The next morning the doors of the Aethelgard University vice chancellor's office swung open, and Chloe walked in, flanked by her wealthy, influential parents who contributed millions to the institution's endowment fund.Vice Chancellor Henderson looked up from his polished oak desk, his expression instantly shifting from annoyance to nervous deference as he recognized one of his most powerful board donors."Mr. and Mrs. Matthews," Henderson said quickly, rising from his chair and adjusting his tie. "I wasn't informed you were visiting campus today. Please, sit down. What can I do for you?"Mrs. Matthews crossed her arms, her face hardened with righteous fury as she stepped right up to the edge of the desk. "We didn't come here for a social visit, Henderson. Our daughter came to us this morning in absolute tears, shaking and terrified for her life.""Terrified?" Henderson echoed, blinking in alarm as he glanced at Chloe, who stood behind her parents with her head bowed, dabbing a tissu

Inside the quiet sanctuary of Ethan's off-campus apartment, the heavy curtains remained drawn tightly against the afternoon sunlight.Ethan sat on the edge of the living room sofa, staring blankly down at his phone resting on the coffee table as it buzzed continuously with incoming notification alerts.Cynthia paced slowly across the carpet, her arms crossed over her chest, her face pale and etched with deep lines of exhaustion. She glanced at him, noting the visible tension in his shoulders and the heavy frown pulling at his lips. They had been like this kow for hours and she was tired of the suffocating worry. She walked over, reached down, and picked up his phone, switching it off completely before doing the same to her own."Let those be off," Cynthia said softly, tossing both phones onto the far end of the sofa. "Come on. Let's try and clear our minds and hope this blows over by tomorrow."Ethan looked up at her, a dry, frustrated scoff escaping his lips. "Blows over? Cynthia, lo

The boardroom of Campbell Global headquarters was filled with triumphant energy.Arthur Campbell stood at the head of the conference table, looking out over the city view while wearing a victorious smile. Behind him, Simon sat with his legs crossed, tapping away on his laptop as live market feeds flashed across Arthur's wall monitors."Look at the numbers, Arthur," Simon said, a cold, satisfied grin spreading across his face. "HVMX Holdings has officially dropped another twelve percent since the stock market opened. Total crash for the morning is sitting right at forty-two percent."Arthur turned around, his weathered face tightening into a happy joyful smile. "And HVMX? Are they making any moves? Has their legal team filed an injunction or tried to deploy corporate reserves to stop the crashing?""Nothing," Simon replied, turning his laptop screen slightly to show the tracking logs. "Their corporate accounts are entirely dormant. No emergency buybacks, no defensive share purchases. T

Across the country, trading sessions halted across major stock exchanges, ending the emergency pause on HVMX Holdings. But instead of the final crash Arthur Campbell had banked on, the stock market was met with an immediate, overwhelming wave of buyers.Richard stared at his primary multi-monitor display, as the fingers of the head of his team worked across the keyboard as streams of green numbers rushed up the screens in long, glowing columns."Sir, the stock market just opened for trading," the head of the team announced, his voice light with excitement as he pointed to the top graph. "The public just saw the government report and the unedited video evidence proving you were completely set up. Everyone's opinion flipped in less than sixty seconds."Cynthia leaned over the back of the sofa, staring at the climbing green numbers on the TV screen. "What's happening to the stock price? It's moving so fast the ticker at the bottom can barely keep up.""That's because every investment fir

It had been a few days after the whole saga with HVMX Holdings and Campbell Global finally ended. Cynthia and Ethan were finally able to go out in public without people verbally attacking them, stopping them in the streets, or making it entirely uncomfortable for them to be seen. But despite the financial warfare being over, people on campus still had their heavy doubts about him. Students avoided Ethan like a plague, and almost everyone firmly believed that Ethan had only escaped the serious harassment charges because HVMX had hired a team of powerful, high-priced lawyers to cover everything up for him.To the student body, Ethan Vance was still a stalker, an abusive ex, and a privileged kid who bought his way out of trouble.Ethan had done his best not to let it get to him. He tried to keep living his daily life, brushing off the cold stares, the hushed rumors, and the awkward silences that followed him down every hallway. He told himself it didn't matter. He told Cynthia he could h