Chapter 18: A Villain’s Design & System Store
Two Days Later
[News Alert: Scholarship Student Expelled from Celestial Academy Amid Drug Scandal – School Declines to Comment]
The headline was modest. No pictures. No drama. Just a quiet line buried on an Autumnvale education feed.
Vincent Cornelius scrolled past it with a satisfied hum, the city lights of Sector 3 glinting against the glass of his penthouse. A tablet blinked blue on his desk—tracking press impact, and Helena Darrow’s movement patterns.
Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.
The Seed
The first move had been deceptively simple: stir the waters.
He didn’t invent the rumors about Liam—just amplified them with surgical precision. Kaliya Patel, loyal and eager to please, had begun seeding gossip through dorm halls and dining queues with practiced casualness:
"Did you hear Liam saved Rina from some debt collectors? That’s why she owes him."
"He said she was warming up to him—like, emotionally."
"Word is he’s planning something big for her birthday. Maybe a confession?"
"Honestly, the way he talks... it’s like he owns her."