2025-12-05 23:51:42
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 181
The week before spring break passed in a blur of final assignments and logistical preparations. Charlie submitted his political philosophy essay, completed Dr. Voss's problem set, and finished his business law midterm with enough time to actually pack for the trip.Rashford noticed the luggage appearing in their dorm room. "Going somewhere fancy?""Mexico with friends. Week-long break before the semester's final push.""Nice. Private resort or touristy chaos?""Private villa. We wanted actual rest rather than spring break party atmosphere."Rashford grinned. "That's very mature of you. Also very wealthy-person coded, but I'm not judging."Charlie laughed. "Fair assessment."Daniel had packed three days early, his enthusiasm manifesting in excessive preparation. He'd researched every restaurant in Cabo, identified hiking trails, mapped out snorkeling locations, and created an entire spreadsheet of potential activities."We're not doing all of this," Cindy said when Daniel shared his pl
CHAPTER 180
The suggestion came from Daniel during a particularly brutal week of midterm preparations. They were gathered at Cindy's apartment, surrounded by textbooks and coffee cups, when he suddenly closed his laptop with decisive finality."We need a break," Daniel announced. "Not a weekend break. A real one. Spring break is coming up, let's actually go somewhere."Charlie looked up from his business law notes. "Go where?""Anywhere that isn't here. Beach, mountains, different country—I don't care. Somewhere we can be normal people on vacation instead of stressed students or corporate executives or whatever else we're pretending to be."Cindy considered this, setting aside her graduate psychology textbook. "That's not a terrible idea. My professors have been emphasizing the importance of rest and recovery for mental health. I should probably practice what I'll eventually preach to clients.""Jacy?" Daniel prompted. "You in?"“Definitely,” Jacy replied. Daniel pulled out his phone, already se
CHAPTER 179
Charlie spent the next few days at his grandfather’s estate, where quiet felt intentional rather than empty. The silence didn’t loom or press in; it held. The halls were wide enough to swallow footsteps, the ceilings high enough to let thoughts finish themselves. Nothing here demanded immediacy. No alarms. No vibrating phones. No dashboards blinking red. It was a deliberate stillness, curated over decades, the kind that suggested life could be lived without constant proof of usefulness. It stood in direct opposition to campus urgency—and an even sharper contrast to corporate life, where silence usually meant something had broken.Here, mornings unfolded without violence. Light crept through tall windows instead of sirens or schedules. Coffee appeared when he wanted it, not when a meeting required it. Evenings arrived gently, without briefings or contingency plans. For the first time in months, his body stopped bracing for impact. The tension he hadn’t realized he carried began to loos
CHAPTER 178
Finals week arrived like an unavoidable storm, the kind students could sense days before it broke. The library shifted into a twenty-four-hour organism, lights burning through the night as bodies rotated in and out, eyes glassy, hands shaking slightly from caffeine and lack of sleep. Across campus, students moved like survivors, fueled by energy drinks, instant noodles, and the stubborn belief that endurance alone could carry them through. Charlie felt it too, that collective pressure humming beneath everything, binding strangers into brief alliances of stress.He studied alongside Rashford, Daniel, and a loose orbit of classmates whose names blurred together between flashcards and half-finished notes. Anxiety flattened hierarchy. Everyone was equally uncertain. That shared vulnerability created an odd camaraderie, a sense that they were all temporarily equalized by the weight of expectations.“I can’t believe I’m actually worried about economics finals,” Charlie muttered during a lat
CHAPTER 177
Charlie helped prepare the slides with the same discipline he once reserved for board presentations. Charts, timelines, comparative analysis, all showing Claire Corporation reduced to bullet points and graphs, its chaos flattened into something legible. Strategic decisions were mapped neatly: early consolidation of authority, aggressive legal defense, recalibrated spending priorities, gradual stabilization. From the outside, it looked almost elegant.The conclusion his group reached was balanced, careful not to sound starry-eyed or cruel. They acknowledged effective crisis management, noted measurable financial recovery, and credited decisive leadership under pressure. At the same time, they questioned certain tactical choices, particularly the speed and aggressiveness of early responses and flagged long-term sustainability as an open question, citing the CEO’s youth and relative inexperience.Charlie watched his own leadership summarized in a single slide and felt strangely hollow. No
CHAPTER 176
November brought the semester’s second half and Charlie’s first genuine crisis since returning to campus. Up until then, the challenges had been manageable. He had to just deal with papers, seminars, long nights in the library, the quiet strain of living a double life as both student and silent corporate overseer. But this was different. This was personal, precise, and unavoidable.Dr. Voss assigned a group project analyzing the strategic decisions of a contemporary corporation in crisis. The instructions were deceptively simple: pick a real company, trace its leadership choices through instability, assess outcomes with academic rigor. Charlie barely registered the assignment itself. What mattered was the randomness of the group selection and the danger hidden inside it.His group gathered after class: Kimberly San, meticulous and sharp-eyed; James Creed, confident and talkative; and Ashley Rodriguez, energetic, already halfway into whatever she touched. None of them knew who Charlie
You may also like
Underrated Son-In-Law
Estherace107.4K viewsXayne Xavier, The Ironclad Protector
Blanco Burn191.9K viewsBecoming A Trillionaire After Divorce
Esther Writes72.5K viewsFrom Illegitimate To A Zillionaire Heir
R. AUSTINNITE119.0K viewsTHE TRILLIONAIRE BUTLER
ANN. MCNUTT187 viewsDEAR EX-WIFE: IT'S PAYBACK TIME
Aiko785 viewsThe Regression Protocol: The Anatomy of Luck
Stanterry370 viewsThe Supreme Ruler
Go_Creed6.6K views