The Exposure
The grainy photograph—John and Catherine embracing in the shadows of the library annex—traveled faster and did more damage than any political manifesto. By dawn, the image was discretely circulating among the senior members of both the Christian Fellowship and the MSA, sealing their fate.
John was the first to face the institutional hammer. His father, Mr. David Sr., arrived at the university early, his face a mask of cold fury. John was stripped of his academic leadership position and informed that his scholarship and post-graduate track were immediately paused.
"You have displayed reckless indiscretion, John," his father stated, packing John's bags with the efficiency of a man handling a failed investment. "You risked a billion-dollar Tredex bid and the reputation of this family over a petty campus fling. You are going home, John. You will report to the office tomorrow morning and demonstrate that your loyalty lies with David & Sons, not with some doomed romance."
The implication was clear: John's punishment was not just exile, but forced immersion into the cynical world of corporate power, the very world he and Catherine had conspired to undermine.
Meanwhile, Catherine was facing a moral tribunal led by her intensely conservative and protective brother, Christen, and her concerned friend, Katy.
"They are saying you are corrupted by ambition," Katy whispered tragically, tears in her eyes. "That you used your position to get close to the son of the corporate giant trying to destroy our community. They think you sold out, Cathy."
Catherine felt a searing mix of betrayal and defensiveness. "I was doing what I had to do to protect our father, Katy! The man who took that picture is the real enemy. He is trying to create chaos to clear the path for the corporate takeover."
"And who was it, Catherine?" Christen demanded, his face stern. "Who took the picture? Was it one of John's people, trying to entrap you?"
Catherine hesitated. John's final, desperate command was to focus on Judith and the land, not on finding the spy. But she needed to know who had leverage over them.
The Revelation
It was Eleanor, a quiet student known for working the administration building's late shift, who unknowingly provided the clue. She was not a close friend, but she was a loyal member of Catherine's community.
Catherine sought her out at the market, away from the scrutiny of the campus.
"I need to know if you saw anything unusual near the library annex late last night, Eleanor," Catherine pressed, keeping her voice low. "Anything at all.
Eleanor shuffled her feet nervously. "I wasn't near the annex, Catherine. But I was across the field, near the maintenance shed, on a smoke break. I saw someone running away from the annex right after midnight. They were moving fast, holding something small."
"Who was it?" Catherine urged.
"It was Christen," Eleanor confessed, her voice barely audible. "Christen—John's cousin. I recognized her unique jacket. She was wearing a hood, but it was definitely her. She looked frantic, almost excited."
Catherine felt a sickening wave of icy realization. Christen—John's cousin, the dedicated leader of the Fellowship. Not an external corporate spy, but someone driven by fierce, protective loyalty. Christen didn't want to expose John to outsiders; she wanted to save him from Catherine. She had provided the leverage needed to forcibly separate them and safeguard the David & Sons legacy.
The betrayal was internal, personal, and devastatingly effective.
Catherine returned to her hostel, her mind racing. She had to warn John, but her communications were already being monitored by her brother, Christen.
The Final, Coded Warning
Catherine knew she had a small window. She grabbed a battered copy of their Political Economy textbook. Inside the back cover, she scribbled a coded message using their academic shorthand—references to regulations and market terms that only John would understand:
"4B is 3.2:1. Annex data compromised by Christen (A). Lock down all assets. Judith is the next key. Use the left-handed logic."
4B is 3.2:1: A reference to the correct debt ratio they had discussed, confirming the message was from her.
Christen (A): The spy, confirming the identity of John's cousin (A for Alliance traitor).
Judith is the next key: The immediate task warn Mrs. Chatwin's niece.
Left-Handed Logic: A reference to John's unique perspective—a reminder of their intellectual bond and a way to confirm the message's legitimacy if it had to pass through a third party.
She needed an intermediary who wasn't close enough to her to be suspicious, but close enough to John's orbit to reach him before his forced exile.
She found Loveth.
Loveth, a senior corporate affairs student known for her ruthless ambition, was the perfect choice. Catherine found her leaving the business school and approached her with a false air of defeated desperation.
"Loveth," Catherine said, forcing tears into her eyes. "I am being sent home. My phone is being monitored. But I have crucial, final notes for John on the Tredex project—a complex regulatory loophole. If he doesn't get this before he leaves, he'll fail his final presentation."
Loveth's eyes narrowed, sensing opportunity. "Why should I help you, Catherine? I am not a runner for the MSA."
"Because it involves the minor asset clause—the loophole your corporate affairs association is studying," Catherine lied smoothly. "It's about how David & Sons can legally circumvent land purchase regulations. If you deliver these notes, John owes you a major favor in the corporate world when he returns. And you get to see how the opposition handles its most critical regulatory weakness."
Loveth smiled—a thin, calculating smile. Leverage was currency. She took the textbook, not because of the notes, but because of the favor John would owe her.
The Exile and the Seeds of Resistance
The exchange worked. John received the book just hours before his forced departure. He quickly decoded the message, feeling a surge of conflicting emotions: devastation over the betrayal by his own cousin, but profound relief and love for Catherine's ingenuity.
He managed to send one final, unsent text message to her burner phone—a simple, deeply felt confession he knew she might never read, but needed to write: "I choose you over the legacy. Judith is priority. Find a way to reach me when the dust settles. Left-Handed always." He then shattered the phone.
The next day, John was gone. He was removed from the campus, whisked back to his father's mansion in the city to begin his corporate apprenticeship—a life sentence in a gilded cage.
Catherine, meanwhile, was placed under house arrest, her academic career stalled. But she hadn't given up. Her next move was subtle and risky: reaching Judith.
She knew she couldn't call, so she reverted to an old-fashioned, community-based method: the housekeeper, Mrs. Chatwin (note: this is the name of the elder John and Catherine are trying to protect, we will use Judith for the niece as established in the outline). We'll use Judith as the niece and assume Catherine's family uses a trusted servant, Judith, as a messenger. We will use the name Judith for the trusted link to the niece, and Eleanor for the spy's witness.
Catherine managed to write a brief, vague letter about a "debt of honor" owed to Judith, who worked near Mrs. Chatwin's neighborhood. She used her younger sister, Judith, (let's assume Catherine has a younger sister named Judith to fit the name on the list) as a discreet delivery person, instructing her to drop the letter at the neighborhood community center.
The message to Mrs. Chatwin's niece, Eleanor's Niece, contained the core warning: Loveth, John's proxy, is targeting your aunt's land using financial pressure. Check her accounts and refuse all deals related to 'community benefits.' The letter was signed: Left-Handed Logic.
The New Proxy and the Debt
While Catherine executed her desperate plan, John, immersed in his corporate servitude, confirmed the danger. He was immediately put to work by his father, who was focused on the Tredex bid.
"We need a new plan to acquire the Mrs. Chatwin land," Mr. David Sr. commanded. "The old woman is stubborn. I've engaged a brilliant, ambitious intermediary, Loveth, to handle the negotiation."
Loveth, now fully aware of John's debt to her, approached him with a chilling confidence.
"I delivered your book, John. You owe me a favor," Loveth said, her eyes glittering. "My current task is to acquire the Chatwin land quietly. The old lady trusts nobody, but she is heavily influenced by her nephew, Charles—your university friend, correct? Charles is deeply in debt over a bad investment."
John felt sick. Charles, his easygoing, loyal roommate, was being leveraged. Loveth was exploiting his friend's weakness to achieve her goal.
"My deal to Charles is simple," Loveth continued. "I clear his crippling debts—every naira—in exchange for a signed, notarized statement that he advised his aunt, Mrs. Chatwin, to sell her land for the 'greater good.' It's clean, legal, and leverageable."
"You would destroy his integrity for a land deal?" John asked, disgusted.
"I would ensure his financial survival while simultaneously ensuring the success of David & Sons," Loveth corrected smoothly. "You need to confirm his buy-in, John. Go meet him. Look him in the eye and make him comfortable with the betrayal. Consider it repayment for the textbook delivery."
John was trapped. He was forced to become an accessory to the destruction of his friend's honor and the dispossession of an innocent elder, all while the woman he loved was working to stop the same betrayal.
The university romance was over. The city-wide conspiracy was just beginning. John had his first mission: confront Charles and witness the price of corporate power.