From Campus Trash To Tycoon

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Before the tension in the room could snap, Arthur’s phone vibrated violently. He swiped the screen without a single look at his guests.

“The Tokyo merger? Now?” Arthur’s voice was stone cold. “I’ll be in the car in two minutes. Tell the board to wait.” He hung up, tossed a dismissive glance toward Adrian, and grabbed his coat. “Martha, we have to go.”

Arthur and Martha vanished into the hallway, leaving behind a final look that treated Adrian like a stain on the carpet. The heavy doors hissed shut. The atmosphere in the lounge curdled instantly. Without Lina’s parents in the room, Lukas bared his teeth.

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

Lukas smiled lazily, swirling his wine. “Relax. I’m just looking out for your reputation. If the sapphire is real, there’s nothing to hide. Adrian should be ashamed to pass off fake garbage to a prestigious family. Shouldn't you thank me for exposing a fraud?”

Adrian looked down at the necklace. He spent two-point-eight million dollars, and all it earned him was a room full of cheap ridicule. In his old life, he prayed for this kind of wealth. Now that he held it, he realized the bitter truth. To people like Lukas, a scuffed shoe mattered more than a bank balance.

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

Then, a sudden wave of deep boredom washed over his chest. Why should he perform for them? If he showed the receipt now, they would just call it a high-grade forgery. They wanted a reality show, and he was not an actor.

He pulled his hand out empty and pushed his chair back.

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

“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 a wild burst of laughter. “The classic loser’s defense! 'I don’t need to prove it!' Translation: he bought it for twenty bucks at a night market.” Lukas reached out and flicked the sapphire centerpiece with his fingernail. “Tell you what. Since it’s glass, let’s see if it bounces.”

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

Adrian stood up, his face an absolute mask of steel. “I need some air.”

He walked out of the room without looking back at their sneering faces. The lounge doors hissed shut behind his shoulders. Adrian exhaled hard, letting the toxic weight of the evening finally leave his lungs.

“Adrian!”

Lina caught up, her high heels clicking like rapid gunfire against the marble floor. She grabbed his arm, her eyes swimming with intense guilt. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t invite Lukas. I swear. He always ruins things and pretends it’s a joke. Please don't let him get to you.”

“It’s fine, Lina,” Adrian said evenly. “Go back inside. It’s your birthday. Don’t ruin your night over a scholarship boy like me.”

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

Adrian looked directly into her eyes. “Fought back for what? Their approval? I don’t need it.”

“He humiliated you,” her voice wavered, a tear escaping. “And I let him walk in like nothing.”

“You didn’t,” Adrian said softly. “You stood up for me. Go back inside, it’s your party.”

Lina searched his face for a long second. Before she could say another word, his phone vibrated violently inside his denim pocket. He pulled it out. The name illuminating the dark screen made his fingers still.

Sister.

“I need to take this,” he said.

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

Adrian turned his back and pressed the phone to his ear. “Emily.”

“Did you enjoy yourself, brother?” Her voice came through, light and teasing.

He smiled faintly, leaning against the cold marble wall. “You always call at the worst times.”

“That means it’s the perfect time,” she replied. “So, how did you spend the cash? Don't tell me you didn't buy yourself something ridiculous.”

“I bought Lina a necklace.”

Emily pauses.

“Did she like it?”

“She did.”

Another pause followed, longer this time. “And the people around her?”

“They think it’s a cheap knockoff,” Adrian said, his tone dropping into a dangerous, cold rhythm. “Lukas thinks I bought it at a night market.”

“Ah.” Emily’s tone shifted, the sibling tease instantly vanishing into pure business. “The leech who keeps poking you like a game.”

“Yes.”

“You know,” she said slowly, her voice carrying a sharp edge. “People like that don't stop because you ignore them, Adrian. They only stop when the game ceases to be funny.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened until his molars ached. “He humiliated me in public. Again. Like I'm campus entertainment.”

Emily didn't offer empty sympathy. Instead, she demanded: “Where are you right now?”

“Outside the lounge, getting fresh air.”

“Good,” she said firmly. “Listen closely. I just finished signing the acquisition paperwork for the Vista Hotel. It is fully registered under our family name now, and you are the co-owner. I need you to go there tonight. The General Manager, Chase Goodman, is currently waiting for the 'Young Master' to sign off on the new luxury suites.”

Adrian blinked, the raw shock numbing the residual anger in his chest. The Vista. The most exclusive, seven-star hotel in the entire country. A towering glass monolith he spent years admiring from a distance.

“Adrian, are you even there?”

“I’m in a cab-hailing mood, Emily,” he let out a dry, quiet breath. “I’m not exactly dressed for a billionaire boardroom.”

“You’re a Vale,” she shot back, her voice absolute steel. “You could walk into that lobby wearing a rag, and you’d still own the floor they walk on. Go. Claim your throne.”

The line went dead.

Adrian looked back at the private lounge doors. The muffled, arrogant laughter of Lukas and his friends leaked through, celebrating their easy victory inside.

He turned away, walking straight out of the building toward the main road. A few of Lukas’s friends came out onto the balcony for a smoke. They spotted him and pointed fingers as Adrian flagged down a dusty yellow taxi.

"Look at him! Running away in a cheap cab!" one of them jeered, tossing a burning cigarette butt toward the street. "Go back to your dorm, scholarship boy! The receipt was probably fake too!"

Adrian didn't even turn his head. He climbed into the back seat, leaning against the worn vinyl as the taxi pulled into the traffic grid. His eyes fixed on the brilliant neon sign of the Vista Hotel glowing in the distance.

A sharp chime chirped inside his pocket. He pulled out the screen, the notification illuminating his face in the dark cab.

Transfer from Cruisers Tech Global: $50,000,000 (Corporate Expense Account).

The corner of Adrian's mouth lifted into a cold, lethal smile. The game was no longer funny. It was officially over.