The Overnight Student Trillionaire

Chapter 2

Before Lorenzo could react, the first blow landed hard against his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. He doubled over, only to be yanked back up by his collar and hit again—this time, a vicious punch across his jaw that sent him to the ground.

He felt excruciating pain in his ribs as a boot struck him again and again. Blood filled his mouth, and he spat it out, tasting the bitterness and feeling his consciousness slipping away from him with each blow. Through the haze, he could hear their laughter and mockery.

“Did you really think she’d stay with someone like you?” another man jeered as he landed a kick to Lorenzo’s side, making him grunt in pain. “You’re nothing but a loser, just a worthless user.”

As Lorenzo was slipping into unconsciousness, he heard an unfamiliar voice cut through. “Get away from him, or I’m calling the police!” It was sharp, firm, and laced with authority. The men froze momentarily, startled by the sudden interruption.

They hadn't expected any interruption, especially at that time of the night.

In his dazed state, Lorenzo could just make out the blurry outline of two friends of his standing a few feet away. They were the only friends he had.

With their phones in hand, they looked ready to dial the authorities, as they stared down Lorenzo’s attackers.

The men glanced at each other, exchanged a few hushed words, and shot Lorenzo one last scornful look.

Once they were gone, his friends rushed over to Lorenzo, concern on their faces. They knelt beside him and gently pulled him closer to them, “Enzo?” they asked.

Lorenzo winced, coughing as he struggled to speak with the taste of blood in his mouth.

He was about to say something when his vision blurred, and darkness began to creep in. The last thing he saw was his friends’ concerned faces before he passed out.

****

When he woke up in the hospital in pain the next day, the harsh white lights stabbed at his eyes, and for a moment, he didn’t know where he was or why his entire body felt like it had been run over by a truck twice.

A groan slipped out of him before he could stop it. His ribs screamed and his jaw throbbed, every breath burned like someone had set fire inside his chest.

He slowly tried to sit up, but the sharp sting in his side forced him back down with a hiss.

“Easy, bro… just stay still.” A voice came from his right side.

He turned, slowly and painfully, and finally managed to make out the two faces beside his bed—Jayson and Malik. His boys. The only real friends he had on campus.

Both looked like they hadn’t slept. Jayson’s hair was a mess, sticking up in every possible direction, while Malik had dark circles under his eyes like he’d spent the whole night pacing instead of sitting.

They were the only two that Lorenzo had told about his relationship with Ava, and they had just gone out to look for him after the live video, only to find him being beaten.

“God, Enzo… you scared us, man.”

Malik swallowed hard, his jaw tight and barely contained anger. “If we had shown up two minutes later… those bastards would’ve killed you.”

Lorenzo’s lips parted, trying to speak, trying to understand why his head felt like it was underwater.

“H-How… long…?”

“Since last night,” Jayson answered softly. “They beat you bad. You passed out before we could even get you in the car.”

Lorenzo closed his eyes, the memories hitting him in shards—Ava’s cold voice, Evan’s smirk, the punches, the kicks, the darkness swallowing him whole.

His throat tightened.

“Evan… sent them.”

Jayson’s fists clenched at his sides. “We know.”

“We told the dean,” Malik added. “The campus police are involved. They’re ‘investigating.’”

He scoffed bitterly. “Which is their fancy way of saying nothing will happen because Evan’s daddy funds half the damn school.”

Lorenzo didn’t reply, He couldn’t.

His chest was heavy, not just with pain, but with humiliation, with heartbreak, With the weight of being reminded once again that in this world… he had no power.

The room was quiet for a few seconds… until his phone suddenly started vibrating on the small metal table beside his bed.

Jayson and Malik exchanged a confused look.

“Who would call now?” Jayson muttered.

Malik picked up the phone to check the screen—then his face went dark.

“It’s Evan.”

Malik’s jaw tightened as the name flickered across the screen. A slow, disgusted breath left him.

“Decline it,” Jayson muttered.

But Lorenzo’s fingers twitched weakly. He didn’t know why. Maybe because he needed to hear it. Maybe because pain did something strange to a man’s pride.

"No! Accept it. I want to speak to him!"

Malik and Jayson looked at each other in surprise before Malik pressed the answer button and put it on loudspeaker.

There was silence from the other side for a second.

Then a low, mocking scoff came from the other end of the call. “Wow… you’re alive?” Evan’s voice dragged the words like a joke. “Didn’t think you’d make it till morning.”

Lorenzo’s stomach tightened. "You bastard!" Lorenzo cursed.

Evan, feeling entertained, let out a loud laugh that resounded in the room, like he was watching a stray dog bark. “Relax, Enzo. I already congratulated you for surviving. Don’t ruin the moment.”

Evan was enjoying this. You could hear it in every breath he dragged through the speaker—like someone sipping wine while watching a house burn.

“You sound fragile right now,” he continued, voice smooth and lazy. “Can you even move properly? Hope the hospital gives you a discount," he said in mockery.

Lorenzo’s anger spit out before his pain could catch up with him.

“You will pay for this, I swear. You will pay, you bitch!”

For a moment, there was silence on the line.

Then Evan laughed so loudly and unbothered, choking on amusement like he’d heard the funniest joke of his life.

“Pay?” he repeated slowly, dragging the word like he needed to taste how stupid it sounded. “Pay how, Enzo? Do you think this is some… novel? A movie? You think you’re the type to rise after being beaten like a trash bag behind a supermarket?”

Jayson’s eyes widened. Malik’s fists balled so tight his knuckles turned white.

Evan didn’t stop.

“This is the real world,” he spat with venom. “Heroes are broke. Poor guys stay poor. And losers like you? They don’t rise. They just learn to stay on the ground.”

Lorenzo’s breath shook in rage.

“Oh wait,” Evan added with exaggerated realization, “You can’t even afford hospital bills unless your two charity workers over there help you out. Isn’t that right?”

And truly, Evan wasn't lying. His friends had covered his hospital treatment, and if it was left on Enzo alone to do that, he wouldn't be able to do it except through installmental payment.

Lorenzo froze at the truth of what Evan had said. He slowly exchanged looks with Malik and Jayson.

“You can’t even afford a decent three-square meal, boy! What the fuck!" Evan added again, feeling disgusted at what he had met. Evan went on casually, “You’ve been borrowing food like you’re practicing for a hunger strike. Clothes? Please. You don’t even own anything over $30. And yet, you’re talking about making me pay?”

"How dare you?!" Lorenzo spat in annoyance.

"No, how dare you try to speak to me like that! You know what? If you get on my nerves one more time, I am going to get you expelled from this university, you son of a bitch!!"