Eyes trailed him the entire walk down the hall. Whispers followed close behind — how had he actually won King of Campus? Who had even voted for him?Daniel didn't let it settle on him. His mind was already somewhere else, turned toward the evening ahead and the one job he couldn't afford to fail: win that auction, no matter the cost.His thoughts scattered the moment he spotted Rachel.She stood with her usual circle of friends, laughing easily at something one of them had said. But the moment her eyes landed on him, the laughter died on her face. She looked at him the way someone looks at a stranger wearing a familiar face — like she couldn't quite make the two versions of him line up in her head.Daniel felt a small, unwelcome twist in his chest. He pushed past it. Whatever they'd had was finished. If she wanted to stand there looking confused about the man she'd walked away from, that was her problem now, not his.He started to move past her when her voice caught him off guard."Da

The following Monday, school reopened and lectures carried on as if nothing had changed. No one knew that Daniel now owned buildings worth two billion dollars, or that he was managing a redevelopment project that would reshape an entire section of the city.All anyone on campus seemed to care about was simpler, smaller: how had the school's unclaimed dog risen overnight to become King?"Good morning, Daniel!" a girl chirped as she passed, flashing a smile that would've been unthinkable two weeks ago."Sup, Dan," a guy he didn't recognize said, clapping him on the shoulder like they'd been friends for years."Hi," Daniel managed, the word coming out stiffer than he meant it to.After an entire year of being hated, avoided, ostracized by nearly everyone in these halls, the sudden warmth felt more disorienting than waking up a trillionaire. If anything, he found himself almost missing the silence — at least back then, he hadn't needed to smile at strangers who'd never once bothered to le

"Robert, I understand you're thrilled to have your son back," Grace said, settling further into her chair, "but don't you think you're moving a little fast? The boy clearly isn't ready for something like this." Daniel caught himself before his surprise could show any further and cleared his throat, forcing his shoulders to relax. "I gladly accept, Dad." He kept his voice steady. "I'll admit the timing caught me off guard, but I want to be clear — that has nothing to do with my competency." He let his gaze settle on Grace as he said it. In truth, he was quietly unraveling. He had six months left before graduation, and stepping into a company this size felt less like a step and more like a cliff edge. Worse — it meant stepping into public view as the long-lost son of the Raines family, and he wasn't remotely ready to have that many eyes on him at once. But he'd already learned, in just these few short weeks, that the fastest way to hand someone a weapon was to let them see you flinch.