Outside, the professor made the call. Second ring, Jace picked up.“Hey…if you’re still in school, swing by my office. We need to chat.”“About my fucking score?” Jace asked, voice sharp.“Yeah…that too.”A few minutes later, Jace strolled into the office. Two bottles of soda in his hand. No hesitation. No give-a-fuck attitude. He set them on the table and plopped down opposite the professor.“That’s…thoughtful of you, bringing me something chill to drink,” the professor said, stretching a hand toward a bottle with a forced smile.“I didn’t buy any for you though,” Jace said flatly, not even flicking an eye toward him.The professor froze for a second, then awkwardly reached for the soda.“Unless…you’re paying for one,” Jace added, fake calmness. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to take it.”“Come on, Jace,” the professor said, grabbing one anyway, still smiling like he thought he was playing along.“The past five months of my life taught me something real,” Jace said suddenly.

8:30. H. Jay’s bar.Every bastard on the basketball team was already inside, drinks lined up like a goddamn mountain. High-priced, absurd, flashy as hell.The plan? Simple. Make Jace choke. Make him pay. Make him know his mouth is bigger than his wallet.Every order they dropped on the table was another trap. Every smirk aimed at him a countdown. Their goal: Jace shouldn’t leave the bar without debt tattooed across his face.A few other rich-ass idiots had come too, thinking this was their moment to flex. Risk-takers, counting on virality to refund their stupidity.“More drinks! Come on!” some asshole from the basketball team yelled, waving at a waiter.The Livestreamer whispered into her phone, wide-eyed. “Guys…they’ve spent over a million dollars in ten minutes already!”“Jace is going to go broke at this rate!”“Where the hell is he?”“Is he scared now?”“Twenty minutes past the time and he still isn’t here!”“Jace is such a loser!”“Maybe…he can’t even pay?”The bar buzzed, phones

Jace had turned his phone off completely.Too many strange numbers blowing it up.Too many hate messages from Maya’s die‑hard fans.Too many deranged lovers obsessing over him, asking him out like he’d suddenly signed some invisible contract to date every fucking girl on earth.Calls from Maya’s parents too. One after another. All of them asking for “a chat.”A chat about what, exactly?What the fuck did they expect him to say?His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. Not the dramatic kind—the real kind. The kind that burns.He was done. Finished. Drained to the bone.Maybe he should disappear.Go on some long vacation.Hell—vanish for a few years.Because this shit? This pressure?Nobody warns you about what it costs to stay one step ahead of people who want you dead, ruined, or owned.He stepped out of the elevator, dragging his feet down the hallway like gravity had doubled overnight.All he wanted was sleep. Endless sleep.And Trevon—Fuck.He hadn’t even been able to call him.

Jace was supposed to fucking sleep. At least that was the bare minimum he expected from his own fucked-up self. But like hell, he could get over the fact that Maya could have planted cameras here.She filmed his life for five fucking months—and he didn’t even know. How the hell did he not notice? How did he not see it coming? There could have been a hidden camera anywhere. Anywhere. And he had walked right into it like a blind idiot.His brain, desperate for some goddamned reasoning, snapped back to something he told her weeks ago: “Maya, when I graduate from college, I want a good-paying job. You don’t have to work if you don’t want. But… I want to come home every night to you and our kid, just chill. Maybe watch the news. Some cool, realizing evening.”Damn. And she had laughed and said she was in on whatever future he was dreaming up for them. And he—he had grinned like some insane motherfucker, thinking it was all perfect.And now…he was so fucking lost.He was losing his mind. H

Maya’s phone rang. Fear shot through her as she saw who it was. Her mother. “Maya, dear.” “Good morning, Mom,” she answered, tension lacing every word. “We’re going to cancel the lawsuit and ask for negotiations instead.” “Mom…” Maya’s voice choked on her tears. “Thank you. I love you so much.” “Don’t worry, Maya. Just make sure something like this never happens again. We’ll handle the founder of that company claiming to be related to Jace.” “What company is that?” “Maya, that’s not something you should stress over. You should be worried about surviving if we weren’t here. If we’d died two months ago, could you have survived this lawsuit? Coming from a poor Detroit guy two years younger than you?” Maya swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Mom.” “If you do something, do it well… or don’t do it at all.” “Okay, Mom.” “Don’t misplace the freedom we’ve given you. You were born to control the world. Remember—you are the most beautiful person in the universe. Everything else, we’ll handle.