As he stretched, he asked, “Have you taken care of everything?”Erin looked awkward as she shook her head. “I’m sorry about this, but the university refused to approve your leave because they said that you may not even be one of their students anymore.”Her words made him realize what was going on. After a moment of thought, he nodded and said,“Take me to the university now. I think I need to discuss with the dean whether I’m still one of Kingston University’s students.”Erin had never doubted him, so she drove to the university. When they arrived, the sky had yet to darken, and the students still had class. Darius headed straight for the dean’s office and knocked on the door.Soon, an aged voice said, “Come in.” Darius walked in and met the dean’s eyes, clearly seeing the shock there. He didn’t expect to see this in the dean’s eyes, which made him suspicious. It was true that his sudden appearance was a surprise, but the dean’s reaction was still unexpected.He asked, “Dean Fletcher, you s

After saying that, he looked like he was excited for the show to start.What Darius did next surprised him—he turned the computer on, looked for a dissertation Leon had written, pulled it up, and showed it to him. He said seriously, “I once read a dissertation that’s very similar to yours, and it was published three years ago. Dean Fletcher, I’d like you to prove that you wrote this dissertation independently and didn’t copy someone else’s work.”As he spoke, he pulled his phone out. “I hope that you’ll be able to give me a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, I’ll have grounds to suspect that you committed plagiarism, and I’ll report you to the authorities.”Leon had imagined plenty of different ways Darius would react, but this definitely wasn’t one of them. He took a deep breath and glared at Darius, saying, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? You’re crossing the line here.”Darius nodded. “We used the same methods, didn’t we? Why are you mad? Also, you don’t have any way to prove y

It was because of her concern that he showed no displeasure. On the contrary, he smiled and said patiently, “No, I’m here and not at the detention center because I’ve already proved my innocence.”Pearl let out a sigh of relief and patted her chest lightly. She smiled and said, “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come here. I was worried that you’d be in danger if you couldn’t prove your innocence, so I came here to help you out. At the very least, I could ensure you’d still be a student here.”Darius was moved by her words and curious to know what else she was up to. So, he shrugged and said, “You showed up in the right time. Dean Fletcher doesn’t believe the authorities’ decision, nor does he believe what I told him. He doesn’t want me to continue studying here.”Pearl’s eyes widened in disbelief. “That’s ridiculous!” She turned to Leon and said, “Dean Fletcher, I’m sure there must be a misunderstanding. Maybe we can solve things if you let us know your concerns.”Before Darius could say anyt

Darius raised his arm, pulled back his sleeve to look at his watch, then placed his hands on the table. “You’ll have loads of free time in the future, Dean Fletcher, while I’ll be busier. If you want an easier time at the detention center, I suggest you stand and speed this whole process up.”Leon’s eyes narrowed the slits at Darius. “You’re too arrogant, Darius Reid! Sooner or later, you’ll pay for it!”Darius did not respond to that. His expression remained blank as he put his hands in his pockets, turned toward the official, and said, “I think we should go now.”“I agree,” replied the official in a neutral tone. Subsequently, Darius exited the space with the group of officials in tow.Pearl never imagined she would witness such a scene. Her jaw dropped, and she did not know how to respond.That continued until Darius stepped outside the dean’s office. Only then did Pearl finally speak. “Darius, I think I should go with you because I can prove that you wrote your dissertation. Plus, I als

Darius and the official were no longer within Donny’s hearing range.The latter, also Donny’s friend, kept silent the entire time.It was later when Darius decided to speak up. “Are you worried Donny got detained because your chief has something to do with the mastermind behind my situation?”The official generously expressed their admiration for Darius, praising him, “You’re the top student at Kingston University, who’s genuinely exceptional and intelligent. That’s exactly how I feel. According to our rules, Donny shouldn’t even get detained, at least not until the case closes. Moreover, he shouldn't have received such a harsh punishment.”“It’s okay.” Darius was calm as he explained, “No matter what horrible things they do. I’ll deal with the root of what made this happen once Donny’s matter gets resolved.” The official’s eyes widened.Yet, it did not last as he immediately collected himself. “I can’t do much to aid you with that. All I can do is hope for your success and pray for

Darius arrived at the university gates and saw almost all of his lecturers standing there. He tensed, confused by that sight. However, he quickly snapped to his senses, approaching a lecturer who had taught one of his classes. “Professor Brown, because Professor Plinsky and Dean Fletcher are both dealing with some troubles, I don’t know who to ask regarding my request for a month’s leave.”Professor Brown was aware of everything that had transpired. Thus, he felt pity for Darius and was quick to nod. “I already know about your request and am giving you my approval.”Darius did not expect things to go so smoothly.Nevertheless, he reached out to shake hands with Professor Brown, hoping to express his gratitude.After the handshake, Darius left the scene with lightning speed as he could not wait to be at Almiron City.Erin had successfully booked flight tickets to Almiron City by the time Darius joined her in the car.“Let’s go to the airport since we already have the tickets,” said D

Darius halted upon hearing those words. Heasked, “How long before our flight’s boarding time?”Erin glanced at her watch before herfeatures slightly softened. “We still have three hours to get our boardingpasses.”“It looks like we have plenty of time toresolve this issue,” replied a sighing Darius. He no longer tried to interveneat that point. Instead, Darius found a quiet corner at the airport with a clearview of the commotion. There, he sat down and got himself a cup of coffee.Erin sat beside him with a perplexedexpression. “Mr. Reid, why aren’t we going over to help them?”Amused laughter bubbled from Darius justthen. “I believe this is something they, as bodyguards, should know toresolve.”Not understanding Darius’ intention, Erinkept quiet. She remained beside him and watched as he drank his coffee.…Meanwhile, the commotion downstairsintensified.The middle-aged woman grew more agitated,baring her teeth. “Edward, my daughter has never done anything behind yourbac

Bridget ran to Darius’ side, urging him, “Mr. Reid, I think you should give Edward another chance because this matter has been plaguing him for some time now. It’s plausible for a girl to fall in love with Edward at first glance and obsess over making him her boyfriend. However, Edward doesn’t even remember meeting this woman’s daughter. He doesn’t even know when they crossed paths! As for the rest of this woman’s accusations about our workplace relationship, that’s false as well!”Her gaze locked onto Darius’ face, searching for any hint that the latter had changed his mind about firing Edward. Sadly, there was none.Even Erin did not know what Darius was planning. She felt his current actions were different from what she previously thought.Silence filled the space.However, the surrounding onlookers now stared at Darius with disapproval. They felt he was cruel for not protecting his employee in that situation.Little did they know their opinions would soon get proven wrong.Darius took o

By the time Darius located Erin, the woman had vanished. All that remained was the faint smell of blood in the airErin did not feel he had to hide anything from Darius. “I broke her wrist and got her to admit why she did all that.” While saying that, She looked at Darius, waiting for his response.Darius signed.Erin reached out to look at his watch. “If we had found out about this 30 minutes later than we did now, we’d already be on the plane, facing a grave threat.”Darius and the two bodyguards shared confused looks before they asked, “What exactly happened?”Neither of the three could imagine the severity of what was happening.After pondering for a while, she decided to reveal the truth. “At first, I didn’t think things were that serious, so I planned to give anyone involved with the earlier incident a warning. You know—give them a taste of pain. However, along the way, I caught a whiff of a peculiar odor that only belonged to aircraft paint. Those guys were here as flight passengers,

Darius chuckled, feeling taken aback by Edward’s words. “That doesn’t matter because you can prove your capabilities by speedily defeating them.”Edward nodded.As their conversation ended, two men appeared beside Edward.One of them swung their arm around Edward’s shoulders and said, “Edward Elliott, we’ve had a hard time tracking you down these years. We didn’t think we’d see you here.” Edward, Bridget, Erin, and Darius were surprised that the other party did not immediately take action.However, Edward would tell the man had exerted a lot of force on his shoulder, which made his brows furrow.He remained unmoving but spoke with an irritated tone. “Shouldn’t you be happy to have found me?” The man’s face warped with rage. “We’ve always treated you well in the past, Edward. Why would you do this to us now? Besides, I need to know where our mom has gone. She said she saw you and came over but never returned to us, not even until now.”Edward’s gaze shifted to Darius. He was unsure if he shou