The last minute of Poverty

chapter 9

At 9:00 AM the next day, Jason woke up to the sound of Colman snoring loudly, sprawled across his mattress without a care in the world.

Jason sat up and glanced toward the far corner of the dorm room. Matthew’s bed was completely empty, the sheets perfectly undisturbed. He hadn't come home last night. Jason could only imagine what kind of miserable corner Matthew was currently hiding in to lick his wounds.

Not wanting to disturb Colman’s deep sleep, Jason quietly gathered his things, washed up, and headed out of the dorm alone.

The economics lecture that had been abruptly canceled the previous afternoon had been rescheduled for 10:00 AM today.

Despite the fact that the rescheduling was entirely impromptu and sent out late at night, when Jason walked through the heavy double doors of the lecture hall, he was surprised to find the massive, 800-seat auditorium almost completely full.

Even stranger, as Jason scanned the tiered rows of seating, he quickly realized something highly unusual. Almost every single student in attendance was male.

In the very back row of the packed lecture hall, Rose sat frozen.

Her face was deathly pale. Exhausted circles framed her eyes. She hadn't slept a single wink.

From the moment she took her seat, her gaze remained locked onJason, entirely ignoring the chaotic chatter around her.

"Earth to Rose! Hello?"

Lana, her best friend, waved her hand in front of her face, pulling her out of her dazed state. Lana scoffed, following Rose’s line of sight down to where Jason was sitting.

"Are you seriously still staring at that broke loser?" Lana sneered, completely oblivious to what had actually transpired the previous night. "I thought you were going to dump him weeks ago. Wake up, Rose. You need to cut him off completely and hold on tight to John."

Lana leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Speaking of the rich heir, how was last night? Did he book the VIP suite again? Come on, give me the details. Is he as wild in bed as everyone says?"

Facing her best friend’s eager questions, Rose felt her sanity instantly collapsing.

Wild?

The only thing wild about last night was the sound of a black armored SUV crushing a Lamborghini.

What had happened felt like an absolute nightmare from a terrifying fever dream.

John, the untouchable rich heir Lana was currently praising, had run away like a rat who saw a cat, leaving Rose entirely defenseless. Yet, terrified of becoming the laughingstock of the campus, Rose could only force a stiff, smile and nod, desperately trying to hide the truth.

Down in the lower rows, completely unaware of Rose’s inner turmoil, Jason was trying to focus on his notebook. However, the boys sitting directly behind him were making it impossible.

They were huddled over a smartphone, snickering maliciously and whispering in vulgar, aggressive tones about Charlotte Woodart.

"I told you she was a fake," one of the boys whispered harshly. "Walking around campus acting like some untouchable ice queen. Turns out she's just a slut who will spread her legs for anyone rich or handsome enough."

"Look at this one," another boy laughed, tapping the screen. "You can clearly see her face."

Jason’s brow furrowed. He subtly glanced over his shoulder.

On the glowing screen was a series of incredibly explicit, compromising images and short video clips of someone who looked exactly like Charlotte.

The images were circulating rapidly through the university's private forums.

In one of those images, Charlotte was seen with an exposed upper body, kissing an unidentified man in a car.

The video only caught her side glance, seeming as if it was secretly filmed.

Another humiliating video was when she was dancing naked in an hotel room, the camera shifting between her and another man who was spraying her money as she danced.

It only took Jason a fraction of a second to realize what was going on. The lighting was slightly unnatural, and the pixels near the necklines blurred awkwardly. They were AI-generated videos.

Matthew was behind this. Last night, after being financially humiliated and publicly rejected by Charlotte in favor of the class outcast, his fragile ego had completely shattered.

If he couldn't have the campus belle, then no one should dream about having her. He was going to use his remaining connections to utterly destroy her reputation.

Hearing the boys continue to throw around insulting, words, a cold fury ignited in Jason’s chest.

"Shut your mouths," he barked

His voice wasn't a yell, but it was laced with such heavy, terrifying authority that the boys flinched, nearly dropping the phone.

He slowly turned around in his seat, his eyes as cold as a frozen lake. "Put the phone away. If you don't want to attend the class, get the hell out of here before I make you leave."

The boys opened their mouths to curse him out, but something in Jason's dead-eyed stare physically locked their jaws. They swallowed hard and immediately shrank back into their seats.

But the damage had already been done.

A few seats away, Charlotte had been sitting perfectly still. She had heard the whispers. She had seen the glances. Her usually pale, flawless face was burning a bright, humiliating red, and thick tears were welling uncontrollably in her eyes.

Her composed mask finally shattered.

Unable to endure the questioning stares of the lecture hall a second longer, she covered her mouth, grabbed her bag, and ran out of the classroom crying.

Without hesitation, Jason stood up and chased after her.

He burst through the heavy double doors into the corridor, looking both ways down the long hallway, but Charlotte was incredibly fast. She had already disappeared into the campus.

He was just about to head toward the women's dormitories to look for her when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a text message from Charlotte.

(Thank you for speaking up. Please don't look for me. I just want to be alone right now.)

Jason sighed, his jaw tightening as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. Matthew had crossed a dangerous line this time, and he will make him pay for it.

Jason turned on his heel, preparing to walk back into the lecture hall, but the heavy doors swung open before he could reach them.

Rose and Lana stepped out into the hallway.

The moment Rose saw Jason standing there, the last remaining shred of her pride vanished. The mask she had been holding up for Lana completely disintegrated.

Tears spilled out of Rose's eyes, ruining her heavy makeup. To Lana's absolute shock and horror, Rose practically threw herself forward, grabbing onto the sleeves of Jason's jacket, crying pitifully.

"Jason... Jason, please," Rose sobbed, her voice cracking as she humbly begged the man she had discarded just twenty-four hours ago. "I was wrong! I was so stupid. Please... please take me back!"