The library doors were heavy oak, slightly ajar. I didn’t burst in. I slid into the gap, the [Shadow Tuxedo] making feel like a ghost in the periphery.
I could hear them before I saw them.
"It’s simple arithtic, Elena," Thorne’s voice was low, dripping with condescension. "Vanguard Holdings manages the university’s endownt. We have a fiduciary duty to protect it from... reckless speculation."
"The Sterling Grant is not speculation," Elena’s voice was tight, vibrating with suppressed rage. "It is a fully funded initiative. It has nothing to do with your endownt."
"It has everything to do with liquidity," Thorne snapped. "And right now, the university needs cash. I am simply suggesting a reallocation. You resign as the grant administrator, appoint a Vanguard representative, and we... restructure."
I peered around the edge of a bookshelf.
Thorne was leaning against a mahogany desk, swirling a glass of scotch. Elena stood opposite him, her arms crossed, her posture defensive. She looked cornered.
"And if I refuse?" Elena asked.
Thorne sighed, as if disappointed. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a thick envelope.
"Then I release this to the Board on Monday morning."
He tossed the envelope onto the desk. It slid across the polished wood and stopped inches from Elena’s hand.
"Jake Hart," Thorne said. "The boy who was Sofia Aldridge’s shadow. The boy who was on academic probation until suddenly—miraculously—he wasn’t. The boy who runs a ’consulting’ firm that seems to specialize in making problems disappear."
Elena went pale.
"You’re not attacking ," she whispered. "You’re attacking him."
"I’m attacking your judgnt, Elena," Thorne said. "You gave a Five million dollar grant to a kid who learned everything he knows from the woman who embezzled from . If I release this, you won’t just lose the grant. You’ll be fired for gross negligence. And Hart? He’ll be expelled before lunch."
Elena looked at the envelope. She looked defeated.
[Target: Elena Vance]
[Status: Sinking]
[Emotion: Fear / Guilt]
She was calculating the cost. She was realizing that to save herself, she might have to cut loose.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I stepped out from the shadows.
"You missed a page, Marcus."
Thorne spun around. Elena gasped.
I walked into the light, the [Shadow Tuxedo] catching the glow of the fireplace. I didn’t look like a student. I looked like a player.
"Mr. Hart," Thorne sneered. "Eavesdropping. How... on brand."
"I prefer ’due diligence,’" I said, walking past him to stand next to Elena. I didn’t touch her, but I stood close enough to show we were a unit.
"You have a file on ," I said calmly. "That’s cute. But let’s talk about the Science Center."
Thorne’s eyes narrowed. "What about it?"
"Vanguard Holdings underwrote the construction loans," I said. "But the project is six months behind schedule. The unions are striking. And the interest rates on your bridge loans just doubled."
I took a step toward him.
"Vanguard is bleeding, Marcus. You don’t care about the university’s liquidity. You need the Sterling Grant to bail out your own firm before the quarterly report cos out next week."
Thorne went still. The ice in his glass clinked.
"That is slander," he whispered.
"It’s math," I said. "My team ran the numbers. You’re over-leveraged. If the Board finds out their Finance Chairman is trying to raid the endownt to save his private equity firm... well, that’s not just negligence. That’s prison."
I leaned in.
[Skill Active: Intimidation (Level 14)]
[Buff: Shadow Tuxedo ( 25 Charisma)]
[Effect: The Reversal]
"So here is the deal," I said, my voice dropping to match his. "You keep that envelope closed. You leave the Sterling Grant alone. And in exchange, I don’t send the Vanguard solvency report to Victoria Sterling."
The ntion of Victoria made him flinch. He knew she would destroy him if she slled blood in the water.
Thorne set his glass down. His hand was shaking, just a little.
"You’re playing a dangerous ga, boy," he hissed. "Vanguard is too big to fail."
"Nothing is too big to fail, Marcus," I said. "Ask Lehman Brothers."
Thorne straightened his jacket. He looked at Elena with pure venom.
"He’s a rabid dog, Elena. Eventually, he’ll bite you too."
Thorne grabbed the envelope from the desk—he wasn’t leaving his leverage behind—and stord out of the library, slamming the heavy doors behind him.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Elena let out a breath she had been holding for five minutes. She slumped against the desk, her composure shattering.
"You..." she whispered. "You investigated Vanguard?"
"I investigate everyone," I said.
She looked up at . Her eyes were wet.
"He was going to destroy , Jake. He was going to take everything I built. Because of you."
"I know."
"And you just... stopped him."
"I told you," I said, reaching out to take her hand. "I can handle him."
She looked at my hand, then up at my face. The fear in her eyes was replaced by sothing else. Sothing darker.
"He’s right, you know," she said softly. "You are dangerous. You’re not just a student anymore. You’re... sothing else."
"Are you afraid?"
She stepped closer. She gripped my lapels, pulling down.
"Yes," she whispered. "I’m terrified. But God help ... it’s the most turned on I’ve been in years."
[Mission Update: The Winter Ball]
[Objective: Survive the Night - COMPLETE]
[Elena Vance Affection: 85/100 (The Partner)]
[New Threat: Marcus Thorne (War Declared)]
"Kiss ," she commanded. "Before we have to go back out there and pretend we’re civilized."
I kissed her. It tasted like victory.
But in the back of my mind, I heard Victoria’s voice. Elena is sinking.
I had patched the hole for now. But Thorne was still out there. And he still had the file.
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