From Campus Trash To Tycoon

Chapter One

“Hey.” A young man with curly locks snapped his fingers, the sharp sound echoing down the quiet corridor. “Do you want easy money or not?”

Adrian Vale did not flinch. He stood with his shoulders relaxed and eyes lowered. He survived worse insults before this morning. Teachers mocked him, his peers ignored him, and the very city he called home discarded him like trash a long time ago. Words like these came easily to people who never worried about rent, tuition, or survival. Lukas Leonardo ruled the campus as the undisputed king—a student defined by fast cars, loud parties, and a total lack of restraint.

“I’m throwing a party tonight,” Lukas continued, his voice dripping with condescension. “And I need a dog to fetch the ice, pour the drinks, and stand in the corner and do exactly what he’s told.”

Adrian did not hesitate. Pride was an unaffordable luxury on an empty stomach. “How much, Lukas?”

Lukas and his circle burst out laughing.

“Look at him!” Lukas shouted, turning to his friends. “Did you hear that? I didn't even have to whistle, and the dog is already wagging its tail!"

Lily, the only girl in the group, crossed her arms with a smirk. “At least he knows his place.”

“He has to,” Jack taunted, leaning in close. “Haven’t you heard? Adrian isn't just broke; he's the epitome of poverty and a master of begging. Utterly useless and quite repulsive. Lukas is taking it easy on you. Just be on time tonight.”

Heat flared in Adrian's face. Speechless, he stood in the middle of the hallway while the laughter roared around him. Pride did not keep the electricity on, especially for a scholarship student. He stifled a bitter smile and walked away.

Loud music vibrated through the walls of the Leonardo villa when Adrian arrived that night. Sleek, foreign cars lined the driveway, each one worth more than everything Adrian owned combined.

At the door, Lily shoved a black shirt into his chest, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Put this on. You look too much like a guest.”

He changed in the bathroom without a single complaint.

The moment he stepped out, Jack pressed a heavy metal tray into his hands. “Loser, get to work,” he hissed in his ear.

Guests bumped into his shoulders without a glance. He spent the next hour dodging stray elbows, spilled drinks, and the mocking glares of classmates.

“Hey,” someone shouted loudly as he passed. “Careful with that bottle. You might drop something you cannot replace.”

“We’d deduct it from his tuition fees!” another voice shouted.

Laughter followed him down the hall, but Adrian kept moving. At the center of the room, Lukas raised his glass, triggering an explosion of cheers. Adrian poured drinks, wiped sticky spills from the counters, and swallowed the heavy weight pressing against his chest.

Then Lukas whispered something into Jack’s ear. Jack leaned close, his shoulder bumping Adrian's chest. “Go to the wine cellar. Bring the most expensive champagne. Two bottles. Do not mess it up... or you pay for it.”

“That is if he can afford it.” Jack sneered. “Hey loser…Don’t mess up in there.” Adrian gnawed his teeth and walked out of there towards the basement.

The stairs down were cold and quiet. Adrian exhaled slowly, his frustration draining into the dark. The silence wrapped around him like relief. For a brief moment, he was just a person again—not a joke for their amusement.

Then, a soft, familiar laugh drifted from the rows of imported wine.

His steps slowed. Around the corner, framed by wooden crates of imported alcohol, his girlfriend, Mira, stood pressed against the wall, kissing someone else. Her hands tangled tightly in the boy’s jacket. She laughed between kisses, unhurried and entirely unafraid of being caught.

The boy holding her was everything Adrian was not. Rich. Confident. Born into a powerful family. It was Jason, the young master of the Whitmore family whose father owned the majority share of the university.

The ground tilted under Adrian's sneakers. He took this wretched, low-paying job just to get enough cash to buy her flowers. The realization slammed into his chest like a physical blow.

Adrian stepped forward out of the shadows. Mira's eyes met his mid-kiss. Surprise flickered across her face for a fraction of a second, then quickly hardened into a sharp irritation.

“What are you doing here, Adrian?” she asked sharply.

“I was sent to get wine,” Adrian said quietly.

Jason laughed, fiddling with Mira’s hair like she was a pet. “Of course you were. Jack is such a nuisance to my advantage.”

Adrian ignored him, his gaze fixing on Mira's face. “Can we talk?”

She sighed, treating him like an inconvenience. “Not now.”

“When then?”

“When you stop pretending this was ever going anywhere, stop pretending like you didn’t see us.” Mira snapped.

Adrian’s chest tightened, making it hard to breathe. “I thought we mattered.”

Mira let out a short, cruel laugh. “You never did anything for me. Not once. No dates. No gifts. No plans. I was always waiting for you to become something. It's better we part ways than become an inconvenience to each other.”

“I tried, Mira. God, I really tried,” Adrian said, his voice cracking on the final word.

“Tried with what?” she shot back, her voice rising. “Your empty promises? Or the fact that you're willing to sell your pride for any job that comes your way?”

Her brown eyes held nothing but cold indifference. To her, he was just a useless campus errand boy. "I worked this job for you, Mira. I swallowed my pride and took their insults just to buy you a gift. And you threw it all away for a guy who treats you like a trophy."

Jason smirked, resting a heavy arm over her shoulder. “I flew her out last weekend. I buy her designer bags and jewelry. Things you cannot even dream of. Things bigger than those cheap weeds you call flowers that will die in a few days. Come on, Adrian, you can’t afford this girl. She’s way bigger than you, she deserved to be treated like a trophy.”

Adrian looked directly at Mira. “Is this true?”

She crossed her arms, anchoring her weight away from him. “Yes. I moved on. I am tired of pretending love is enough. I deserve more. You... you embarrass me.”

Those words cut deeper than any of the laughter upstairs. Adrian could have expected anyone to humiliate him. He could have expected the people upstairs to laugh at him, insult him, even call him worthless.

But Mira?

Never Mira.

He defended her countless times. He stood by her when people questioned her. He even trusted her when everyone else gave him reasons not to.

And now she was telling him she cheated on him as if their relationship meant nothing.

“You were never capable of giving me the life I want,” she continued, her gaze turning cold. “I’m done with looking at you and seeing a dead end.”

Jason laughed again, his chest puffing out. “You should thank me. I took the burden off you. A man like you shouldn't be trying to keep a Thoroughbred when you can barely afford the hay.”

Adrian said nothing. His fingers curled into tight fists. One punch to Jason's smiling face would mean immediate expulsion and a legal nightmare. He forced his hands to open as he turned, and walked away with a silent, heavy curse burning in his mind.

Nobody stopped him on his way out. Lily sneered near the door, pointing her champagne glass at his retreating back.

“I’m glad Mira's eyes finally opened.”

“He actually thought he was in the same league as us," another boy whispered. "He’s just a scholarship beggar. Mira was way too kind to him; she should have kicked him to the street years ago.”

“I’m embarrassed I even know his name,” a third voice laughed behind a manicured hand. “He’s so pathetic. If I were him, I’d jump into the river rather than show my face here again. He’s a stain on the school’s reputation.”

The insults lashed against his soul like a whip. Just as he reached the final exit, Lukas stepped directly into his path, blocking the door. “Hey, trash. Where do you think you’re going? Don't tell me a beggar like you actually has somewhere important to be?”

Adrian ignored him, his jaw clenching until his teeth ached. Lukas reached into his pocket and threw several dollar bills straight onto the dirty floor.

Lukas waved his hand in a dismissive motion. “You're a scholarship trash, a charity case, and a total embarrassment to this school. Get lost from my sight.”

Adrian stood frozen for a single heartbeat. Then, he bent down, picked up the paper bills from the floor, and dusted the dirt off before slipping them into his pocket. He placed his metal tray on the kitchen counter and slipped out the back door without a single word.

The dorm room felt suffocatingly small and empty when he returned. He sat on the edge of his mattress, staring blankly at the floorboards as the night replayed in violent fragments. The laughter from everyone. Mira’s voice and the harsh words settling into his chest.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated violently inside his denim pocket.

BZZZ.

Adrian blinked away the blur in his vision, pulling the cheap device out. He swiped the screen, the glowing display cutting through the dark room. His eyes widened as a red notification box illuminated his face.

[Transaction Alert!]

[A deposit of $10,000,000,000 has been credited to your account.]