Jonah Diamond had been named the official student representative of LAU.And no one could agree on what that meant.It started outside the School of Business.A small group of students clustered near the steps, pretending to scroll through their phones while very obviously talking about the same thing.“That’s insane,” a girl said, shaking her head. “There were way more qualified students.”Her friend scoffed. “Qualified doesn’t matter when your last name weighs more than a GPA.”Another student leaned against the railing. “Come on. Let’s not act like we don’t know why this happened.”“B
CHAPTER 168
Shelly paced.Not back and forth—circles. Tight ones. The kind that meant she had too much to say and nowhere safe to put it.“They didn’t even vote,” she said, throwing her hands up. “They didn’t even pretend to make it fair. Hill just snapped his fingers and crowned him like we’re living in some medieval drama.”Jared didn’t look up.He sat at one of the outdoor study tables near the east garden, laptop open, papers neatly arranged, pen moving steadily across a page. His posture was relaxed, shoulders loose, expression unreadable.Shelly stopped pacing and stared at him.“Are you even listening to me?”“Yes,” Jared said calmly. He underlined a sentence, then added a note in the margin. “You said Hill’s decision was ridiculous, unfair, corrupt, short-sighted, and somehow insulting to every student who’s ever earned anything here.”Shelly blinked. “Okay—so you are listening.”“I am.”“Then why are you acting like this?” she demanded, gesturing at him. “Like none of this matters?”Jare
CHAPTER 169
The room smelled faintly of disinfectant and fresh flowers.Becky lay propped up against white pillows, one arm still bandaged, her hair pulled back loosely. The beeping of the monitor beside her was steady now—reassuring. Ordinary. The kind of sound that meant she was no longer in danger.A nurse had just left after giving her the update.You’ll be discharged today. Your family is on the way.Becky nodded, then hesitated. “Can you… let Jared know first?” she asked. “Before they come.”The nurse smiled gently. “Of course.”Now Becky waited.Her heart felt strangely light. Nervous, yes—but hopeful. She’d imagined this moment more than once over the last few days. Jared walking in, relief on his face, the tension easing between them. Maybe not everything fixed—but something softened.There was a knock at the door.Her lips curved instinctively. “Come in.”The door opened.And for a split second, the smile stayed.Then she saw them.Jared stepped inside first.And Shelly Adams walked in
CHAPTER 170
The car didn’t move.The engine was off. The streetlights outside the hospital cast long, pale reflections across the windshield, stretching and shrinking as other cars passed by. Inside, everything was still.Jared sat in the driver’s seat, hands resting loosely on the steering wheel, eyes fixed somewhere ahead—but not really seeing anything.Shelly sat beside him, seatbelt still unfastened.She waited.Normally, Jared would’ve said something by now. A comment. A question. Even a quiet “give me a second.” But he hadn’t.Minutes passed.He didn’t reach for the keys.He didn’t check his phone.He didn’t even sigh.And that unsettled her more than any outburst would have.Shelly turned slightly in her seat, studying him. His face was calm on the surface, but she knew him well enough now to see the cracks beneath it—the tension in his jaw, the stillness that meant he was holding too much inside.Earlier that day, students had been whispering his name like it was currency.Director Hill h