2025-11-18 15:40:05Chaos was already brewing around the lunch lounge before Director Hill even arrived. Kirby, convinced that she was about to witness Jared’s final downfall, flicked her hair sharply and turned to her friends.
“Start recording,” she ordered. “I want every moment caught on camera. When the director gets here, we will show him that this criminal snuck his way back into the school.”
Her friends obeyed immediately, pulling out their phones like paparazzi waiting for a star’s meltdown. Professor Bernard, energized by the attention, puffed out his chest and raised his voice.
“Everyone gather around!” he barked. “A student is about to face consequences for defying the rules of this university!”
In seconds, hundreds of students flooded the space—whispers, gasps, and curious glances filling the room. Some came because they despised Jared, but many came because they felt something was wrong with the way he had been expelled. Still, nobody dared challenge the system openly.
Brad and Becky watched the crowd multiplying. Their anxiety shot through the roof.
“Jared… we still don’t know how you got back,” Brad whispered urgently. “If we don’t know that, how do we defend you?”
Becky nudged Jared harder. “He’s right! You’re acting like everything is fine but the director is coming here. You know he’ll try to hand you over to the police for stepping foot on campus again!”
Jared simply leaned back in his seat and took another bite of his lunch, calm as still water. “Relax. Everything is fine.”
“Fine?!” Becky’s voice cracked. “How is this FINE? We’re talking about Director Hill! He could—”
But before she could finish, Kirby’s loud laughter sliced through her sentence.
“Aww, look at you,” Kirby mocked Becky. “Panicking like a scared little kitten. What will you do now, Becky? Save Jared with your tears? Save him with your family name? Or maybe you’ll kneel and beg?” She laughed, flipping her hair. “You should have known better than to hang out with… this.”
Her insult stung. Becky clenched her jaw, a retort burning in her mind—yet she held her tongue.
Kirby moved closer and sneered. “Your taste in friends is as trashy as your personality.”
Enough was enough.
Jared turned slowly to Kirby, his eyes sharp. “Be careful,” he said quietly. “If Sammy Jo and his mother could get served this morning, who are you not to get served too?”
Kirby froze. “What—what does that even mean?”
“Oh?” Jared blinked innocently. “You haven’t been online today?”
Whispers rose immediately among the surrounding students.
“You mean she hasn’t seen it?”
“How can she not know?”
“Wait until she watches…”
Kirby grew impatient. “What haven’t I seen?!”
Someone nearby stepped forward. “The video. The… hotel footage.”
“What hotel footage?” Kirby hissed.
Jared leaned back and folded his arms. “Check your phone.”
She scoffed, pulled out her smartphone, and opened her social media feed. A second later, her eyes widened so far they nearly popped out of their sockets.
There it was.
Videos—multiple angles—of Rosaline Joackin, Sammy Jo, and even Lisa being dragged out of Diamond Manor Hotel by security like criminals.
Crowds laughing.
Security guards tossing their bags onto the pavement.
Rosaline screaming in humiliation.
Sammy Jo on his knees begging.
Lisa crying and pleading.
And the captions… oh, the captions.
#JoackinDisgrace
#DiamondManorThrowOut #GoldenBoyNoMore #KickedOutLikeThievesThe whole world was laughing at them.
As Kirby watched, her jaw trembled. The laughter around her grew louder, and several students couldn’t resist mocking.
“Wow, Sammy Jo looked like a wet puppy!”
“She said she was better than everyone—look at her now!”
“Oh my God, Lisa was crying? That’s karma!”
Kirby’s cheeks burned in humiliation, even though she wasn’t in the video. She slammed her phone shut just as Professor Bernard walked up behind her, his face tight and grave.
“Everyone, silence!” he barked, trying to restore order. But even he couldn’t hide his shock. He stared at the floor for a long second, pity crossing his face.
Meanwhile, Jared simply continued eating.
And then—
Director Hill arrived.
Silence swept the crowd like a gust of icy wind. The students instantly stepped aside, forming a path for the man. He marched forward with fire in his eyes, his presence alone enough to intimidate anyone.
He stopped in front of Jared, nostrils flaring.
“You,” he growled. “Are you trying to provoke me? You were expelled! How dare you show your face on school property?”
Jared did not move an inch. He lifted his gaze lazily and said:
“Call your boss. Timothy Monrell.”
Silence.
The entire crowd blinked.
Director Hill’s expression cracked. He pointed rigidly at Jared.
“D-Do not lie to me. You don’t know Mr. Monrell.”
Jared raised one brow. “Call him.”
The director clenched his jaw, but just as he opened his mouth to argue—
His phone rang.
Everyone gasped when they saw the name on the caller ID.
Timothy Monrell.
A hush fell so heavy it could suffocate.
Director Hill trembled as he answered the call and bowed his head.
“Y–Yes, sir… Yes, sir, I… I understand… I deeply apologize… It will be fixed immediately… Of course, sir… It will not happen again…”
Every second of that call drained the color from his face.
By the time he hung up, he looked like he had aged ten years.
The entire crowd exchanged shocked glances. Something was wrong—very wrong.
Kirby stepped forward, her voice trembling. “Sir, you need to send Jared away! And his friends too! They helped him sneak in!”
Professor Bernard quickly added, “Yes, sir! It’s clear they disobeyed you—”
Jared lifted a hand and silenced both of them.
“Director,” he said calmly, “your decision?”
Director Hill swallowed repeatedly. Sweat dripped down his forehead. In his mind, he was calculating the danger.
If he obeyed Rosaline Joackin:
He kept her favor—but risked losing his job, benefits, pension, and status if he disobeyed the Atlantic Group.If he obeyed Mr. Monrell:
He might anger the Joackins—but he would remain employed, protected, and aligned with the most powerful business conglomerate on the West Coast.There was no comparison.
“Sir—” Professor Bernard pressed again.
SLAP!!!
Director Hill turned sharply and struck Professor Bernard across the face, the sound echoing throughout the cafeteria.
The students gasped in horror.
“SHUT. UP.” Director Hill roared. “I DID NOT ASK FOR YOUR OPINION!”
Kirby staggered backward, horrified. Professor Bernard clutched his cheek, stunned into silence.
Director Hill turned to Jared—bowing slightly.
“Mr. Stevens…” His voice cracked. “Welcome back to Los Angeles University.”
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CHAPTER 225
The morning after the ballroom felt quieter than it should have.The entire Diamond Manor Hotel seemed to breathe differently now, as if the weight of what had happened the night before had settled into its walls. Outside, Los Angeles carried on in its usual noise, but inside Jared’s private floor, there was only controlled silence broken occasionally by distant footsteps from staff trying to act as if nothing monumental had just unfolded.Jared stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in a dark robe, his gaze fixed on the skyline. The city looked unchanged, indifferent to the collapse of fortunes that had taken place just hours earlier. On a nearby table, his phone lay face up, notifications still trickling in—messages from executives, board members, and people who had once pretended not to recognize his name.A knock came at the door.“Enter,” Jared said without turning.The door opened and Caroline stepped in carefully, her posture respectful but tense. “Sir,” she began softly, pausing
CHAPTER 224w
The command did not register immediately.For a moment, the room remained suspended in disbelief, as though Jared’s words had not fully settled into meaning. The same people who had been pleading just seconds ago now stood frozen again, their expressions caught between desperation and refusal.Then the movement began.Security stepped forward—not aggressively, not hurriedly, but with quiet certainty.And that was when the panic shifted.“Wait—no, you can’t do that,” a man said quickly, stepping forward with both hands raised, his voice trembling despite his effort to stay composed. “We’re not leaving like this. Not without resolving this.”“Yes, we need to talk about this,” another parent added urgently, glancing between Jared and the approaching guards. “This is a misunderstanding. It has to be.”“There’s no misunderstanding,” Jared replied calmly.The words hit harder than any raised voice could have.A woman shook her head rapidly, tears streaking her face. “No, please,” she said,
CHAPTER 223
The silence in the ballroom did not break immediately, and at the center of it all, Jared stood beside his father, his expression calm, unreadable, as his gaze moved slowly across the crowd.They were still processing him, the whole situation.Brad hadn’t picked his phone back up. It remained on the polished floor where it had fallen, his eyes fixed on Jared as if trying to reconcile two completely different realities into one.Sammy Jo’s lips parted slightly, his disbelief refusing to settle into acceptance. “This… this doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head faintly. “He’s just…he’s—”“He’s exactly who we were warned about,” a parent whispered sharply, though whether it was directed at Sammy Jo or himself wasn’t clear.Shelly didn’t speak at all. Her gaze lingered on Jared, steady but unsettled, as though she were trying to piece together every moment she had dismissed, every warning she had ignored.And still… no one mentioned Jonah.Jared noticed it
CHAPTER 222
Chaos didn’t arrive all at once. It fractured the room into jagged pieces, like glass cracking under pressure. Voices overlapped, sharp and uneven, cutting through each other as accusations spiraled without direction. Parents demanded answers, students turned on one another, and the fragile confidence that had filled the ballroom just minutes ago crumbled under the weight of reality.I didn’t move. I stayed exactly where I had been from the beginning, observing it unfold with the same calm I had carried into the room. There was no panic in me, only a careful calculation of timing and presence.Brad was the first person I focused on. He hadn’t joined the shouting; he hadn’t even looked up. His eyes were glued to his phone, his fingers frozen mid-motion as if he had forgotten what he was trying to do. The color drained from his face, his jaw tightened, and his breathing was uneven in a way that told me the realization had already landed. Not doubt. Not confusion. Understanding. Slow.
CHAPTER 221
The energy in the room didn’t settle after the announcement.It spiked.Excitement surged through the crowd, voices rising as anticipation spread from one group to another. Parents straightened their posture, students adjusted their outfits, and conversations shifted instantly toward one expectation.Howard Diamond was about to walk in.And Jonah stood at the center of it all.I watched him carefully.He didn’t look surprised. If anything, he looked ready.“This is it,” he said, raising his voice just enough to pull attention back toward him. The conversations softened, then faded, as people turned once more to face him. “I know many of you have been waiting for confirmation… for something more concrete.”A few parents nodded immediately.“This is that moment,” Jonah continued, his tone smooth, controlled, carrying confidence that felt almost practiced. “Everything we’ve discussed, everything we’ve built toward—it leads here.”He paused just long enough to let the weight of his words
CHAPTER 220
At the edge of the room, Shelly stood slightly apart from the crowd, her posture composed, her arms folded loosely across her chest as she watched everything unfold. Her expression hadn’t changed much—but there was a tension in her gaze now, something quieter, harder to define.Not doubt.Not fully.But not blind confidence either.Our eyes met briefly.She didn’t look away immediately this time.There was a flicker there—brief, controlled, almost buried beneath the surface.Then it was gone.She turned her attention back to Jonah.And just like that, the moment passed.I shifted my focus.Because something else had changed.It wasn’t obvious.Not to them.But it was there.Staff movement.Subtle.Coordinated.Security had repositioned—not aggressively, not in a way that would alarm anyone—but enough that the pattern had changed.Communication was happening in low tones, quick exchanges that didn’t belong to normal event flow.And none of them noticed.Not Brad.Not Sammy Jo.Not even
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