Chapter 7 - The Counter-Strike
Leo didn't sleep that night. He sat in his dark apartment, staring at his hands. If he stayed at the conservatory, Julian’s family would never stop coming after his mother. They would ruin her life to get to him.
I have to quit, Leo thought, tears of frustration burning his eyes. I have to let him win.
His phone buzzed. It was Clara. Meet me at the back entrance of the school. Now.
Leo snuck out and ran through the rain to the conservatory. Clara was waiting by the service doors, holding a laptop.
"I didn't believe it for a second," Clara said, pulling him inside out of the rain. "I know Julian. He's arrogant, but he's sloppy. I asked the night watchman to let me see the raw server data from the security cameras."
"The police already checked the cameras," Leo said hopelessly. "My mom was in the hallway."
"Yes, but they only checked the hallway cameras," Clara smiled fiercely. "They didn't check the reflection."
She opened the laptop and pulled up a feed from the main atrium, which had a massive glass wall overlooking the locker room corridor. She zoomed in on the glass reflection.
In the grainy, mirrored image, Leo saw it clearly. Julian Vance walking past his mother, deliberately dropping his shoulder, knocking her bag to the floor, and swiftly sliding the shiny silver watch into the open tote bag while pretending to help her pick up her things.
Leo’s breath caught in his throat. "We have him."
"We don't just have him," Clara said. "We have the end of the Vance legacy."
The next morning, Arthur Sterling called an emergency board meeting. Richard Vance sat at the head of the table, looking incredibly pleased with himself. Julian stood behind him, playing the victim.
"It’s unfortunate," Richard was saying as Leo, Clara, and Maestro Kael walked into the boardroom. "But we cannot have criminals attending this institution."
"I agree completely, Richard," Sterling said coldly.
Sterling pressed a button on a remote. The massive projector screen behind him flickered to life, playing the zoomed-in video of Julian framing Rosa, clear as day.
The color instantly drained from Richard Vance’s face. Julian took a step back, his mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish.
"That... that’s manipulated footage!" Richard stammered.
"It is raw, time-stamped data from our servers," Kael said, his voice dripping with disgust. "Your son is a coward, Richard. He couldn't beat Leo on the keys, so he tried to destroy his mother."
Sterling stood up. "Julian Vance, you are expelled from the Sterling Conservatory, effective immediately. And Richard, if you do not withdraw your funding gracefully and leave this city, I will hand this footage over to the District Attorney and the press. Your son will face felony charges for filing a false police report and framing an innocent woman."
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Richard looked at the screen, then at his son in utter disgrace. He had no leverage. He had lost.
"Pack your things, Julian," Richard hissed at his son, walking out of the room without looking back.
