Chapter 3 - I Came to Give It Back

Daniel walked along the corridor of the first floor of a tall and majestic building with dozens of floors. It was the main building of the Tectona University. He was on his way to see Randal Collins, the vice president of the University, who had been in charge of his scholarship.

Right now, Daniel had only one goal in mind. He would apologize to Randal and honestly explain the real reason why he had been leaving class frequently. After Daniel was convinced that Antony was probably the one who had threatened and used Eleanor to disrupt his classes, he decided to stop covering up the problem.

He did not expect his scholarship status to be reinstated. He had to take responsibility for his mistake. After all, he had an unlimited amount of money in his system. He no longer needed financial aid from the campus.

When Daniel was almost at the door of the vice president's office, a door from the adjacent room opened. Surprisingly, the slender figure he wanted to meet stepped out of the door. The figure was none other than Clara Insignia.

Daniel didn't want to disturb the girl at that moment. But after thinking about it for a while, he decided to greet her.

"Hello Miss Insignia, we meet again."

Clara was startled when she saw who was greeting her. But soon a sweet smile spread across her thin lips, making her beautiful face look even more charming.

"Wow, Daniel! What a coincidence that we meet here!"

They chatted for a while before Daniel expressed his desire to invite Clara to lunch. The girl just nodded and smiled. They both agreed to meet in the cafeteria.

Daniel then told her about his purpose for coming here. When the girl heard this, a worried look appeared on her beautiful face.

"Good luck, Daniel! As I said this morning. If you need something, anything at all, just let me know!"

Daniel just nodded and then entered the vice president's office. Deep in his heart he was impressed by the attention and sincerity of the girl.

There were four doors leading to smaller rooms inside the office. Daniel had been to this place several times before. As far as he remembered, Randal Collins' room was at the far left end. No doubt about it.

After knocking on the door several times, Daniel heard a voice from inside inviting him in. He entered the room to find a man in a white shirt sitting in a chair with his back to him. The man seemed to be busy reading some papers in his hand. From this angle, Daniel couldn't see the man's face.

‘This is strange,’ thought Daniel. In their recent meetings, Randal had never turned his back on Daniel. When the old man allowed a guest to enter his room, he would turn his face toward the guest. Randal would even stand up to welcome his guest to sit down.

However, that kind of familiarity and hospitality was not what Daniel saw this time. It made him wonder if this was not Randal's room. Therefore, he had entered the room by mistake.

His suspicion grew when Daniel saw the nameplate on the desk. Sandro Baldini's name was written on it. ‘Exactly! This office is obviously not Mr. Collins' place,’ Daniel said to himself. At the same time, however, Daniel felt that the last name on the nameplate was familiar to him. ‘Baldini? I think I've heard that name before,’ he thought again.

Daniel didn't want to spend too much time in the room. But just as he was about to say "excuse me" and leave, the heavy voice he had heard before entering the room echoed in his ears.

"Yes, to whom am I speaking? And for what purpose?"

The man spoke these words while still sitting in his chair with his back to Daniel.

"My name is Daniel Elrod. I came here to meet with Mr. Collins... I mean the vice president. But I seem to have entered the wrong room. So I apologize for disturbing you. I will leave now."

After finishing his sentence, Daniel was about to turn around and leave. But before he could take a step, the man on the sofa turned his chair around and faced him.

"Daniel Elrod...?" The man nodded his head up and down as he looked at Daniel. His look was filled with contempt.

"You're the one who got the scholarship and can't behave, aren't you?" he asked, looking at Daniel.

The question was provocative. But Daniel tried to remain calm. He had to meet Randall. Daniel could not waste his time and energy on the man in front of him.

"I am indeed. However, I have other business to attend to. Excuse me, please allow me to leave."

Daniel didn't want to have any further dealings with someone he didn't know. He steadied himself to leave the room quickly. But once again he heard the same harsh words as before.

"It turns out that you don't just lack manners. You're also very arrogant!" Sandro said with a cold expression on his face.

"Mr. Baldini, we have never met. I also feel that I have never had any special business with you. What do you mean by that?" Daniel's face looked calm, although he was beginning to feel annoyed.

"Yes, yes, yes... okay." Sandro nodded his head slowly several times as he stood up from his chair. He slowly walked over to Daniel. The distance between them was now no more than five paces.

"Have you ever used your brain properly? You live on our pity. You eat and drink with the money we give you," Sandro said, pointing his index finger at Daniel's face.

"Instead of being grateful in the appropriate way, you choose a way that you think is cool! Do you think this is your parents' campus so you can do whatever you want? Tell me, what is your purpose for showing your stupid face here?" Sandro shouted loudly as he spoke word for word. There was not an ounce of empathy in it.

On the other hand, it was like a bolt of lightning striking Daniel's body when he heard the man's words. When he came here, he knew he was guilty. He didn't expect any pity for himself. But the words Sandro spoke were not only very harsh. It was an insult.

Now Daniel's face looked tense. His jaw was clenched. His heartbeat also became very fast.

"Why? You don't accept what I said? What do you want to prove then?" Sandro said again, crossing his arms over his chest. Although not as high as before, his speech was full of mockery.

"One more thing! Maybe 'student' is not the right word for you. It would be more appropriate to call you... a beggar!"

As he said these words, Sandro's face looked like he was holding back laughter. A few seconds later, the old man laughed very loudly while holding his stomach. As if he had just told the funniest joke.

When Daniel saw how satisfied Sandro looked after insulting him, a question came to his mind. Why was this man so eager to pick on him? What was his business with him?

Daniel realized that perhaps Sandro had wanted to embarrass him from the beginning. No matter what he said, the man would continue to corner him. If Daniel was provoked to explain the reason for his absence in class, Sandro would only mock him even more.

Thoughts like that made Daniel take several deep breaths and exhale. He tried to regain control over his emotions.

"Mr. Baldini, please don't misunderstand! I came here to apologize and..."

Before Daniel could finish his sentence, Sandro cut him off again. "What? What? You want to beg us to return your money?"

Hahahaha!

Sandro held his stomach again, which was starting to hurt from laughing so much. As he expected, this young man must have come to restore his status as a scholarship recipient. He had lived a decent life all this time with the scholarship he had received. So how could he afford to live without that money?

"You're wrong, Mr. Baldini. I actually came to give it back!"

The words were spoken firmly. At the same time, Daniel's eyes showed seriousness. He didn't seem to be playing around.

When Sandro saw the expression on Daniel's face, he slowly stopped laughing. Not because he was touched by Daniel's words. In fact, he found Daniel's words very funny. While many students from middle-class families found it quite difficult to pay for tuition at Tectona University, how could Daniel from a low-income family do it?

He hadn't expected the poor young man in front of him to have amazing acting skills. 'Not bad! Looks like you still have enough guts to face me,' Sandro thought as he looked at Daniel cynically.

At first, the old man thought that Daniel would kneel at his feet and beg for his scholarship status to be reinstated. But he was wrong. The young man was apparently too arrogant for that. So Sandro had to embarrass him even more.

"Are you serious? If so, come with me!"