Monday morning came with the usual reminder that money hadn’t magically made university disappear.
Damian sat near the back of the lecture hall, laptop open, trying to follow the lecturer.
Ethan dropped into the seat beside him.
"Morning, rich boy."
Damian didn’t look away from the screen.
"Morning, unemployed boy."
"I have a job."
"What job?"
"Being your friend."
"That explains the salary."
Ethan grinned.
"Speaking of salary..."
Damian finally looked at him.
"No."
"I haven’t even asked."
"I know you."
Ethan laughed.
"I’m hungry."
"We ate breakfast."
"That was three hours ago."
"You’ll survive."
Ethan leaned closer.
"There’s a new place near campus."
Damian sighed.
"Here we go."
"Just hear me out."
"No."
"It’s nice."
"Still no."
"You’re paying."
"Definitely no."
Ethan laughed.
"You’re getting worse."
After class, Damian checked his phone.
Three missed emails.
Two were from Westbridge.
The third was from Maya.
He opened it.
Rachel Morgan — Additional Documentation Located
Damian stopped walking.
He opened the attachment.
The documents weren’t complete, but there was enough to raise another question.
Rachel hadn’t simply left Meridian Software and disappeared.
There had been a licensing arrangement after her departure.
The wording was complicated.
Some of the original software architecture appeared to remain connected to rights Rachel had retained.
Damian frowned.
He called Maya.
She answered after a few rings.
"Hey."
"I got your email."
"Yeah."
"How serious is it?"
"Potentially serious."
"That sounds reassuring."
Maya laughed.
"I’m trying not to scare you before we’ve reviewed everything."
"Fair."
"The original agreement isn’t clean. Some rights were transferred to Meridian, some appear to have been licensed, and there are amendments I haven’t fully gone through."
"So we don’t know if Meridian actually owns everything it claims to own."
"Correct."
Damian rubbed his forehead.
"And Michael knew about this?"
"He signed the agreements."
"That doesn’t answer my question."
"I know."
Maya paused.
"I’d ask him directly, but I’d rather we finish reviewing the documents first."
"Agreed."
Damian looked toward the campus entrance.
"What about Rachel?"
"Still no contact?"
"Not yet."
"You’re going to have to speak with her eventually."
"Yeah."
He ended the call.
The acquisition had started as a simple question.
Was a struggling software company worth two million dollars?
Now it had become something else.
Who actually owned the technology?
Who had the right to sell it?
And why had Michael been so comfortable letting Rachel disappear from the story?
His phone buzzed.
Ethan:
Where are you?
Damian typed.
Damian:
Outside.
Ethan:
Food.
Damian:
Again?
Ethan:
I’m consistent.
Damian smiled.
He put the phone away.
One problem at a time.
They ended up at a restaurant close to campus.
Ethan looked at the menu.
"I’m getting this."
"You said you were getting something cheap."
"I changed my mind."
"You’re spending my money like it’s yours."
Ethan looked offended.
"You said you had investments."
"I didn’t say you had investments."
"Same thing."
Damian laughed.
"Order."
They ate.
Halfway through the meal, Ethan looked up.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"How much did you actually make?"
Damian knew this question would come eventually.
He put his fork down.
"Enough to change things."
"That tells me nothing."
"I know."
"Are you a millionaire?"
Damian paused.
Ethan stared at him.
"Damian."
"Yes."
Ethan blinked.
"Like..."
He lowered his voice.
"How much?"
Damian leaned back.
"Several million."
Ethan stared at him.
For once, he had nothing to say.
Then he slowly put his drink down.
"Bro."
"What?"
"You’re actually rich."
Damian laughed.
"I guess."
"No, don’t ’I guess’ me."
Ethan pointed at him.
"You’ve been sitting next to me in class with millions of dollars?"
"Pretty much."
"And you still complain about food prices."
"Habit."
Ethan shook his head.
"This is crazy."
Damian smiled.
"You’re the first person I’ve told."
Ethan’s expression changed.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
Ethan leaned back.
"Why me?"
"Because you’re my friend."
That silenced him again.
After a moment, Ethan smiled.
"Okay."
"What?"
"I won’t tell anyone."
"Thanks."
"But..."
Damian sighed.
"Here it comes."
"I’m going to need better food."
Damian laughed.
"That’s the first thing you think about?"
"Yes."
They left the restaurant later that afternoon.
Ethan was quieter than usual.
Damian noticed.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"You’re thinking."
"That’s rare for me."
"Very."
Ethan shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Does this mean things are going to change?"
Damian looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"You have money now."
"Yeah."
"So..."
Ethan shrugged.
"You’ll probably meet different people."
Damian smiled.
"Maybe."
"And you’ll probably start going to places we never used to go."
"Maybe."
"You’ll buy better cars."
"Eventually."
"Better clothes."
"Already started."
Ethan nodded.
"And girls will notice."
Damian laughed.
"There it is."
"What?"
"You couldn’t go five minutes."
Ethan grinned.
"I’m just saying."
Damian shook his head.
"I don’t care about that."
Ethan gave him a look.
"You say that now."
"I have a girlfriend."
"Fair."
Damian looked ahead.
"Money changes what you can do."
He paused.
"But it doesn’t have to change who you are."
Ethan nodded.
"I like that."
"Don’t get sentimental."
"Shut up."
They kept walking.
That evening, Damian met Emily.
They sat together at a quiet café.
She looked better than she had the previous week.
Still tired.
But lighter.
"How’s your mom?"
"Better."
"Really?"
"Yeah. The doctors are happy with her progress."
Damian smiled.
"Good."
Emily reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
"Thank you."
"You already thanked me."
"I know."
"Then stop."
She smiled.
"Okay."
They talked about normal things afterward.
Classes.
Food.
Ethan.
The ridiculous amount of money Damian had apparently spent on clothes.
Emily laughed when she heard.
"You actually went shopping?"
"Apparently I needed it."
"You did."
"Whose side are you on?"
"Ethan’s."
"Traitor."
She smiled.
For a while, everything felt normal.
And Damian liked that.
He didn’t want every conversation to revolve around money, hospitals, or Adrian.
He wanted Emily to be able to breathe.
So he didn’t bring Adrian up.
Not tonight.
When Damian got home, he opened his laptop.
A new email had arrived from Maya.
I found an old contact number for Rachel Morgan.
Damian stared at the screen.
He picked up his phone.
Then stopped.
He wasn’t going to call her tonight.
Tomorrow would be better.
He opened the acquisition folder again.
Michael Reeves.
Northstar Advisory Group.
Victor Hale.
Rachel Morgan.
Meridian’s customers.
The software rights.
There were too many moving pieces.
But now Damian understood something.
Buying a company wasn’t just about buying what was on the balance sheet.
Sometimes the most important part was the story behind it.
And Rachel Morgan was still missing from that story.
Tomorrow, he’d find out why.