2026-01-17 23:34:31
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CHAPTER 125
The announcement came at 9:17 a.m.Across Los Angeles University, screens flickered to life at once—lecture halls, libraries, cafeterias, even the digital boards lining the quad. Conversations stalled mid-sentence. Professors paused in front of whiteboards. Students instinctively reached for their phones as the LAU crest filled every display.Then Director Hill appeared.He stood behind the familiar podium, suit pressed, shoulders squared, expression composed. At first glance, he looked the same as always—but something in his posture felt tighter, more deliberate, as if every word had already been weighed and reweighed before being allowed to exist.“Good morning, students of Los Angeles University,” Hill began. “This is an official campus-wide announcement.”The background hum of campus life faded into silence.“Over the past several days,” Hill continued, “our university has experienced a series of incidents that have raised serious concerns about student conduct, faculty behavior,
CHAPTER 124
Hill pulled up Jared’s student profile on his computer. The screen loaded, displaying a clean, unremarkable record on the surface.Enrollment status: Active (Suspended – Pending Review)Background: Financial aid recipient (prior)Family: Limited disclosureHill frowned.“Limited,” he muttered.That wasn’t common. Most students—even wealthy ones—had something on file. Parents. Guardians. Emergency contacts tied to verifiable identities.Jared’s file felt… scrubbed.Hill clicked deeper. Access logs. Overrides. Administrative notes.There it was.A sealed addendum dated months earlier. Board-level encryption. He hadn’t noticed it then—or hadn’t been allowed to.His mouth went dry.Hill leaned back slowly, hands steepled beneath his chin, and let his memory rewind.The call ordering him to reverse Jared’s expulsion.The threat to his job if he didn’t comply.He’d assumed it was donor pressure. Maybe Sammy Jo’s family being outmaneuvered by someone richer, louder.But the tone hadn’t been
CHAPTER 123
Director Hill did not like surprises.He especially did not like them at night, when the campus had gone quiet and the weight of responsibility settled heavier than usual on his shoulders. The disciplinary reports lay open across his desk, pages spread like evidence at a trial he could already feel slipping out of his control.The cafeteria altercation.The hallway fight.Suspensions.Videos circulating unchecked.Hill removed his glasses and rubbed his temples slowly.Too many incidents. Too much attention. Too many names repeating themselves.A soft chime broke the silence.His computer screen lit up with an incoming secure call.Hill straightened immediately.Only three people had access to that line.He accepted the call.“Director Hill,” came the voice on the other end—calm, measured, unmistakably corporate. “Thank you for taking this so late.”Hill swallowed. “Of course. Is there a problem?”There was a brief pause.“Yes,” the voice said. “There may be.”Hill’s fingers tightened
CHAPTER 122
Jared didn’t dream that night.There was no replay of fists or voices, no flashbacks of raised knuckles or Becky’s scream echoing down the hallway. When he slept, it was heavy and blank, like his body had finally decided it couldn’t afford memory.Morning came quietly.Sunlight filtered through the tall windows of the guest suite, casting long bands of gold across the floor. Jared lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, taking inventory of the dull ache in his ribs, the stiffness in his jaw, the faint throb behind his eyes.Pain was familiar.Confusion wasn’t.He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, rolling his shoulders slowly. The mirror across the room caught his reflection: split lip crusted over, faint bruising along his jawline, shadows under his eyes that had nothing to do with exhaustion.He looked… calm.That realization surprised him more than the injuries.Brad was gone.Emotionally, the space he’d occupied in Jared’s life had emptied out completely. N
CHAPTER 121
The hallway smelled faintly of antiseptic and metal.Jared sat on one of the molded plastic chairs outside the disciplinary office, his back straight despite the ache spreading through his ribs. His jaw throbbed with every heartbeat, the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth where his lip had split. One side of his face felt swollen already. He barely noticed.Across from him, a campus security guard stood with his arms folded, posture rigid, eyes trained somewhere over Jared’s shoulder like he was guarding a crime scene instead of a student.Brad wasn’t there.They’d been separated almost immediately—pulled apart, restrained, marched in opposite directions down branching hallways. Jared hadn’t seen Brad’s face since security dragged him away, but the image of his raised fist, frozen midair, wouldn’t leave his mind.The sound of muffled voices drifted through the closed office door.Jared flexed his fingers slowly, wincing as soreness flared through his knuckles. He hadn’t even
CHAPTER 120
The hallway outside the cafeteria was louder than it should have been.Students poured out in clusters, voices overlapping in excited fragments, everyone buzzing with versions of the same story. Phones were already out. Someone laughed nervously. Someone else whispered Jared’s name.Jared kept walking, his grip firm around Becky’s hand. His jaw was set so tight it ached, his pulse still roaring in his ears. He could feel Becky trembling—not weakly, but with adrenaline that hadn’t burned itself out yet.“Jared,” Becky said breathlessly. “Let’s just go.”“I am,” he replied, without slowing.They were halfway down the corridor when footsteps closed in behind them.“Hey.”Brad’s voice.Jared stopped.He closed his eyes for half a second, exhaled slowly, and turned around.Brad stood several feet away, Sammy Jo just behind him. Brad’s expression was tight, conflicted, anger barely contained beneath the surface. This wasn’t the detached indifference from the hallway days earlier. This was s
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