Derek Holloway was not the kind of man who enjoyed losing. Especially not to someone like Ethan Cooper.
He sat at his fraternity's common room table, a glass of whiskey in hand even though it was barely past noon. Around him, three of his closest allies leaned in — all of them juniors who owed him favors.
"He's too clean," Derek muttered, scrolling through his phone. "Academically untouchable. Professors like him because he makes them feel smart when he argues back. Students like him because he's quiet, mysterious. There's got to be something under the surface."
"Maybe he's just… boring," one of the frat guys offered.
Derek shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. "Nobody's boring at that level. People like Cooper don't stay invisible because they're average. They stay invisible because they're hiding something."
Another ally leaned forward. "What if it's money? I heard he works extra shifts at the library. Might mean his family's broke."
Derek's eyes narrowed. "Now that would be interesting. A poor genius."
He smirked. "You know how this school works. Talent doesn't matter if you can't afford to play. If I can expose that he's just some scholarship kid with no future, everyone will stop taking him so seriously. No one respects ambition without power."
The others nodded. Derek's mind was already whirring, calculating.
Meanwhile, Ethan sat at the back of the lecture hall, notebook open but his pen idle. He could feel it — Derek's next move.
Rumors alone hadn't worked. The professors hadn't swallowed the bait. Which meant Derek would shift tactics. He would pry. Search for weaknesses that weren't academic.
Finances, Ethan thought. Or family. Those are the two soft spots for someone like me. He'll want to expose poverty, or loneliness. Make me look small.
Ethan's lips curled faintly. "Predictable."
Beside him, Clara scribbled notes furiously, unaware that Ethan's mind wasn't on the lecture. Ryan, sitting two rows down, kept sneaking glances back, waiting for Ethan's signal.
They didn't know Ethan had already prepared for this weeks ago.
That evening, Derek's ally James snuck into the registrar's office under the guise of needing transcripts. He wasn't after his own. He wanted Ethan's file.
But when the clerk handed over the sealed envelope — only after James flashed the Holloway family crest ring and mumbled something about "council business" — Derek was already waiting outside.
He tore it open eagerly.
And frowned.
"Scholarship," he muttered. "Full ride. Of course. GPA… perfect. Attendance… perfect. Disciplinary record… clean. Too clean."
His ally peered over his shoulder. "So he's broke, then?"
Derek scanned further down. Family: deceased parents. Guardian: none listed. Emergency contact: blank.
His smirk widened. "Oh, this is gold."
"Because he's poor?"
"Because he's alone," Derek said. "No family, no safety net, no leverage. Or…" He paused, eyes gleaming with cruelty. "…the perfect leverage."
The next day, whispers shifted again. They no longer spoke of plagiarism. Instead, they carried pity.
"Did you hear? Cooper's an orphan. Lives off scraps and library shifts."
"Explains why he doesn't go out. No family, no money, no friends."
"Sad, really. All that talent wasted. What's a genius without connections?"
Clara heard it first. She slammed her tray down across from Ethan in the cafeteria, eyes blazing. "It's Derek. He's spreading that now."
Ethan looked up from his book slowly. "That?"
"That you're broke, alone, and pathetic. That you're—" she lowered her voice, "an orphan. Ethan, how did he even find that out?"
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice remained steady. "Because I wanted him to."
Clara froze. "What?"
Ethan closed his book, folding his hands. "Derek's been digging. I could have stopped it. Made it difficult, rerouted him, hidden the file. But why? Better to let him think he's found something valuable."
Clara leaned in. "You let him? Ethan, he's using your past against you!"
"He's using a weapon I sharpened for him," Ethan said calmly. "Pity and scorn. Do you know what happens when people pity me?"
Clara blinked.
"They lower their guard," Ethan whispered.
By Friday, Derek was grinning ear to ear. He strutted across the quad, telling anyone who'd listen about "poor little Cooper, genius with no future."
Some laughed. Some looked away awkwardly. But Derek didn't care. Every whisper was a nail in the coffin he thought he was building.
That night, at a fraternity party, Derek raised his glass. "Here's to Ethan Cooper, the brightest star in the sky — shame he's burning out alone." Laughter erupted.
But what Derek didn't notice was Ryan, standing in the corner, phone recording everything.
The following Monday, Ethan made his move.
He walked into the lecture hall ten minutes early, where dozens of students were already gathered. Instead of sitting in the back, he took the front row. Clara stared, confused. Ryan slipped in, phone in his pocket.
When Derek entered, swaggering as always, Ethan finally turned. Their eyes met. Ethan's gaze was calm, unreadable. Derek smirked, thinking he'd won.
Halfway through class, Professor Harding assigned a group debate. Ethan was paired with Clara and Ryan. Derek's group sat opposite.
The topic: "Does privilege dictate success more than talent?"
Ethan stood, buttoning his jacket with deliberate precision. His voice carried like a blade through silk.
"Privilege provides opportunity. Talent seizes it. But talent without privilege?" He paused, scanning the room. "It terrifies those who rely on privilege alone."
The room went still. Every eye flicked between him and Derek. Derek's smirk faltered.
Ethan continued, voice smooth. "Some of us are born with wealth, networks, and safety nets. Others have nothing. But when the latter outshines the former despite it all… that's when fear sets in. Fear disguised as ridicule. Fear disguised as rumor."
Gasps rippled through the hall. Clara's eyes widened. Derek's face flushed crimson.
And then, right on cue, Ryan's recording circulated — Derek mocking Ethan at the frat party, laughing about orphans and poverty.
Within hours, the whispers flipped.
"Derek's a bully.""Did you hear what he said about Cooper?""Honestly, Cooper's speech… that was legendary."
Derek tried to push back, but it was too late. The narrative had turned. His cruelty had been exposed.
Meanwhile, Ethan walked across campus with his usual calm, Clara trailing beside him.
"You planned this," she accused softly. "You let him dig. You let him spread it. You knew it would backfire."
Ethan's lips curved faintly. "A weapon isn't dangerous until someone picks it up. Derek just proved he doesn't know the difference between strategy and self-destruction."
Clara shivered. "You're playing with people, Ethan. Like chess pieces."
Ethan glanced at her, his expression unreadable. "That's because they are."