All Chapters of The Return of the Campus Trillionaire: Chapter 181
- Chapter 190
224 chapters
CHAPTER 181
The campus felt different now.Not in the loud, whispering way it had after the exam. That frenzy had already peaked and stabilized into something quieter. More dangerous.Observation.As Jared crossed the main quad of Los Angeles University, conversations didn’t stop—they thinned. Heads didn’t snap toward him—they tilted slightly. Curiosity mixed with calculation.Cheater or framed?No one knew, and that was the problem.He kept walking. He had Five days, well four now, technically.He had spent most of the night reconstructing every second of the exam in his head. Every movement. Every shift in posture. Every time he leaned down to retrieve his pen. Nothing felt out of place.Which meant this wasn’t spontaneous.It was engineered.The next day, he headed to theAdministrative Office – Records Division, first. The woman at the counter barely looked up. “Name?”“Jared.”Her fingers paused on the keyboard.Recognition.“Oh.”He ignored it. “I need access to the seating randomization lo
CHAPTER 182
Jared didn’t sleep much.Not because he was panicking, but because patterns were forming.Seating generated at 2:14 a.m.Modified at 2:16 a.m.Maintenance present before student entry.Desk showing signs of prior tape removal.None of it was random and by morning, he had a direction.If someone had prepared his desk in advance, they needed access to the hall before exam entry—and they needed a reason to be there.Which meant maintenance logs, so he headed for the Facilities Office that morning. The facilities coordinator was an older man with a permanent frown and a deep suspicion of students asking procedural questions.“You’re part of that cheating investigation, aren’t you?” he asked bluntly.“Yes,” Jared replied evenly. “Which is exactly why I need yesterday’s maintenance schedule for the examination hall.”The man grunted and turned to his desktop.“Hall 3B,” he muttered. “Post-exam cleaning at 6:30 p.m. That’s standard.”“Anything before 8:30 a.m.?”“No.”“Any unscheduled acces
CHAPTER 183
Rumors had evolved in a way Jared hadn’t expected. On the first day after the accusation, he had been the arrogant genius who finally slipped. On the second, he became the calculating heir trying to bend the system in his favor again. But by the third day, something more dangerous began circulating through lecture halls and dorm corridors—what if he had been framed? That single question unsettled the campus more than the accusation itself. If Jared was framed, then someone powerful had manipulated the university’s process, and that possibility frightened people far more than the idea of a student cheating.Jared decided not to wait for another summons. He walked straight into the administrative wing and toward the office of Director Hill without requesting an appointment. The secretary barely had time to object before the door opened. Hill stood by the window with his hands clasped behind his back, composed as ever. “Mr. Jared,” he said smoothly, as if they were meeting over tea ins
CHAPTER 184
By the fourth day, the cheating accusation was no longer just an academic issue—it had become political. Students weren’t merely whispering about Jared’s innocence; they were watching how the administration moved. Every decision now felt like a signal. Every silence felt deliberate.Jared understood something clearly that morning: proving the desk was planted and the script tampered with would expose method but not motive. And without motive, the hearing panel could still claim procedural ambiguity. He needed to show why this had been done.And that led him to one person.Jonah.The self-proclaimed Diamond heir had risen too quickly, too conveniently, and too confidently. Since his arrival, Director Hill had practically shadowed him, defending him publicly, elevating him socially, and speaking of him with calculated reverence. If Jared fell, Jonah would stand uncontested as the most powerful student on campus.Jared decided to pay him a visit.Jonah’s new circle had grown absurdly fas
CHAPTER 185
The hearing room was too polished for what it was meant to decide. Mahogany table. Neutral walls. A row of faculty members seated in quiet authority. What should have been a discussion of academic integrity felt more like a trial designed to confirm a verdict already drafted.Jared entered without hesitation.Students had gathered outside the administrative building, pretending not to care while caring deeply. Rumors had reached their peak. Some expected humiliation. Others expected spectacle. A few expected collapse.Inside the room sat the disciplinary panel—three senior professors, a compliance officer, and at the head of the table, Director Hill, composed as ever.To one side sat Professor Dale, looking strained. Near the back stood the suited consultant Jared had seen the previous evening. Jonah was present too, officially as a “student observer,” unofficially as something else entirely.Hill began smoothly. “This hearing concerns allegations of academic misconduct during the fin
CHAPTER 186
For the first time in days, Jared woke without the weight of accusations pressing against his chest. The sun spilled softly through his window, scattering across the floor in golden streaks, and for a moment, he just lay there, letting the quiet settle around him. The city beyond the glass hummed with its usual rhythm, indifferent, ordinary, a stark contrast to the chaos of the hearing and the corridors of suspicion that had consumed his life.He rose slowly, savoring the feeling of an unhurried morning. There was no urgency, no clandestine meetings to attend, no worried glances from friends or foes. Just the calm. Coffee tasted better when he poured it with no eyes watching, and the steam curling in the morning air seemed almost ceremonial. He sipped it slowly, letting the warmth anchor him in the simple pleasure of being awake and unpressured.By mid-morning, the campus had its usual quiet buzz. Students passed by, heads buried in books, earbuds muffling the world, completely unawar
CHAPTER 187
The morning sun filtered through the blinds, casting stripes across Jared’s desk. He sat with a cup of coffee, absentmindedly scrolling through emails, but something felt… different. Not dangerous, not urgent, just… shifted. The quiet of the previous day lingered, yet there was a subtle tension in the air that he couldn’t place immediately.It didn’t take long for him to notice it. Becky had started responding slower. Messages that used to carry an immediate reply now sat unread for hours. When she passed him in the hallway, her eyes met his briefly, polite but distant, and she moved on without lingering, without a word. Jared frowned.He caught her later in the library. She was focused on a thick stack of notes, pencil moving furiously across the page. He hesitated at the edge of her table.“Hey,” he said softly.She looked up, gave a faint, almost obligatory smile, and returned to her work. “Hey,” she replied, tone polite but cool.He settled into the chair across from her, trying t
CHAPTER 188
The campus buzzed with activity as Jared walked past the quad, sunlight bouncing off the newly painted benches and banners fluttering in the gentle breeze. Clubs were holding sign-ups, a small farmers’ market was set up near the fountain, and laughter echoed from the basketball courts. For the first time in weeks, Jared didn’t feel the weight of accusation pressing on him. The world was ordinary, and ordinary felt like freedom.He paused at a table decorated with colorful flyers and balloons. The Drama Society was recruiting new members for an upcoming play. A cheerful sophomore waved him over. “Hey! Ever thought about acting?”Jared raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Me? On stage?”“Absolutely! We need someone with presence,” she said, laughing. “Come try a quick improv exercise!”Before he could decline, she snapped her fingers, and suddenly Jared found himself in the middle of a circle, joining a mix of nervous freshmen and eager upperclassmen. They called out scenarios—“You’re a chef d
CHAPTER 189
The morning started ordinary enough. Jared brewed coffee in his apartment kitchen, the steam curling lazily around his face, and scanned the news feed. Campus headlines shouted about spring events, club activities, and a minor scandal in the debate team. Nothing about him. Nothing about last week. For the first time in days, he could breathe without thinking in terms of strategy, defense, or accusation.He lingered over the first sip, savoring the warmth and the quiet hum of life outside his window. Shelly wasn’t around yet—she had classes to attend—but he felt content simply watching the world stir awake. His phone buzzed with a casual group chat notification, students sharing memes and reminders about club meetings. He smiled at a cat video someone had sent. Life, for the moment, was normal.By mid-morning, Jared wandered the campus again, this time heading toward the library. It was quieter than the quad, filled with students lost in books and laptops. He found an empty study nook
CHAPTER 190
Jared strode through the campus, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. He spotted Shelly sitting under a tree, sketchbook balanced on her knees, completely absorbed in her drawing. Without hesitation, he walked over, crouching beside her.“Hey,” he said softly.Shelly looked up, startled. “Jared! You scared me.” She laughed, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. “What are you doing here?”“Watching the master at work,” he replied with a grin. “But I have a better idea. How about we grab lunch? My treat. Spontaneous adventure. No deadlines, no exams, no campus chaos.”Shelly raised an eyebrow, amused. “Spontaneous, huh? Should I be worried you’ve planned some elaborate plot?”“Only if it involves dessert,” Jared said, standing and offering her his hand.She chuckled, taking it. “Fine. Lead the way, mysterious stranger.”They walked to a small café near the quad, the path lined with trees just beginning to bloom. Jared kept glancing at her, watching her eyes light up as they talked.