Chapter 5: Target Locked

The Next day after the fall of Jameson

The rooftop was quiet, the wind brushing against the railings as the sun dipped low behind the school buildings. Rowan stood near the edge, phone in hand, pretending to scroll though he already knew who was coming.

The door slammed open behind him.

Footsteps. Fast. Heavy.

"Rowan."

He turned slowly. Lucas walks towards him and eyes sharp, jaw clenched, tension radiating from every step.

"I know you’ve been busy these days, but you seemed to be absent in the basement?" He asked, as he halted in front of him… voice low and tight.

Rowan kept his expression unreadable. "You asked me to look into Marcus. I did."

the so-called king stepped closer. "And now I need more. I smell something and someone is trying to tear my business apart from the inside. I want names. I want every traitor exposed. You're going to find them for me. You get it?"

Rowan paused and then gave a slow nod. "We'll see."

The boss blinked, surprised. "Of course, You will?"

"You want answers, I'll get them," Rowan said.

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "And?"

He looked away, the wind tugging at his sleeves. Then he met the king's gaze, steady, quiet. "When this is over—when I give you the truth—I want you to stop all of this."

Lucas's brow furrowed. "Ehhh…What do you mean?" his expression shifted, chuckled.

"I know you know this breaks the school's policy and yet—" Rowan's words caught in his throat.

"So, you want me to surrender myself?" the boss expression twisted, annoyance flashing across his face.

"What I'm saying is... we don't know when our end will come. If we get exposed, I know for a fact I'll—"

Lucas grabbed his collar, yanking him forward—Rowan nearly choking on his own words.

"When did you learn to speak to me like that, huh?" The king growled, eyes locked on his. "When I say it—I say it. Don't go against my will. If you fail, something even worse will happen. Got it?"

Rowan nodded, throat tight.

He remembered exactly what was at stake, what the so-called king would do if ever he found out who was really behind the unraveling. If he ever discovered that Rowan was the one building the karma that would come crashing down on his fraud.

And worse—he knew Lucas wouldn't come after him. He'd go after Riley.

Lucas was about to walk out but he stopped and turned back, “Ah… I want also to add a certain man for your deep research. I want to know what he is up to…”  His eyes were darkened.

Rowan did not react, his posture remains firm, “and who?” he asked. As Lucas let out an annoying smirk and wave his phone then left the place.

After a couple of minutes, Rowan's phone buzzed. His eyes widened as soon as he read the message followed by a photo of someone he won’t ever forget.

“Favian Gray Wolfe” he messaged. No other clues but just a name. In the photo, is a picture of Favian and Damien together. Eyes widened, no words came from his mouth.

Favian and the others didn’t know Rowan had gone to meet Lucas. He had already made his decision after seeing the photos of him with his so-called friend, who had suddenly vanished after all their sacrifices.

While the investigation into Marcus and Jameson continued, Favian and Rowan’s team remained silent, waiting for the right moment to make their next move. Their plan was already set and that to dismantle Lucas’s team piece by piece until they reached the final point.

It took them a minute to stayed this quiet, the only sound the soft hum of Rowan laptop as he finalized the last entry in the dossier. It had taken him a week of careful digging, surveillance, and cross-referencing. Now, the list was complete.

Every student involved in the so-called king underground base. Every illegal transaction. Every threat. Every manipulated record.

All of it sealed in a single, encrypted hard drive.

But one name made his fingers freeze over the keyboard.

Damien John Morely.

His friend. The one who had always stood by him. The one who had defended him when no one else would. And now and part of the very system Rowan was trying to destroy.

He stared at the name for a long time, his chest tight.

Then, slowly, he closed the file and locked the drive.

School ended and he returned home safely, immediately checking on his sister as part of his routine asking who she was with, if anyone followed her, or if she had been bullied.

She hated it. Once, he even put a tracker on her, and when she found out, she stormed off and didn’t come home for 24 hours, scaring him badly.

Eventually, they made a deal, approved by their grandmother, to always message each other and share their locations when going home.

“We seem to have a new neighbor. He lives alone,” Grandma said as she stepped out of the kitchen, carrying the last dish for dinner.

Rowan and Riley exchanged a quick glance.

“Yeah, I heard someone bought the house instead,” Riley replied. “In cash.”

Riley, standing at 5’5, currently a freshman same school with his brother, has soft bangs framing her face, sat beside their grandmother. Across from her was Rowan, his attention fixed on the glowing screen of his laptop.

“Hey, can you stop that? Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked.

He finally looked up before closing the laptop with a quiet sigh. “And don’t be too friendly,” he warned while serving himself food. “We don’t know what kind of person is living next door.”

His sister only shrugged and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help it and being friendly simply came naturally to her.

After dinner, Rowan immediately retreated to his room. He turned on his monitor while reopening his laptop, the dim light reflecting against his sharp features. He had been assigned to track Favian.

At first, he hesitated. But the moment he saw the photo attached to the file, confusion settled heavily in his chest. Curiosity soon followed.

What exactly was the relationship between Favian and Damien?

Lucas knew better than anyone how close Rowan and Damien used to be. Their bond had once been unbreakable until Damien disappeared 4 months ago without a trace.

It remained the greatest mystery in Rowan's life.

And somehow, even after all this time, the memory still left him with the bitter feeling of betrayal.

Search: Favian Gray Wolfe

Photo showed, it’s him always standing firm even in pictures. Apart from that – he has brother currently at college. He searches him in every possible way, legal way to know him better.

The Quiet Power Behind the Council

Favian appeared to be the ideal student leader and disciplined, charismatic, and highly respected. Though no longer the student council chairman, many believed he still held the most influence on the board. Officially, he managed student affairs, but unofficially, resolving problems before they reached higher authorities.

He wasn’t loud or showy. His calm nature, sharp mind, and ability to read people earned him both trust and fear. Teachers relied on him, students admired him, and even the school board occasionally sought his opinion.

But beneath it all, Favian was always calculating.

He understood early that power came from leverage, not titles. While others followed rules, he studied the system, built connections, and gathered information across campus.

He knew about corruption in the financial affairs office, Lucas’s hidden dealings, manipulated elections, and silenced cases. But he only acted when he found someone worth protecting...like Rowan.

With Rowan, he didn’t offer pity, only purpose. Favian didn’t just want to expose the system—he wanted to rebuild it. And he needed people who had survived it.

He spent hours trying to dig through every possible record about Favian. He searched legally — public files, articles, old interviews, business connections — but everything led to the same frustrating result.

Nothing. No scandals. No suspicious history. No hidden traces.

Only endless praise about his influence, intelligence, and power.

It irritated him.

Someone with that much influence should’ve left behind at least one flaw, one crack in the perfect image people painted of him. But the deeper Rowan searched, the cleaner Favian appeared.

Eventually, exhaustion won over his curiosity.

With a tired sigh, Rowan leaned back on his chair and rubbed his eyes. “Are you planning something else…” he muttered under his breath.

The dim glow of the monitor illuminated the dark room as lines of unfinished reports remained open on the screen. His laptop was still beside him, humming quietly.

Without realizing it, sleep slowly overtook him.

He drifted off with the monitor still on, the pale light flickering across his sleeping figure while Favian's photo remained displayed on the screen.

Friday, Late Afternoon.

The wind tugged at Rowan's sleeves as he approached the rooftop. Lucas was already there, arms crossed, eyes scanning the horizon.

"So, what did have?" He said without turning. "I know you are curious, Surprising right?" he chuckles.

Rowan stopped a few feet away. "I found some. But most of them are harder to trace than I expected."

the so-called king turned, his expression sharp. “This is the first time I heard that word coming from your mouth, it’s harder?”

"I agreed as they are protected," He replied. "Some are tied to faculty. Others are using proxies. If I push too hard, I'll expose myself and you."

Lucas's jaw tightened. "So, you're telling me you came back with nothing? How about Favian? What did you find about him?" his brows raised a bit.

"I'm telling you I came back with enough to know this goes deeper than we thought," He replied. "If we move too fast, we'll trigger a full investigation. And if Marcus talks, we're both done."

The king stared at him for a long moment, then finally nodded. "Fine. But I want names."

Rowan gave a short nod. "I bring them to you…” he said and a deep sighed blow out “And speaking of F-Favian…” he added, stuttering. “I don’t think I have to dig into his. It's harder than I thought. “

Lucas just raised his right brows “Come on! I’m counting on you! You are good at this!” He then grabbed his shoulder and placing his hand on it. “You want clues?” he whispered. As he calmed himself and stood firm “He actually was once my companion.” He whispered and smirk at him.

As he turned to leave, Rowan's grip tightened on the strap of his bag. The last words he said stuck on him.

“He was once my companion” remains in his mind.

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