Monica stayed silent after saying that.

She did not know what to do with Adam’s warning. He had told her not to ask John directly, but he had not explained why. That made her worry more.

Adam looked at her for a moment.

Then he took a slow breath.

"Don’t worry," he said.

Monica raised her eyes.

Adam’s voice stayed calm. "I’m not going to tell anyone about this. I won’t tell the college."

He paused once.

"Not John either."

Monica stared at him.

That answer surprised her more than she expected. For the whole day, she had been afraid that Adam might know something about her. She had been afraid that if he knew, he might use it against her or look at her in a different way.

But Adam only sounded tired.

There was no greed in his voice. There was no excitement either. He was not acting like a person who had found a secret worth selling.

The part about John stayed in her mind for a little longer.

John was the one she had almost asked about. John was also the one Adam had warned her not to question directly. Because of that, she had thought Adam would use John’s name to make her more careful.

He did not do that.

He simply told her that he would not speak.

Monica opened her mouth.

No words came out.

Adam saw that she wanted to say something, but he did not wait for it.

"You’re my friend, Monica," he said. "That’s enough for me."

After saying that, he turned and started walking away.

Monica took one step forward without thinking.

"Adam..."

Her voice was too low. Adam had already moved farther down the path. Even if he heard it, he did not turn back.

Monica stood where she was.

For a while, she only watched his back.

The fear inside her did not disappear at once, but it changed. It was still there, but it no longer felt like something was closing around her throat. Adam knew a part of the truth. He had only guessed it, but he had not tried to take anything from her.

Monica slowly lowered her eyes.

All this time, she had kept a fake life in front of everyone. She had acted like a normal scholarship student. She had kept smiling while she answered questions and hid the parts that did not fit. She had wanted to speak to someone about the life she came from and what it felt like to hide it every day.

There were days when she wanted to tell someone that she was not as relaxed as she looked. There were days when she wanted to say that this normal life also felt heavy because she had to watch every word. Even one careless answer could expose the life she was hiding.

But she could not tell anyone.

If she told the wrong person, everything would change.

Now, when she looked at Adam, she felt that maybe there was one person she could speak to, not today and not fully, but maybe one day.

For a second, she wanted to run after him.

Then she stopped herself.

’No.’ Monica thought. ’He just came back today. I can’t throw all my problems on him at once.’

She looked in the direction Adam had gone one last time. A small smile came to her face. Then she turned and walked away.

Later, John returned home.

The moment he entered the front hall, a man in a dark suit stepped toward him. His name was Leon Hale. He handled John’s private work outside the mayor’s office.

John did not slow down.

"You checked it?" John asked.

Leon followed beside him at once. "Yes, young master."

John walked through the hall and toward his room. He had sent Leon a message as soon as he saw Adam inside the college. He had not waited until the class ended. He had not waited until lunch. The moment Adam appeared, John knew someone had moved behind the scenes.

The order had been simple.

Find out how Adam came back.

Find out why the suspension disappeared.

Now John wanted the answer.

"Tell me," John said.

Leon waited until they reached the room. John pushed the door open and walked in first. Leon entered behind him and closed the door.

He did not waste time with extra words. John disliked reports that tried to sound clever before giving the point.

"It was Aster Core, sir," Leon said.

John stopped near the table.

"Aster Core?"

"Yes, young master," Leon replied. "They came to the university with a sponsorship deal."

John turned toward him.

Leon continued, "After that, Adam’s suspension was removed. I could not get the whole agreement, but the donation was large. The university people were careful when they spoke. They also looked nervous."

"How large?"

"I could not confirm the exact amount," Leon said. "But the people I spoke to reacted carefully."

"Meaning?"

"It was big enough for the university to look at Adam’s case again and remove the suspension in one day."

John’s eyes became still when he heard that it had happened in one day.

That part mattered.

Adam had not simply been allowed back because someone felt pity for him. A company had entered with enough money to make the university change its decision quickly.

The college had not acted like it was forgiving a poor student. It had acted like refusing was no longer smart.

"What exactly is Aster Core?" John asked.

Leon answered at once. "It is a new company. They make and supply chips."

John looked at him.

"Chip manufacturing?" he asked. "In this country?"

Leon nodded, though even he looked unsure about it. "That surprised me too, young master. But yes. Their name is spreading in the market."

John did not speak for a few seconds.

Then he slowly sat down.

Aster Core and Adam now stood in the same line inside his mind.

A company that should not care about a poor scholarship student had spent enough money to bring him back. The shape of the problem had changed in front of him.

John’s fingers tapped once on the table.