Adrian’s heart sank, but he kept his expression neutral. Under the curious gazes of his classmates, he got up and walked out.
In the hallway, Daniel Foster stepped over to the window and lowered his voice.
“Adrian, what happened? Did you get on Professor Caldwell’s bad side?”
The moment Adrian heard that, the anger he had been suppressing all morning flared up again.
His expression darkened.
“I didn’t cause any trouble. He’s the one making a big deal out of nothing. I just wanted to talk to my girlfriend for a few minutes. I never even touched her, but Professor Caldwell jumped to conclusions, chewed me out, and insisted on contacting you.”
“Your girlfriend?” Daniel frowned. “The dance student?”
“Yeah.” Adrian sounded irritated. “She’s just mad at me right now…”
“I don’t care about your relationship drama,” Daniel cut him off. “What matters is Professor Caldwell. Do you know who he is?”
Adrian fell silent.
“He’s one of the most respected professors in the humanities,” Daniel continued. “Decades of experience, an impressive academic reputation—that’s not even the main issue. His family has been involved in academia for generations. He has students and former students all over the place, and his connections in academic and cultural circles—even higher up…”
Daniel subtly raised one finger.
“…are extensive.”
Adrian’s expression changed slightly.
“He usually seems easygoing, but when it comes to his students, he doesn’t back down. He’s already convinced you were harassing a female student, disrespecting a professor, and behaving aggressively. He wants the department to take this seriously, and he’s even talking about reporting it to the student affairs office.”
Adrian froze.
He hadn’t expected that ordinary-looking old professor to have that kind of influence.
Daniel was getting frustrated too.
“Adrian, I know you feel like you were treated unfairly. But Professor Caldwell saw what happened himself, and there are cameras in the classroom. He’s furious, and he’s already made his position very clear.”
He sighed.
“And forget about the girl for a moment. You were in his class, you tried to pull a female student away, and you argued with him when he told you to stop. That alone is enough for him to hold a grudge.”
He looked at Adrian seriously.
“The girl isn’t even the main issue anymore. Do you understand?”
Adrian remained silent.
“My advice? Come with me to the humanities department this afternoon. Apologize to Professor Caldwell sincerely, and let’s put this behind us.”
Adrian pressed his lips together.
Apologize?
To that old man?
Hadn’t he already been humiliated enough that morning?
“Professor Foster, I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not apologizing.”
His voice was firm.
“This isn’t the old days. Everyone is equal now. Professor Caldwell shouldn’t be using his position as a professor to push people around. If he wants to report it to student affairs, let him. I trust the university will look into everything and make a fair decision.”
Daniel stared at him for a moment, then shook his head in frustration.
“Adrian, don’t be so stubborn. This could turn into something serious. If Professor Caldwell decides to pursue this, you’re the one who’s going to suffer.”
“My future depends on what I can accomplish, not on whether I apologize to someone who’s being unreasonable.”
Adrian spoke with quiet arrogance.
“Professor Foster, if that’s all, I’m going back to class.”
Before Daniel could say anything else, Adrian turned and walked back into the lecture hall.
Daniel watched him go and let out a heavy sigh.
The class ended soon afterward.
Adrian packed up his things, and Victoria Sterling approached him, concern written neatly across her face.
“Professor Foster came looking for you earlier… Is everything okay? He looked pretty serious.”
“It’s nothing.”
Adrian didn’t want to tell Victoria what had happened that morning.
He certainly didn’t want to mention the rumors about Elena getting out of a luxury car.
Whether those rumors were true or not, admitting that they bothered him would only make him look weak.
“Just a little misunderstanding.”
Victoria studied him for a moment before speaking gently.
“Adrian, we’re friends. If you’re dealing with something, you can always talk to me.”
Adrian nodded.
When Victoria saw that he clearly didn’t intend to say anything more, she let it go.
“Are you coming with me to Professor Bennett’s office later?”
Adrian paused.
“What?”
“Professor Bennett didn’t message you?”
She looked surprised.
“He asked us to stop by his office after class to go over the details for next month’s mathematical modeling competition.”
Adrian shook his head.
A faint sense of unease settled in his chest.
A few minutes later, the two of them arrived at Professor Bennett’s office.
Professor Andrew Bennett was the faculty advisor for their competition team and one of the most respected professors in the department.
When they knocked and entered, he was sitting behind his desk going through a stack of documents.
The moment he saw Adrian, something seemed slightly off about his expression.
He wasn’t nearly as warm as usual.
“Professor Bennett, we’re here,” Adrian said. “I just didn’t receive your message…”
Professor Bennett gestured for them to sit.
He was silent for a moment, apparently choosing his words carefully.
Victoria immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“Professor, did something happen? Has there been a change in the competition problem or the direction of the project?”
Professor Bennett pushed his glasses up.
“Adrian, there’s something I need to talk to you about. Regarding the mathematical modeling competition…”
He paused.
“We just heard from the organizing committee about the final team roster. There’s been a change concerning your place on the team.”
Adrian frowned.
“A change? What kind of change?”
“Well…”
Professor Bennett hesitated, clearly uncomfortable.
“The organizing committee made a few recommendations. They considered things like teamwork and past performance, among other factors. The final three-person team will be Victoria, Oliver Grant, and…”
He paused again.
“…Nathan Brooks.”
“Nathan?”
Adrian stared at him in disbelief.
Nathan Brooks was another top student in their class.
He was quiet and withdrawn and hardly ever socialized with anyone.
He had an ordinary appearance and came from a modest family. He was the kind of student who kept his head down and studied.
Academically, Nathan was roughly on par with Adrian.
But when it came to raw talent and intuition, Adrian had always considered himself far ahead of him.
As for competition experience and awards, Nathan couldn’t compare.
And Nathan had never gone out of his way to curry favor with professors either. He was distant from most of the faculty.
“Why?”
Adrian’s voice trembled slightly with shock and anger.
“Professor Bennett, you know what I’m capable of. Nathan has barely any competition experience. How could the organizing committee choose him over me? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Professor Bennett looked uncomfortable as well.
“Well… we don’t know exactly what the committee was thinking. Perhaps they felt Nathan had a stronger foundation and was more consistent. Or maybe they considered other factors as part of the overall evaluation.”
He paused.
“Either way, the roster has been finalized. I did try to argue for you, but this is the final decision.”
Adrian sat there as though he had been struck by lightning.
He had been publicly humiliated by Professor Caldwell that morning.
Now, that afternoon, he had been inexplicably removed from a major competition team—replaced by Nathan Brooks, the very person he had never considered a serious rival.
A chill slowly crept up his spine.
When he and Victoria left Professor Bennett’s office, the bright hallway lights fell across Adrian’s face, making his already pale expression look even more hollow.
His steps felt unsteady.
His mind was buzzing.
This competition carried considerable weight. Winning or even participating would have been an important addition to the résumé he was carefully building.
Of course, Adrian already had plenty of accomplishments that set him apart from other students his age. Even without this competition, it wouldn’t be a devastating loss.
But—
Every time he thought about being replaced by Nathan, someone from a modest family with an ordinary appearance who had never even been considered a rival, he felt a deep sense of frustration.
Victoria walked beside him, watching the way the blow had clearly affected him.
Her eyes flickered.
“Adrian, don’t take it too hard.”
Adrian turned to look at her.
“…There may still be a way to change this.”
Adrian’s eyes immediately brightened.
“What do you mean, Victoria?”
Victoria smiled calmly.
“There are people on the organizing committee, as well as some of the event organizers, that my family has dealt with before. We could reach out under the pretext of recommending an outstanding alternate candidate and asking for clarification about the roster.”
She paused.
“Maybe we can find out what happened. If there’s still room to make a case, we might be able to get your spot back.”
She had phrased it carefully, but the meaning was obvious.
She could use the Sterling family’s connections to try to intervene on his behalf.
Adrian’s heart began to race.
Gratitude, excitement, and a sense of of course all mixed together inside him.
Right.
How had he forgotten?
The girl standing beside him was Victoria Sterling—the heiress of the Sterling family.
A family with that kind of reach and influence had connections in countless circles.
Compared with the Sterling family, getting him back onto a university competition team might be nothing more than a few phone calls.
The frustration he had been carrying since his confrontation with Professor Caldwell that morning suddenly seemed to have found an outlet.
That supposedly influential old professor—
What could he really do when faced with genuine power?