From Campus Trash To Tycoon

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Before the tension in the room could snap, Andrew’s phone vibrated. He didn’t even look at the room as he answered.

“The Tokyo merger? Now?” Andrew’s voice was cold. “I’ll be in the car in two minutes.” He hung up and looked at Martha. “We have to go. The board is waiting.”

With a final, dismissive glance at Adrian as if he were a stain on the carpet Andrew and Martha vanished into the hallway. 

The heavy doors shut behind them, and the atmosphere in the lounge curdled instantly. 

Without Lina’s parents there, Lukas no longer felt the need to hide his teeth.

“You don’t need to prove anything,” Lina said quickly, her voice sharp. “This is my birthday. I didn’t invite you here to start trouble, Lukas.”

Lucas smiled lazily. “Relax. I’m just looking out for you. If it’s real, there’s nothing to hide. Adrian should be ashamed to buy fake things, you're from a prestigious family and stuff like this ruins your reputation. Shouldn't you be thanking me for showing you that your friend is a fraud?”

Adrian looked at the necklace again. He had spent 2.8 million dollars and all it earned him was a ridicule. In his old life, he had prayed for this kind of wealth. Now that he had it, he realized that to people like Lukas, his clothes mattered more than his bank balance. Thinking about it alone made him feel drowsy, he could prove it. Easily.

He reached into his pocket. His fingers brushed the heavy, cream-colored vellum of the Cartier invoice. One move, and he could shut them all up.

But he stopped as he felt a wave of boredom wash over him.

‘Why should I perform for them? Adrian thought. If I show them the receipt now, they’ll just call it a forgery. They want a show. I’m not an actor.’

He pulled his hand out of his pocket empty and pushed his chair back without saying much.

“Where’s the proof, Adrian?” Erica sneered, her eyes scanning his empty hands. “No receipt? No certificate? Did the street vendor forget to give you one?”

“I don’t need to prove the truth to people who wouldn't recognize it if it hit them,” Adrian said calmly.

Lukas exploded into laughter. “The classic loser’s defense! I don’t need to prove it! Meaning you bought it for twenty bucks at a night market.”

Lukas reached out and flicked the sapphire necklace with his finger. “Tell you what. Since it’s sapphire, why don’t we see if it bounces?”

“Lukas, stop!” Lina snatched the box away, her face burning with humiliation. “Enough. Give it back to me. Fake or not, it’s my gift, and I’m keeping it.”

“I need some air,” he said calmly.

Adrian stood up and walked out of the room without looking at their sneering faces.

The lounge doors hissed shut behind him and Adrian exhaled, the weight of the evening finally hitting his lungs.

“Adrian!”

Lina caught up, her heels clicking like gunfire against the floor. She grabbed his arm, her eyes swimming with guilt and frustration.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t invite Lucas. I swear. I don’t know why he came. He always does this. He ruins things and then pretends it’s a joke. Please don't let him get to you.”

“It’s fine, Lina,” Adrian said, though his heart wasn't in it. “Go back inside. It’s your birthday. Don’t ruin it over a scholarship boy like me.”

“Don’t call yourself that,” she pleaded. “Why did you leave? You could have fought back.”

Adrian just looked at her. “Fought back for what? Their approval? I don’t need it.”

“No, it’s not.” Her voice wavered. “He humiliated you. He always does. And I let him walk in like nothing.”

“You didn’t,” Adrian said. “You stood up for me.”

However Lina tried to persuade him but it was all to no avail.

She searched his face. “Then why did you leave?”

Before he could answer, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out to answer.

The name on the screen made his fingers still.

Sister.

“I need to take this,” he said.

Lina nodded, stepping aside. “I’ll wait.”

Adrian turned away and answered.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” his sister’s voice came through, light, teasing.

He smiled faintly. “You always call at the worst times.”

“That means it’s a good time,” she replied. “So. How did you spend the money, oh! well part of the money don't tell me you didn't get yourself fancy stuff?”

He exhaled slowly. “I bought Lina a necklace.”

“Of course you did.” A pause. “Did she like it?”

“She did.”

There was another pause. Longer this time.

“And the people around her?”

“They think it’s a knockoff,” Adrian said, leaning against the cold marble wall.

His sister laughed amused and Sharp.

“Let me guess. Someone said it out loud.”

 “Lukas thinks I bought it at a night market.”

“Ah.” Her tone changed. “The one who keeps poking you like it’s a game.”

“Yes.” Silence stretched between them.

“You know,” she said slowly, “people like that don’t stop because you ignore them. They stop when the game stops being funny.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

“He humiliated me,” he said quietly. “In public. Again. Like it was entertainment.”

Emily kept quite on the other end of the call Instead, she said, “Where are you right now?”

“I’m outside enjoying the fresh breeze.”

 “Good,” she said. “Adrian, why don’t you help me with something?”

He straightened as he began wondering what it might be.

Emily tone shifted to business. “Listen. I’ve just finished the paperwork for the Vista Hotel. It’s in our family name now. You’re the co-owner. I need you to go there tonight. The manager, Chase Goodman, is waiting for a 'Young Master' to sign off on the new luxury suites.”

Adrain hesitated. He can recall how many awesome things he had encountered today to top it he's not just inherited his family wealth but also a co-owner of the same luxury hotel he had stood and admired several times.

“Adrian are you even there?” 

He closed his eyes briefly. And after connecting the dots in his head he wondered if their family owned the city and the kind of influence they had.

Adrian blinked. The Vista. The most exclusive hotel in the country. “I’m in a cab-hailing mood, Emily. I’m not exactly dressed for a boardroom.”

“You’re a Vale,” she said firmly. “You could walk in wearing a rag and you’d still own the floor they walk on. Go. Claim your throne.”

The call ended. Adrian looked back at the lounge doors. He could hear the muffled laughter of Lukas and his friends inside. They were still mocking him. They were still celebrating their victory.

He walked out of the building and flagged down a dusty, yellow taxi.

Then he walked towards the road and boarded a cab, some of Luka's friends who came out for fresh air saw Adrian boarding a cab and shouted towards him mocking him although he didn't even respond to their harsh words the shock his sister gave him was enough to numb his feelings.

"Look at him! Running away in a cheap cab!" one of Lukas's friends jeered from the balcony, tossing a cigarette butt toward the street. "Go back to your dorm, scholarship boy! The invoice was probably fake too!"

Adrian didn't even turn his head.

He leaned back against the worn seat of the taxi, his eyes fixed on the glowing neon sign of the Vista Hotel in the distance. He wasn't running away. He was going to claim his throne.

As the cab pulled away, a notification chirped on his phone: Transfer from Cruisers Tech Global: $50,000,000 (Corporate Expense Account).

Adrian smiled. The game was no longer funny. It was over.