CHAPTER 17: UNRAVELING

✦ 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐓 ✦

I hadn't slept much.

Every time I drifted off, I kept hearing Xavier’s voice from yesterday. *If I slow down, Dad finds two more things to pile on me.* It wasn't even a long conversation. Somehow... it stayed with me all night.

By eight the next morning, I was already at campus, sitting in the economics building with my laptop open. The fellowship deadline was coming up fast, and everyone in my department was on edge.

"You look like you barely slept," Adrian said, sitting down next to me with an iced coffee. He set one down by my notebook.

"Thanks, Adrian," I said, taking a quick sip. "Just trying to make sure my market analysis is perfect before the first rankings come out today."

"It’s fine, trust me," Adrian smiled. "You’ve had the highest score in our class all semester."

"Congratulations on making the fellowship shortlist," a slick voice said behind us.

Tristan Brooks walked over, holding a leather folder under his arm. He was dressed in a tailored navy suit, looking like he owned the place. His family was insanely wealthy and practically owned half the university's donor board.

"Morning, Tristan," Adrian said politely.

Tristan didn't even look at Adrian. His eyes stayed on me, a calm, polite expression on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

"Thanks," I replied, keeping my voice steady.

Tristan offered a faint, condescending smile. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

He turned on his heel and strolled off toward the faculty offices, leaving a cold heavy quiet in his wake.

"Don't let him get to you," Adrian muttered, glaring after him. "He's just mad your research is better than his."

"I know," I said. But a knot was already forming in my stomach.

Three hours later, my bad feeling proved right.

I opened my student portal to check my application, and a dark box flashed across the screen:

> **NOTICE: Your Fellowship Application has been placed under administrative review following a formal complaint regarding the originality of your submitted research. Processing has been temporarily suspended pending investigation.**

> 

My stomach completely dropped.

My main research file—the one I had spent weeks building from scratch—was frozen. If the hold wasn't cleared by Friday, I'd be automatically disqualified from the preliminary pool.

I immediately called Student Affairs, my hands trembling as I held the phone to my ear.

"We're unable to discuss ongoing reviews, Mr. Hart," the administrator on the line replied flatly. "You will be notified once the board reaches a decision."

I slammed my phone onto the desk.

Adrian was furious, pacing back and forth in the lounge. When Leo met up with us ten minutes later, he took one look at the notification and narrowed his eyes. "Someone deliberately targeted you, Julian. Someone with enough pull to skip the standard faculty check and go straight to administrative review."

The donor board. Tristan's father.

By seven that evening, I was back at the house, sitting at the kitchen island with my laptop open, staring at the stagnant portal page.

The front door opened down the hall, followed by heavy, measured footsteps.

Xavier walked into the kitchen, pulling off his suit jacket. His tie was loosened, his top buttons undone, and his dark sleeves were rolled up to his forearms. He looked exhausted from a long day at the firm, but he stopped the second he saw me.

"You look stressed," Xavier said, his voice low and deep. "What happened?"

"Nothing," I murmured, staring at my screen. "Just school."

Xavier didn't leave. He walked around the counter and stood right behind my chair. He didn't touch me, but he was close enough that I could feel the heat coming off him.

He leaned down slightly, reading the message on my screen quietly. His grey eyes lifted, settling on the side of my face.

"Who filed the complaint?" he asked.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Tristan Brooks."

"...The donor's son," Xavier said softly.

"Yeah."

I expected him to tell me to handle it with the dean or walk away like he usually did. Instead, Xavier gently reached past me and closed my laptop lid, cutting off the bright glare of the portal screen.

"Eat something," he said quietly.

"I'm not hungry," I muttered, staring at the closed silver shell.

"Julian."

His voice wasn't loud. Somehow... it made arguing feel impossible.

"Go eat," he repeated.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking up at him.

Xavier picked up his car keys from the marble counter, his jaw set in a tight, unreadable line.

"...Fixing a problem," he said simply.

Before I could ask him what that meant, he turned around and walked back out of the kitchen. A moment later, the front door clicked shut.

Fixing a problem? How?

By eleven that night, I was sitting on the edge of my bed in the dark, staring blankly down at my phone.

I kept checking my email. Refreshing. Waiting. Feeling more hopeless with every passing minute. I knew how university bureaucracy worked—an administrative review usually took weeks. My fellowship was as good as gone.

Out of nowhere, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.

I picked it up. A new email notification sat at the top of my screen:

> **UPDATE: Your application review has been completed. Your submission has been reinstated. Fellowship eligibility restored.**

> 

I blinked, staring at the screen.

"Wait... what?" I whispered to myself.

I refreshed the page again. Still there. The hold was completely gone.

A quiet, breathless laugh escaped my lips in the dark. I almost couldn't believe it. Maybe Tristan really had just been trying to scare me with a fake complaint that got tossed out immediately. Or maybe someone in administration realized there'd been a mistake.

Either way... I wasn't about to complain.

I closed the portal on my phone and set it down on the nightstand. Turning off the bedside lamp, the room fell into complete darkness.

Then... I heard the front door downstairs.

A few seconds later, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. Slow. Measured. Moving steadily down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

Then silence.

I opened one eye in the dark, looking toward my closed door. Xavier was home.

For reasons I couldn't explain... the tight knot in my chest suddenly loosened.

I rolled over, pulled the blanket up to my shoulder, and closed my eyes. And,

for the first time in two days... I fell asleep almost immediately........