Chapter 296: A Date?

Chapter 296: Chapter 296: A Date?

The night air was cool and crisp as the sleek, midnight-black sedan from Golden Investments smoothly glided to a halt right in front of the Veyra Technological Institute entrance gates.

Waiting under the dim glow of the streetlamp was Samuel—Alice Chase’s top legal representative. The moment Miller brought the luxury vehicle to a stop, Samuel stepped forward, carrying a slim leather folder in his hands with quiet, military precision.

Miller cut the engine and stepped out to open the door for Maya.

"Miss Vane," Samuel greeted politely with a formal nod, opening the folder to reveal a tablet displaying an encrypted digital contract. "Mr. Rivers instructed us to finalize the equity transfer before midnight. All we need is your cryptographic signature right here."

Maya took the stylus, her hand trembling slightly as her eyes scanned the top of the official document:

[Fate Pharmaceuticals: Shareholder Registry and Voting Rights Assignment.

Transferred Equity: 18% (Controlling Block).

Status: Verified and Executed.]

She pressed the stylus against the glass screen, signing her name. Within three seconds, a green verification checkmark flashed across the top, backed by the official seal of Golden Investments’ primary legal counsel.

’They’re so insanely efficient...’ Maya thought, her jaw dropping slightly in silent disbelief. It hadn’t even been an hour since the incident on the gallery landing, yet Jake’s legal team had already forced Harold Trunk to sign away his majority control and processed the entire transfer onto her name without a single hitch.

"The registration is complete, Miss Vane. The eighteen percent stake is officially under your name," Samuel stated calmly, closing his folder. "Golden Investments’ legal team will handle all regulatory filings."

"Thank you, Sir," Maya managed to say, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.

After thanking Miller and Samuel, Maya walked through the university gates and slipped quietly into Dorm 412. The hallway was completely dead silent, the clock on the wall reading past midnight.

The pale moonlight filtered through the blinds, casting long shadows across stacks of open finance textbooks and her desk littered with empty coffee cups. Both Tracy and Zoe were fast asleep in their beds, their soft, steady breathing filling the room.

Maya carefully set her bag down and leaned back against her desk, the glow of her smartphone illuminating her wide, awe-struck eyes as she opened her private banking portal.

A fresh notification popped up on her screen: Shareholder Registration Confirmed – Fate Pharmaceuticals (18% Equity Block).

Maya blinked, pinching her forearm hard just to make sure she wasn’t trapped in some bizarre, sleep-deprived fever dream. Eighteen percent of a seven-hundred-million-mark pharmaceutical enterprise. Overnight, a struggle that was supposed to take her a decade of ruthless corporate climbing had been handed to her on a silver platter by the most powerful man in Veyra.

’Tracy and Zoe thought I was out of my mind when I dropped twenty thousand marks on that Tier-3 balcony pass,’ Maya thought, a triumphant, breathless smile breaking across her face as she looked over at her sleeping roommates. ’They told me I was wasting my savings on a pipe dream. They told me I wouldn’t even get within twenty feet of Jake Rivers. But look at how things turned out.’

She quietly tiptoed over to her wardrobe, hanging up her emerald-green evening gown beside her ordinary student hoodies.

’Harold thought he could treat me like disposable trash because he assumed I was just a broke young girl,’ Maya thought, her jaw setting with cold, unyielding resolve as she stared at her reflection in the dark mirror. ’He’s probably staring at his phone right now, realizing he lost his controlling grip over the board. And all because he couldn’t control himself.’

’I’m going to turn this stake into an empire,’ Maya vowed quietly to herself, her chest swelling with a fierce, burning ambition as she closed the wardrobe door. ’And stand by his side.’

---

The morning sun filtered through the blinds of Dorm 412 at Veyra Technological Institute, casting long, warm stripes across the small room.

For most students, the eight o’clock hour meant a groggy rush to grab instant coffee and dash to lecture halls. But inside Dorm 412, nobody was paying attention to textbooks.

Tracy was sitting bolt upright on her mattress, her hair mask completely forgotten, staring at Maya with her mouth hanging open. On the opposite side of the room, Zoe had pushed her glasses up her nose, her hands frozen mid-air over her keyboard.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tracy blurted out, flinging her hands into the air. "Let me get this straight! You were trapped by Harold Trunk—the actual Chairman of Fate Pharmaceuticals—and his two gigantic bodyguards?!"

Maya sat on the edge of her desk, still draped in her silk robe, her cheeks flushed with excitement as she recounted the night.

"I’m telling you, it was terrifying!" Maya said, gesturing dramatically. "He was so greasy and pushy, talking about taking care of me for life! I told him to back off, but his guards completely blocked the stairs!"

"That’s literally attempted kidnapping!" Zoe said, her eyes wide behind her lenses. "Maya, you could have been in serious danger! Did you call security? Did gallery staff step in?"

"It was better than gallery security," Maya said, her voice dropping into a breathless, dreamy whisper as a radiant smile broke across her face. "The VIP elevator pinged... and he stepped out."

Tracy gasped so loud she nearly choked. "Jake Rivers?!"

"Jake Rivers," Maya confirmed, her eyes shining with absolute adoration. "He didn’t even hesitate. He took one look at Trunk blocking me, and in his coolest, calmest voice, he just said, ’Elias, clear this trash off my floor.’ And boom! His head bodyguard took down both of Trunk’s men in like two seconds!"

"No way!" Tracy squealed, clutching her throw pillow to her chest. "Are you serious?!"

"I swear on my life!" Maya exclaimed, leaning forward. "And then Jake walked straight past Trunk like he was invisible, came right up to me, and wiped a tear off my cheek! He asked if I was okay, tucked me right against his side, and told me he was sorry a guest under his roof had to deal with such filth."

Zoe shook her head in sheer disbelief, letting out a breathless laugh. "Maya, that sounds straight out of a web novel. Are you sure you didn’t faint from the champagne and dream the whole thing?"

"It was real!" Maya insisted, reaching into her bag and pulling out the sleek, black business card with silver embossed lettering, flashing it in front of them for a brief second before tucking it safely back inside. "He personally apologized for Trunk ruining my very first high-society event... and then he promised to personally invite me to the next grand event as his guest! He even took my number!"

"WHAT?!" Tracy shrieked at the top of her lungs, leaping off her bed so hard she knocked over her laundry basket. "HE INVITED YOU AS HIS GUEST?! MAYA, THAT’S PRACTICALLY A DATE!"

"I know!" Maya squealed back, jumping off her desk as the two of them grabbed hands and started jumping in a circle, their loud, hysterical laughter echoing down the fourth-floor hallway.

Zoe sat back in her chair, shaking her head with an amused smile. "I stand corrected. You dropped twenty thousand marks on a Tier-3 pass when the servers were crushing, almost got cornered by a billionaire, and walked out with a direct invitation from Jake Rivers himself. Your luck really is insane."

"What happened to Trunk?" Tracy asked, catching her breath as she wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. "Did Jake have him thrown out?"

"Jake handled him," Maya said, a subtle, secretive glint flashing across her eyes.

She deliberately kept her lips sealed about the eighteen percent equity transfer. If her roommates found out she was now holding a multi-million-mark controlling stake in Fate Pharmaceuticals, it would change everything between them overnight. They would look at her as a multi-millionaire corporate figure rather than their dormmate. That massive shift was a weapon she intended to keep hidden until the right moment.

"Trunk looked like he was about to faint," Maya added with a satisfying smirk. "He ran off with his tail between his legs. I even got driven back to campus in one of Golden Investments’ private luxury cars!"

"Unbelievable," Tracy sighed envious, collapsing back onto her bed with a dreamy look. "You went from a broke student to Jake Rivers’ future guest in a single night."

Maya walked over to her wardrobe, brushing her fingers over the emerald-green silk gown hanging inside.

’Tracy and Zoe think the invitation is the biggest prize,’ Maya thought, her heart swelling with an intoxicating, unstoppable ambition. ’They have no idea.’

She turned back to her roomies with a bright, confident grin. "Come on, girls. We’re skipping microeconomics today. Coffee’s on me!"

---

On the other side of Aurelia, high above the morning fog in the Zenith, the floor-to-ceiling glass overlooked a breathtaking sunrise.

Jake Rivers stood by the window, a steaming cup of black coffee in hand, watching the city awaken. Behind him, on the marble island, his tablet hummed softly as financial news networks frantically covered the fallout of the Meridian Gallery Gala.

"...breaking financial headlines this morning as industrialist Jake Rivers secures the Twin Islands for five point two billion marks," the news anchor reported. "In secondary news, unconfirmed market reports indicate a massive, sudden restructuring within Fate Pharmaceuticals’ top shareholder registry following a late-night equity transfer..."

Footsteps padded softly across the hardwood floor, and Catharine wrapped her arms gently around Jake’s waist from behind, resting her cheek against his back.

"You’re up early," Catharine murmured softly, her voice warm with sleep.

Jake turned slightly in her arms, setting his cup down and pulling her close against his chest as the golden morning light bathed the room. "It was noisy."

Catharine looked up at him with a gentle, knowing smile. "Thinking about that university student from last night? Maya Vane?"

"Just thinking about how quickly opportunities present themselves to people who know how to take them," Jake replied smoothly, his eyes glinting with calm, sharp intelligence. "She held her ground against Trunk, she was bold enough to spend her earnings on a ticket in search for opportunities, and now she holds eighteen percent of a seven-hundred-million-mark company."

"And you gave her an open invitation to the next event," Catharine teased softly, resting her hands against his lapels. "Are you planning on turning her into one of your corporate assets?"

"I gave her a chance," Jake corrected gently, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. "What she does with that eighteen percent stake—and how she presents herself next time—is entirely up to her. But if she plays her cards right, she might just surprise everyone."

Catharine smiled, resting her head against his shoulder as they looked out over the glowing skyline of Veyra together. "Well, whatever happens next, you still promised me a private tour of your new sovereign island."

Jake’s dark eyes softened with a genuine, affectionate warmth. "Well, we might as well go check it out."

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