Devil Capital System

CHAPTER 16 — The Stage

“Dean Sterling, what a coincidence. I was actually just about to contact you about—”

“This isn’t a coincidence.”

Sarah Ellington stopped mid-sentence.

The woman slowly leaned back against her office chair, her voluptuous figure relaxing into the leather as she watched Wesley calmly pull out the chair in front of her desk and sit down without waiting for permission.

“You want to talk about Gavin Valerio.”

For a moment, Sarah simply stared at the dean. Then she glanced toward the monitor on her desk before slowly closing the financial report still displayed on the screen.

“…Yes.” Sarah replied. “That transfer triggered an internal review.”

Wesley gave a faint nod. “One million dollars.”

“Yes.”

Sarah slowly crossed her legs. “I assume…” she said carefully, though her tone carried an almost teasing undertone, “you already spoke to the student directly?”

“I did.”

“And?”

Wesley fell silent for a few seconds before finally answering.

“He didn’t negotiate.”

“He didn’t even want to know how much debt he actually owed.”

“And he didn’t care where the remaining money would be used.”

Sarah’s fingers tapped lightly against the desk surface.

“That’s a large amount for a student,” she murmured. “But not exactly unusual at Riverton.”

“That’s not the problem.” Wesley’s voice remained flat. “He transferred it without blinking.”

Sarah’s tapping slowly stopped. At the same time, Wesley narrowed his eyes slightly.

“When he walked into my office, he just looked irritated… then transferred one million dollars,” Wesley said. “Even though I only called him in because his attendance record was already catastrophic.”

This time, Sarah genuinely looked interested. Because no matter how she thought about it, if Gavin really wanted to settle his tuition debt, he should have gone directly to her office—not Wesley’s.

“Well…” Sarah murmured softly. “Now that’s starting to sound interesting.”

But just as Wesley was about to continue, Sarah frowned slightly as if she had suddenly remembered something.

“Wait.”

“Gavin Valerio…” she muttered slowly. “Isn’t he one of the foundation intake students?”

Wesley immediately understood what she meant.

“Yes. That’s exactly why I paid a little attention to him.”

Over the past few years, Riverton University had faced constant criticism for turning into a playground for wealthy families and old elite networks.

In response, the Aurelius Education Foundation began aggressively pushing scholarship admissions from poor districts while subsidizing tuition costs in order to preserve the university’s public image.

And Gavin was one of those students.

“Where do you think the money came from?” Sarah asked. “It’s strange for someone receiving subsidies to suddenly have that kind of money.”

“I thought about that too at first,” Wesley replied calmly.

“But?”

Wesley slowly crossed his legs.

“The foundation may have its own plans,” he said quietly, “but they aren’t the only ones who do.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes slightly.“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t mean anything.” Wesley casually shrugged. “But think about it.”

“What kind of poor person transfers one million dollars just because they’re irritated?”

That question instantly made the atmosphere inside the office heavier.

Because now the issue was no longer the money itself. It was Gavin Valerio.

Sarah remained silent for several seconds before finally speaking again.

“So what exactly did the student say?”

A faint smile appeared on Wesley’s face. “He told me to use the rest however necessary.”

Neither of them was stupid enough to misunderstand what that sentence implied.

Sarah slowly exhaled before standing from her chair and walking toward the massive glass wall overlooking the campus grounds.

The lights around Commons were beginning to turn on one by one below.

“One million dollars isn’t enough to impress me,” Sarah admitted honestly.

Then she glanced back at Wesley over her shoulder. “But if what you’re saying is true…” A faint smile curved across her lips. “Now I’m curious… what exactly are you planning to do?”

Wesley nodded slowly before leaning back into his chair.

“Not me,” he replied calmly. “Us.”

“Us?”

Once again, Wesley nodded. “We need to give him a stage.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow slightly. “A stage?”

“Yes.”

“Commons… South Block… North Tower…”

Wesley murmured calmly. “Haven’t those places always revealed who someone truly is?”

Sarah remained silent and listened.

“If Gavin Valerio is really just some poor kid from a small town who suddenly got lucky, then all of this will end very quickly.”

“But if he isn’t…” Wesley narrowed his eyes slightly. “Then I want to see how far he can actually go.”

A faint smile returned to Sarah’s lips. “And…” she said softly. “How high of a stage are we giving him?”

Wesley knew the next words out of his mouth were going to change something inside Riverton University.

“North Tower.”

Sarah’s expression immediately changed.

“You’re serious?”

As someone who had worked at Riverton University long enough, Sarah knew exactly what North Tower represented.

It wasn’t merely an elite dormitory. It was the most socially sensitive territory in the entire university.

A closed ecosystem where wealthy heirs, business successors, star athletes, campus influencers, and Riverton’s old family networks all gathered together.

And Wesley was about to throw a poor anomaly of a student directly into the center of it.

“I don’t think…” Wesley slowly leaned back into his chair, “there’s a single student in South Block capable of throwing away one million dollars without a second thought.”

Then he continued calmly. “So yes… we’re giving him access to North Tower.”

Sarah stayed silent for a few seconds before finally smiling faintly. “You do realize this could become a serious problem, right?”

“Of course.”

“North Tower isn’t a place students can enter just because they have money.” Sarah crossed her arms beneath her chest. “If Gavin turns out to be nothing like what we think he is… then I’ll be the first one losing my position.”

Wesley didn’t answer immediately. Because the truth was, he had already considered the exact same thing from the very beginning.

“Then why now?” Sarah asked sharply. “If he’s really been hiding something this entire time… why suddenly show his claws?”

“Yes,” Wesley murmured calmly. “I think that’s the real question.”

Then he exhaled softly. “But eventually, I found the answer.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow slightly. “And that is?”

“Open your VantaHub app,” Wesley replied. “You’ll understand immediately.”

“VantaHub?” Sarah asked, pretending not to understand.

Wesley clicked his tongue quietly and shook his head.

“There’s no need to act.” His tone remained casual. “I’m one of your followers there.”

Sarah fell silent for a moment. A faint smile slowly formed on her lips.

“…You seriously follow my account?”

“Just open it,” Wesley cut in flatly. “You’ll see for yourself.”

Sarah’s gaze turned slightly more probing before she finally walked back over and picked up the phone lying on her desk.

As Sarah opened VantaHub—a private platform that wasn’t even available on the normal App Store—she asked again,

“How did you know it was me?”

“Masks are a good idea…” Wesley answered calmly. “But ‘Sarel’ was a terrible choice for a username.”

Sarah briefly lifted her head to stare at him, but the dean merely shrugged.

“What?” Wesley said lightly. “I’m not just a regular follower. I’m subscribed.”

A few minutes later…

Sarah’s eyes locked onto one of the week’s trending videos.

“Oh, shit…” she muttered. “What the fuck were Brandon fucking Balwell and this bitch thinking?!”

“That,” Wesley replied calmly, “is exactly what I meant.”

“And now, I think you finally understand the reason too.”