The Return of the Campus Trillionaire

Chapter 3

At first, Jared thought he had misheard the director. Expelled? The word sounded absurd—too extreme, too sudden, too unprecedented to be real. And from the looks on the surrounding students’ faces, he wasn’t the only one shocked. Whispered murmurs filled the air. Everyone knew Los Angeles University never expelled anyone. The most notorious troublemakers still walked the campus freely. Yet here was Director Martin Hill, announcing an expulsion without a disciplinary hearing, without board approval, without due process.

It was clear to everyone that this wasn’t justice—it was fear. Director Hill had bowed to the Joackins.

Jared stared at him in disbelief. “Sir… are you serious right now?”

Professor Bernard cut in before the director could respond. “Are you stupid? Does Director Hill look like someone who would walk all the way here just to joke with filth like you? You are done. Finished. Start packing your things and take your stench off this campus!”

A few students flinched at the cruelty of his tone, but nobody spoke up. Not one person dared risk being on the receiving end of the Joackins’ wrath.

Jared clenched his jaw. The professor’s insults were pushing him to his limit. “Director Hill, please,” Jared said, turning back to him, ignoring Bernard. “I didn’t do anything to deserve this. My grandmother is in the hospital fighting for her life. My education is all I have left. You can’t do this.”

Kirby snorted. “Spare us the sob story. You never deserved to be in LAU anyway.”

Jared’s eyes met Lisa’s. She quickly looked away, covering her face with her hands while she stood uncomfortably beside Sammy Jo, who was basking in satisfaction.

He took a slow, steady breath as his gaze shifted from one of them to the next. Sammy. Kirby. Bernard. Director Hill. Even Lisa, quietly complicit. Their faces were twisted with arrogance, hypocrisy, and unearned superiority.

And something in Jared snapped.

“You’re all making a huge mistake,” he said calmly.

Kirby barked out a laugh. “The only mistake here is you. And we’re fixing it.”

Professor Bernard stepped closer, a twisted smile playing on his lips. “You really thought you could be with Lisa? A beauty like her? When our golden boy Sammy doesn’t even have a proper girlfriend?”

Jared stiffened. “What do you mean by that?”

Bernard chuckled darkly. “I’m the one who advised Sammy to go for Lisa. We planned everything—me, Sammy, and Kirby. The whole thing was meant to humble you. And look how beautifully it worked.”

The revelation hit Jared like a punch. Every humiliation, every tear Lisa cried, every insult—premeditated. Designed to break him.

Anger simmered through his veins, deep and volcanic.

He turned away from them, ready to leave before he did something destructive. But he couldn’t walk away without one promise—one declaration.

He faced them with a blazing intensity none of them had ever seen from him before. “I will be back. And when I return… every one of you will regret crossing me.”

His tone was so steady, so cold, so commanding that for a moment—even if only a moment—they all froze. Something in his voice carried weight. Power. Certainty.

Then they shook it off and erupted in laughter.

Sammy clutched his stomach. “You? Come back? With what power?”

Kirby sneered. “How do you hope to come back? You don’t know a single powerful person who can override Director Hill or Mrs. Joackin. You’re done.”

Professor Bernard raised a hand theatrically. “In fact, let me make this interesting.”

He stepped forward, grinning like a man who thought he’d already won.

“I’m giving you forty-eight hours, Jared. Forty-eight hours to find a way back into this university. If you succeed, I will personally recommend Skyrun Inc. pick your friend Brad Trodman over Sammy Jo.”

The crowd gasped softly.

Bernard continued proudly, “And if I can't do that—then I will lick your boots and run around the stadium naked apologizing to you!”

Laughter exploded around them. Even Sammy doubled over, wiping tears from his eyes.

It was a challenge that sounded bold, but everyone knew it was impossible. They believed Jared had no allies, no resources, no power.

Jared didn’t bother responding to the ridiculous bet. He spoke only one thing—and he said it slowly, purposefully.

“You’ll all regret this. And when I begin, the Joackin family will pay ten times the money I asked for my grandmother’s surgery.”

Kirby snorted. “Ten times? That’s twenty-five million dollars. Why would the Joackins waste that on you?”

Lisa grabbed his wrist, her voice trembling. “Jared, please… just go. You’re making too many scenes today.”

He looked her straight in the eyes—hurt, disappointed, done. “Leave Sammy while you still can,” he said. “Before it’s too late.”

Then he turned and walked away—confident, unhurried, completely unfazed by their mockery.

As he stepped out of sight, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he hadn’t called in three years.

The call connected almost instantly.

A deep, respectful voice spoke.

“What a surprise to hear from you, Young Master Jared.”

Jared didn’t waste a second. “Joseph, inform my father that I’m ready to come home… and take over the family empire.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end.

Jared continued, voice cold and controlled. “But on three conditions. First: he must unfreeze all my assets and accounts immediately. Second: he must give me one month before my grand return.”

“And the third?” Butler Joseph asked.

“Tell him to buy Los Angeles University and Skyrun Inc. under my name. Immediately.”

Joseph burst into amused laughter. “Those requests are nothing to Mr. Diamond. All he’s ever wanted is for you to return and inherit the Diamond family’s twelve-trillion-dollar empire. He will do anything you ask. Consider it done, Young Master.”

“Good. And one more thing,” Jared added, his voice low. “Send me a ride.”

“Yes, sir.”

Five minutes later, a Diamond private helicopter descended from the sky and landed on the school’s outer field. Students saw it from afar but didn’t think much of it; helicopters came and went for top donors all the time. None of them imagined it had come for Jared.

Jared slipped into the helicopter unnoticed. As the blades roared and the aircraft lifted off, campus life continued below, oblivious to the fact that the boy they mocked had just reclaimed access to unimaginable wealth.

***

The helicopter soared across the city, eventually descending near a towering luxury structure—the Diamond Manor Hotel, a seven-star marvel gleaming under the Los Angeles skyline. Its golden emblem shone like fire, recognizable to anyone who knew the world’s powerful elite.

The hotel was widely believed to be owned by the infamous Diamond Group, controlled by the Diamond family—the richest family on earth.

But in reality, Diamond Manor Hotels belonged solely to Jared.

He had purchased the chain the moment he turned eighteen and gained access to his trust fund—worth several trillion dollars in liquid assets. Along with dozens of businesses, stocks, properties, tech companies, and private equity firms.

But three years ago, after a bitter argument with his father about taking control of the empire too early, Jared left New York and moved to Los Angeles. His father retaliated by freezing all his personal assets and cutting him off from the family empire.

Now, after that phone call… every asset had been returned to him.

His accounts restored.

His empire reactivated.

His identity reclaimed.

The helicopter landed on the hotel’s rooftop helipad. Jared entered the private elevator—one that only he and one other person in the world had access to—and descended to the penthouse suite that took up the entire top floor.

The doors slid open quietly.

The penthouse felt like stepping into a palace: marble floors, gold-lined walls, a panoramic view of the city, velvet furnishings, and a grand chandelier dripping with crystals.

Jared walked inside slowly.

For the first time that day, he let himself breathe.

He crossed the room, loosened his shirt, and sank into the king-sized bed.

His last thought before sleep took him—

‘They expelled the wrong person.’