The godfather walks

Dr. Adrian’s phone vibrated on his desk just after dawn. He froze when the name glowed across the screen. Alexander Lanchester.

His breath caught. He rarely called. And when he did, nothing good followed.

Adrian answered. “Alexander.”

The voice that came was smooth, low, and edged with steel. “Adrian. I heard whispers. Your late wife left a significant share of the hospital under your roof.”

Adrian swallowed hard. “You have good ears.”

“But I do not like whispers,” Alexander said. “I like the truth. And I expect it from you.”

Adrian’s grip tightened on the phone. “It is true. She left her shares. That is all.”

Alexander’s silence stretched long enough to make Adrian’s chest ache. Then, with calm menace, he said, “Then I will see for myself.”

The line clicked dead.

Adrian sat frozen, the phone heavy in his hand. The room seemed smaller, the walls closing in. “God help us,” he whispered.

By Monday morning, the entire school was in chaos.

Rumors spread faster than fire on dry leaves. The whispers bounced from hallway to hallway, from cafeteria tables to lecture halls.

“Did you hear? Alexander Lanchester is here.”

“No, that cannot be true he’s too powerful to bother with us.”

“I heard he walked into the Vice Chancellor’s office himself. In person.”

Aria clutched her books tighter as she moved through the campus crowd, their excited, nervous chatter filling the air. She didn’t know who this Lanchester was, not really, but the way people trembled at his name made her stomach coil.

Inside the Vice Chancellor’s office, the atmosphere was heavy. The VC himself a man who usually strutted the halls with confidence was sweating bullets as he sat across from Alexander Lanchester.

Alexander looked effortlessly composed in his three-piece charcoal suit, every detail immaculate. He radiated a kind of power that made silence bow before him.

“I came here unannounced,” Alexander said, his tone even but commanding. “Because I prefer to see things with my own eyes.”

The VC cleared his throat, his voice breaking slightly. “Yes, of course, sir. But may I ask… what brings you here? To our small institution?”

Alexander leaned back, crossing one leg smoothly over the other. “I am inspecting spaces. I want to renovate the sports complex and the health center. This school is part of five top institutions I selected. I plan to upgrade them into world-class facilities.”

The VC blinked rapidly. “You… you mean as a donation? A gift?”

Alexander’s lips curved faintly. “Call it what you will. I call it investing in the future. Does that sound acceptable?”

The VC almost fell out of his chair nodding. “Of course! More than acceptable, sir. We would be honored. Anything you wish this school is at your disposal.”

Outside the office, the rumors only grew wilder.

“Why would a man like Alexander Lanchester come here?”

“Maybe it has something to do with Damian Cole. Isn’t Lanchester his godfather?”

“Yes! And didn’t someone slap Damian at the hospital on Saturday? Maybe this is connected maybe he came for revenge.”

The word “revenge” hung in the air like a curse, making students scatter to corners, peeking through windows and whispering.

Aria heard the whispers too. Her heart raced, but her chin lifted. She hated being afraid of shadows. If this man was truly so powerful, if he could make even the Vice Chancellor tremble, then she needed to see him with her own eyes.

“Enough of the gossip,” she muttered under her breath. “I’ll decide for myself who this man is.”

She walked out toward the central courtyard, where the crowd had thickened. Security men in black suits moved like wolves through the students, clearing paths. The atmosphere felt electric, like the air before a storm.

That was when it happened.

“Aria.”

A voice behind her. Low, familiar, and poisoned with mockery.

Her body stiffened. She turned and froze.

Ethan.

Her pulse spiked instantly. He was dressed sharp, his smirk just as smug as she remembered. But there was something different men in black trailed him, marking him as one of Lancaster’s men.

Ethan stepped closer, lowering his head until his lips brushed her cheek. His whisper burned her ear. “Miss me?”

Her stomach twisted with rage. Before she could think, her hand flew.

The slap cracked loud enough to silence part of the courtyard. Ethan’s head snapped to the side. His cheek burned red.

Gasps erupted.

“Did she just slap him?”

“Is she insane?”

Ethan turned back to her slowly, eyes flashing with fury. “You little….. ”

But he didn’t finish.

Because the crowd split suddenly, like the sea bowing before a storm.

A presence entered. Heavy, commanding, undeniable.

Alexander Lanchester.

He stepped into the courtyard, flanked by security, his gaze sweeping the crowd until it landed squarely on Aria.

And held.

Students froze, holding their breath. Some whispered frantically.

“He saw it. He saw her slap Ethan.”

“What’s he going to do? She’s dead.”

The silence was deafening. Ethan stood trembling with barely restrained anger, expecting Alexander to unleash hell on the girl who had dared humiliate him.

But Alexander said nothing.

He only looked at Aria. A long, measured look. His eyes sharp, assessing, almost curious burned into hers.

Aria’s chest tightened, but she refused to look away. Her chin tilted up, defiance sparking in her eyes.

For a beat, the world held still.

Alexander’s expression remained unreadable, but the faintest flicker of something crossed his face. Surprise. Amusement. Intrigue.

The silence stretched, every second louder than the last. Students leaned forward, their whispers trembling.

“Will he punish her?”

“Will he drag her away?”

“God, what is going to happen?”

Alexander finally turned slightly, speaking to no one in particular, his voice smooth as silk yet carrying through the courtyard.

“Interesting.”

Then he walked on, leaving Ethan seething and the students buzzing with restless fear.

But his eyes had said it all.

He had noticed Aria.

And the storm was only just beginning.