Chapter 137.

"Woooah!" Christian’s voice exploded through the room.

Adrian barely looked up.

Christian dropped the laptop onto the desk and spun around in his chair so quickly that it nearly rolled backward.

"That’s what I’m saying, baby." He slapped both hands against the armrests, grinning at the screen. "Fifty percent of the money from Blackwood is fully secured by me."

Adrian looked at him.

For a second, he said nothing. Then the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Congratulations."

Christian stared at him. "That’s it?"

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don’t know." He threw his hands in the air. "Stand up. Hug me. Cry. Something."

Adrian gave him a tiny smile, and shook his head. Christian turned back toward the laptop.

Everything had fall into place.

Blackwood University had been far more valuable than either of them had initially anticipated.

Christian had spent years tracking the school’s financial structure, following money that disappeared into private companies and shell accounts, tracing donations that somehow returned to the same people who had supposedly made them.

Adrian had gone inside.

Christian had worked from the outside. Together, they’d finally gotten what they needed.

Christian leaned back in his chair. "Four years."

Adrian looked at him.

"Four years of this." Christian shook his head, staring at the screen. "I genuinely thought we’d never get to this point."

Adrian remained quiet.

Christian glanced at him. He closed the laptop halfway. "We just secured fifty percent of Blackwood’s hidden revenue."

Adrian nodded. "I heard you."

"And you’re sitting there like somebody just told you the cafeteria ran out of coffee."

Adrian leaned back in his chair. "I have other things on my mind."

Christian stared at him. "This is business, Adrian."

Adrian looked away.

Christian watched him for a moment. His expression softened slightly. "Let’s drink to this."

Adrian looked back at him.

Christian reached beneath the desk and pulled out a bottle. He stood and grabbed two glasses from the cabinet.

He poured, and then he held one toward Adrian. "To four years of suffering."

Adrian took the glass.

"To getting what we came for." Christian lifted his glass.

Their glasses touched.

A quiet clink filled the room.

Adrian took a small sip.

Christian drank more generously. He sighed. "God."

Adrian glanced at him.

"Before that," Adrian said.

Christian paused.

Adrian set his glass down. "Can I at least call her?"

Christian’s expression changed. He scratched the bridge of his nose. "No."

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

"The school are tailing her phone." Christian leaned against the desk. "Her phone. Kylie’s. Her mum’s."

Adrian looked at him.

"I checked all three." Christian shook his head. "I looked into them to secure a way around it, but there isn’t one that doesn’t leave a trail."

Adrian’s fingers tightened around his glass. "There’s always a way."

"Not this time." Christian’s tone was unusually serious. "The school has gone paranoid."

Christian continued.

"They’re monitoring her communications because of the investigation. If we tamper with the trail around her phone and they notice something, they could assume she’s still in contact with you."

Adrian’s eyes lifted.

"And they could use it against her."

Adrian said nothing.

Christian folded his arms. "They might force another disciplinary review."

"They could terminate it on the grounds that she’s still maintaining contact with you less than a month after the investigation."

Adrian stared at the desk. His jaw moved slightly.

Christian watched him. "We’ve gotten through the hard part."

Adrian didn’t answer.

"Her future is intact."

Christian continued.

"Your position at the university is gone, which was always going to happen once they found out. But the operation survived. We got what we needed. And she kept her scholarship."

Adrian looked at him.

Christian’s voice softened. "We can wait this out too."

"It’s been three weeks. Three weeks since I’ve seen her."

Christian didn’t answer.

Adrian rubbed his thumb slowly against the edge of the glass. "And Christmas is in two days."

Christian nodded. "The university will slow down during the holidays. Staff will be away. Administrative offices will close. People will go home."

He picked up his glass again. "We just need to survive a little longer."

Adrian stared at him.

Christian tilted his head. "Didn’t you tell me there was a deadline?"

Adrian’s expression changed slightly.

Christian continued. "If my counting is correct, you both have about a month left."

Adrian said nothing.

"That’s what you told me."

Christian took another drink. "Once that time is up, you can stop worrying about the school entirely."

Adrian’s gaze dropped.

"We should wait this out, Adrian." Christian paused, and added. "For her."

Adrian’s eyes remained fixed on the table.

The room was quiet.

Christian didn’t push.

After a few seconds, Adrian finally said, "She might be thinking I abandoned her."

Christian looked at him.

Adrian’s voice was quiet. "I walked past her. I couldn’t stop." He swallowed. "I wanted to go to her."

His fingers tightened around the glass. "But there were people everywhere."

Christian nodded slowly. "You did what you had to do."

Adrian glared at him. "Doesn’t mean she knows that." His eyes drifted toward the window.

Adrian closed his eyes briefly.

Christian noticed. "You okay?"

Adrian opened them. "Yes."

Christian gave him a skeptical look.

Adrian picked up his glass.

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure." Christian paused. "Her."

Adrian raised a brow at him.

Christian laughed. "I’m kidding."

Adrian shook his head.

Christian returned to his laptop.

"Anyway." He opened another file. "There’s something else you should see."

Adrian looked over.

Christian turned the screen toward him.

A series of numbers appeared.

"Remember the accounts we were tracing through the foundation?"

"Yes."

"I found another connection."

Adrian leaned forward.

Christian pointed at the screen. "These transfers were being routed through three different organizations."

He clicked.

"Then they disappeared into a private investment company."

Another click.

"And guess who owns forty percent?"

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

"Blackwood?"

"Indirectly." Christian smiled. "That’s why the fifty percent matters. Dante signed it under his wife’s name.’

Adrian studied the screen.

Christian’s excitement returned. "We finally have the financial structure." He leaned back. "We don’t just have evidence anymore."

"But seriously." He clicked through several documents. "Emilia’s mum can go to jail if this comes out."

Adrian studied the information.

Christian opened another document. "There are people on that board who have been benefiting from this for years."

Adrian looked at him. "Names?"

Christian smiled. "Among the six who asked you to seize contacts with Emilia, five of then are involved in this. We might as well blackmail then if need be."

Adrian looked back at the screen. "First, clear Mrs. Hayes involvement to this. Find out if she knows anything. If she doesn’t, fix this."

Christian sat back. He nodded.

Adrian looked at the screen.

Christian brows furrowed. "If those pictures hadn’t been released, we might still be waiting."

Adrian frowned.

Christian turned the laptop around again. "The photos forced the school to investigate."

Christian continued. "Think about it." He tapped the screen. "The investigation gave us access to information we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise."

Adrian remained silent.

"The board panicked for eome reasons." Christian smiled. "Also, it gave me enough time to trace the money with all of the oortals unsecured.’

Adrian glanced at him.

Christian grinned. "My fifty percent plus your twenty-five percent." He raised his glass. "Seventy-five."

Adrian’s mouth twitched.

Christian set his glass down. "Now we just have to wait."

Adrian looked down at his phone. His thumb moved across the screen. "What if she thinks I meant what I said? I shouldn’t have said it that way."

"You were trying to protect her. And eventually," Christian continued, "she’ll realize why you did it."

Adrian’s eyes dropped. "I hope so."

Christian watched him for a moment. Then he closed the laptop. "Until then, stay away from her."

He stood. "Come on."

Adrian stood. They walked toward the small bar at the other end of the room.

Christian poured another drink.

Adrian accepted the glass.

"For Blackwood," Christian said.

The sound of the crystal touching was quiet.

Adrian took a drink.

Then his phone buzzed. Both men looked at it. Adrian’s heart jumped before he could stop it. He reached for the phone.

It was message from one of their contacts.

Christian watched Adrian’s face fall. "Bad news?"

Adrian read the message again. "No."

He placed the phone back down. "Nothing important."

Christian picked up his laptop again, remembering something. He opened it again.

"I’ve got one last thing to check."

Adrian sat back down.

Christian’s fingers moved across the keyboard.

"The photos."

Adrian’s expression changed.

Christian glanced at him. "Not the contents." He clicked through a file. "The source."

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. "You found something?"

"Not exactly." Christian opened another document. "But I’ve been tracing how the photographs moved."

Adrian leaned forward.

Christian’s expression became thoughtful. "Whoever released them knew exactly where to send them."

Adrian stared at the screen.

Christian clicked again. "They went directly to someone who could force the university to act."

Adrian’s eyes hardened. "Do we know who?"

"Not yet." Christian leaned closer to the screen. "But I have a pretty good idea where to start."

Adrian remained silent.

Christian’s fingers stopped moving.

He looked at Adrian.

Adrian’s expression changed. "Who?"

Christian didn’t answer immediately. He looked at the file again. Then he closed the laptop.

"Lucy."

The room went silent.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

Christian leaned back slowly.

"Which brings us to the question." He looked directly at Adrian. "What do we do with Lucy for releasing the pictures?"