The heavy, soundproofed doors of the Dean's office clicked shut behind Jaden and his father, leaving a vacuum of silence in the hallway that felt more suffocating than the crowd's whispers.
April was leaning against the cold stone wall of the corridor, her hands trembling so violently she had to shove them into her pockets. She had seen Arthur Sterling's face as he walked out it wasn't the face of a disappointed parent; it was the face of a man who crushed things that didn't fit his silhouette.
Ten minutes later, Jaden emerged.
He didn't look like the King. He looked like he was walking to his own execution. His eyes scanned the hallway and locked onto April. Without a word, he grabbed her wrist not with his usual arrogance, but with a desperate, grounding grip and led her toward the service staircase that led to the rooftop.
The heavy, soundproofed doors of the Dean's office clicked shut behind Jaden and his father, leaving a vacuum of silence in the hallway that felt more suffocating than the crowd's whispers.
April was leaning against the cold stone wall of the corridor, her hands trembling so violently she had to shove them into her pockets. She had seen Arthur Sterling's face as he walked out it wasn't the face of a disappointed parent; it was the face of a man who crushed things that didn't fit his silhouette.
Ten minutes later, Jaden emerged.
He didn't look like the King. He looked like he was walking to his own execution. His eyes scanned the hallway and locked onto April. Without a word, he grabbed her wrist not with his usual arrogance, but with a desperate, grounding grip and led her toward the service staircase that led to the rooftop.
The wind on the rooftop was biting, whipping April's hair across her face. As soon as the door heavy metal door slammed shut, the adrenaline that had been keeping her upright evaporated.
"Jaden, his face..." April's voice broke, a sharp contrast to her usual iron-clad composure. "He looked at me like I was... like I was an insect he was about to step on. What happened in there? What did he say?"
Jaden turned away from her, gripping the rusted railing of the rooftop so hard his knuckles turned white. "He knows, April. He doesn't know about JD-Zero yet, but he knows I threw the test. And he knows I did it for you."
"So what? He'll take your car? He'll ground you?" April stepped closer, her voice rising in a pitch of pure, raw terror. "I can handle being hated by the school, Jaden. I've been hated my whole life. But that man... he's different."
Jaden finally turned to face her. The "Golden Boy" mask was completely shattered. For the first time, April saw the boy underneath the one who was just as trapped as she was.
"He's not going to punish me, April," Jaden whispered, his voice cracking. "He's going to punish you. He told the Dean that if I'm not back at #1 by the end of the month, he's pulling the Sterling Endowment. He's going to force them to cut the scholarship program. Starting with yours."
April felt the world tilt. The breath left her lungs as if she'd been punched. "He... he can't do that. I earned my spot. I have the highest grades in the history of the academy "
"He owns the land the academy sits on!" Jaden yelled, the frustration finally exploding out of him. Then, seeing the look of sheer horror on her face, he immediately softened. He stepped into her space, reaching out to steady her as her knees buckled.
"I'm sorry," he breathed, pulling her against his chest. It wasn't a "fake" move for a camera. It was a genuine moment of vulnerability. He tucked her head under his chin, his heartbeat thundering against her ear. "I'm so sorry, April. I thought I was giving you the win you deserved. I didn't realize I was putting a target on your life."
April gripped the fabric of his blazer, her face hidden against him. "Everything I've worked for... my mom, the shop, the late nights... it's all gone if I lose this scholarship. Jaden, I'm terrified."
"I won't let him," Jaden said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl she recognized from his JD-Zero persona. "He thinks he can use you to control me. He thinks people are just variables in an equation. But he forgot that I know how to hack the system."
He pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes. His gaze was fierce. "He wants a King? Fine. I'll play the King. But while I'm playing his game, we're going to find the kill-switch for his empire."
The Predator in the Streetlights
That night, the terror followed April to the Old District. As she walked to the Seven-Star for her shift, she felt a prickle on the back of her neck.
Across the street, tucked into the shadow of a derelict building, Marcus Thorne sat in his car. He didn't have his laptop Jaden had seen to that but he had a long-lens camera and a heart full of spite. He watched April enter the shop, his eyes narrowing.
You're hiding something in that slum, Mendoza, Marcus thought, his finger hovering over the shutter. And since Jaden deleted my digital trail, I'm going to catch you the old-fashioned way.
He waited for Jaden to show up. He waited for the "clinch," the secret meeting, the slip-up. But as the hours ticked by, the streetlights began to flicker strangely. One by one, the bulbs hummed and popped, plunging the block into an unnatural, pitch-black darkness.
Marcus fumbled with his camera, trying to adjust the ISO, but his phone suddenly buzzed with a notification that made his blood run cold.
It was an image of himself taken from the security camera of the very building he was hiding behind with a violet crosshair centered on his forehead.
Underneath, a single message: [DO NOT LOOK FOR GHOSTS. YOU MIGHT BECOME ONE.]
Marcus looked up, panicked, searching the rooftops. He saw nothing but the silhouette of the city, but the message was clear. Jaden wasn't just protecting April's rank anymore. He was guarding her life.