The next day, Ethan and Cynthia sat at their favorite corner table in the quiet café near campus. Two steaming cups of coffee sat between them alongside open textbooks and laptops, the gentle hum of soft background music filling the room.Cynthia’s phone vibrated against the wooden table. She picked it up, her eyes scanning the screen before widening in surprise."What?" she muttered, blinking at the display. "This is new."Ethan didn't look up immediately from his textbook, tapping his pen lightly against the page. "What's that?"Cynthia looked across the table at him, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you know? You're the CEO."Ethan let out a soft laugh, setting his pen down and looking at her with a calm smile. "Just because I'm the CEO doesn't mean I know every single thing that goes on in my company. That's why I hire people."Cynthia smiled, the tension in her shoulders melting away. "Fair point. Well, HVMX just sent over a new proposition. They have a new strategy to boost my fol

The roaring noise inside the Aethelgard arena was deafening as the referee blew his whistle to start the first half.On the court, Vanguard State immediately set a strong, physical defense. Luis brought the ball up the floor, bouncing it lazily while looking around the stands to see if people were watching him."Pass the ball, Luis! Set up the offense!" Coach martin shouted from the sideline, cupping his hands around his mouth."I got this, Coach!" Luis called back arrogantly.Instead of passing to an open player, Luis attempted a risky dribble past two giant defenders. The ball was instantly slapped out of his hands, launching a fast break for Vanguard State that ended in a clean slam dunk.Vanguard State 2, Aethelgard 0.Ethan sat on the bench in his warm-up jacket, his posture completely relaxed. His sharp eyes calmly tracked every single movement on the court, calculating the exact timing and distance of Vanguard's defensive switches.Next to him, Toby bounced his knees nervously.

Luis Campbell leaned casually against the cold concrete wall, his unzipped designer warmup jacket hanging loosely off his broad shoulders while his face wore a smug, venomous sneer. He looked down at Ethan with pure, unadulterated contempt."Where do you think you're going, Vance?" Luis asked, his voice dripping with condescension and bitter mockery. "You think because you hit a couple of lucky shots during drills and took some cute photos with Cynthia that you own this place now? You think you run this campus?"Ethan didn't flinch or blink. He simply stood right in the center of the narrow hallway, holding his sports bag casually over his right shoulder. He knew they were planning on beating him up yet He looked at the four of them with a totally expressionless, calm face."Move out of the way, Luis," Ethan said smoothly, his voice flat and level.Luis let out a loud, mocking laugh that bounced sharply off the high concrete walls. "Listen to him, boys! The little idiot thinks he can

Marcus kept Luis pinned tightly against the cold concrete wall, his massive fingers bunched in the fabric of Luis's designer warmup jacket. His whole body shook with raw, uncontrolled fury as Luis clawed frantically at his wrists, gasping for air.Dave stepped forward from the side, his hands raised in a calming gesture as he watched Marcus lose control. "Marcus, man, stop! Let him go! What the hell are you doing?"Tariq rushed in right beside Dave, grabbing Marcus's shoulder and pulling back. "Are you out of your fucking mind, Marcus?! Let Luis go! Luis is not the enemy here, Vance is! Look at what this trash is doing to us, he's trying to tear the team apart!"Marcus snapped his head around, his eyes bloodshot and blazing with pure venom. He shoved Luis harder against the wall before turning his fierce glare onto Dave and Tariq."Are you guys completely fucking crazy?!" Marcus roared, his voice echoing in the empty hallway with deafening volume. "Did you not just hear what I read on

Luis scrambled backward on the cold concrete floor, clutching his ribs where Dave had just landed a brutal kick. He pulled himself up by pressing his back against the wall, his face pale and slick with sweat. The raw humiliation and panic in his eyes suddenly changed into pure, venomous rage."Enough!" Luis screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking with hysterical fury as he pushed himself upright and staggered forward. "What the fuck is wrong with all of you?! Are you all out of your goddamn minds?!"Marcus, Tariq, and Dave stared at him in stunned silence."Look at you ungrateful pieces of trash!" Luis shouted, his chest heaving as he pointed a shaky finger at each of them in turn. "How dare you turn on me?! Do you have any idea who I am? Do you forget who brought you up?! Who made your pathetic, worthless lives actually mean something around here?!""Are YOU out of your fucking mind, Luis?" Dave spat, stepping forward with his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "You're