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작가: Gem
last update 최신 업데이트: 2026-02-07 23:55:06

Brandon’s POV

I didn’t mean to fall asleep on Cameron.

It just… happened.

One second we were sitting on his bed, still damp from the rain, arguing about whose turn it was to shower first, and the next second my head was on his chest and his hand was in my hair and everything felt stupidly warm and safe.

Which is dangerous.

Because whenever things feel too safe, life usually goes, lol nope.

“You’re heavy,” Cameron muttered.

“You literally dragged me down here,” I mumbled into his hoodie.

“You at
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  • Rival's Marriage Agreement    98

    Brandon’s POVThe first sign that something had shifted was not a threat.It was silence.For almost twelve hours after Cameron replied No to the final warning, there were no anonymous messages, no distorted calls, no veiled intimidation disguised as institutional language. The quiet felt intentional, like a vacuum forming before pressure reversed direction.Silence from an opponent does not mean retreat.It means recalibration.Cameron noticed it too, though he did not say so immediately. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor of my apartment, laptop open, the financial document still illuminated on the screen. He had mapped the highlighted transfers into a visual chain, connecting dates, authorization codes, and administrative accounts.“They rerouted discretionary funds through layered approvals,” he said finally. “Small enough increments to avoid automatic flagging.”“Where did it end,” I asked.He zoomed in.“Consulting contracts.”“For what.”“No listed deliverables.”I leaned

  • Rival's Marriage Agreement    97

    Cameron’s POVThe conduct hearing was scheduled for 9:00 a.m., which was deliberate because mornings create an illusion of clarity and order, as though decisions made under fluorescent lighting and formal language cannot possibly be distorted by motive.Brandon walked beside me toward the administrative building, his stride even, his shoulder brushing mine occasionally in quiet reassurance. He had not said much since the photo was sent the night before, but his silence was not fear. It was focus.“They will try to provoke,” he said calmly as we reached the steps.“Yes.”“Do not react to tone.”“I will not.”“And if they redirect to you personally.”“I will redirect to documentation.”He nodded once. That was enough.Inside, the room was already prepared. A long table. Recording equipment. Three board members present, including Professor Okoye. Dean Halvorsen was there as well, though not seated at the center this time.That detail mattered.A neutral moderator began the proceedings fo

  • Rival's Marriage Agreement    96

    Brandon’s POVThe external inquiry request went live at 8:03 a.m.Cameron did not hesitate when he pressed send. He had drafted the formal petition the night before with the kind of precision that turns emotion into structure. It was addressed to the university’s accreditation body, the academic ethics council, and three external oversight organizations that specialized in institutional transparency. Every claim was documented. Every timestamp cross-referenced. Every accusation framed as a request for independent verification rather than outrage.It was devastatingly professional.When the confirmation receipt appeared in his inbox, he exhaled once, slowly.“That is it,” I said quietly.“Yes,” he replied.There was no drama in the moment. No music swelling in the background. Just the soft hum of his laptop fan and the weight of knowing we had forced this beyond campus containment.My phone buzzed.Then his did.Then mine again.Emails.Notifications.The dean’s office had responded f

  • Rival's Marriage Agreement    95

    Brandon’s POVThe external inquiry request went live at 8:03 a.m.Cameron did not hesitate when he pressed send. He had drafted the formal petition the night before with the kind of precision that turns emotion into structure. It was addressed to the university’s accreditation body, the academic ethics council, and three external oversight organizations that specialized in institutional transparency. Every claim was documented. Every timestamp cross-referenced. Every accusation framed as a request for independent verification rather than outrage.It was devastatingly professional.When the confirmation receipt appeared in his inbox, he exhaled once, slowly.“That is it,” I said quietly.“Yes,” he replied.There was no drama in the moment. No music swelling in the background. Just the soft hum of his laptop fan and the weight of knowing we had forced this beyond campus containment.My phone buzzed.Then his did.Then mine again.Emails.Notifications.The dean’s office had responded fa

  • Rival's Marriage Agreement    94

    Cameron’s POVDean Halvorsen did not hurry as he crossed the quad, and that detail unsettled me more than if he had rushed toward us in visible anger, because controlled movement in a public crisis signals calculation rather than panic. The livestream was still running in Brandon’s hand, and the small red indicator in the corner of the screen felt like both a shield and a target as students gathered in a widening circle around us.“End it,” Halvorsen said calmly when he reached us, his voice measured and amplified only by the silence of the crowd.“No,” Brandon replied evenly. “Transparency was requested.”Halvorsen’s eyes flicked briefly toward the phone and then back to us. “This is not how institutional processes function.”“With respect,” I said, keeping my tone steady and formal, “institutional processes were already compromised.”A ripple moved through the students standing nearby. I could feel attention sharpening, focusing, dividing.Halvorsen clasped his hands behind his back

  • Rival's Marriage Agreement    93

    Brandon’s POVI have never liked waiting, especially not the kind of waiting where you know something is moving against you but you cannot see the shape of it yet, because that kind of silence feels artificial and heavy and almost staged, like the calm right before a building alarm goes off and everyone pretends they are not already bracing for the sound.Cameron was too calm.That was what unsettled me the most.He sat across from me in the engineering lab, laptop open, screen reflecting in his eyes like cold light off glass, and he looked composed in a way that meant he was five steps ahead in his head and building contingency plans I could not even see yet.“You are overclocking your brain again,” I said quietly, leaning back in the chair but keeping my voice low enough that the students around us could not hear.“I am reallocating strategy,” he replied without looking up, which was his version of admitting I was right but refusing to stop.“You have not eaten,” I continued, becau

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