Chapter 5

The chalk cracked against the board like a gunshot. Professor Cole turned, his eyes finding me in the third row.

"Miss Marlowe," he said. "You've made quite the entrance to this university. Now make an argument."

The room stirred. Camille's whisper carried three rows forward: "Let's see the scholarship girl earn it."

I stood. My chair scraped. "The elasticity of demand for luxury goods is inverted when the buyer's wealth is inherited rather than earned. Your textbook's model assumes rational actors. The Duval family's real estate portfolio proves otherwise."

Laughter. Then silence. Cole's eyebrows rose.

"Explain."

"Mayor Duval's father bought waterfront property at three times market value, then lobbied to rezone it. The 'loss' was a calculated entry fee for political access. The market didn't respond to price signals—it responded to power signals. My model accounts for that."

Nadia looked up from her notes. Across the room, Isabelle stopped texting.

"A question," Camille said sweetly. "What makes you qualified to critique models you've never applied in practice?"

"Your father's admission tampering gave me plenty of practice reading manipulated data."

Gasps. Cole tapped his desk. "Enough. Miss Marlowe's analysis was structurally sound. The rest of you—re-read chapters four through seven."

The bell rang. I gathered my papers, hands shaking.

"Miss Marlowe." Cole's voice stopped me at the door. "That was brilliant. It was also reckless." He lowered his voice. "The mayor's allies sit on the disciplinary board. One more public humiliation of his daughter, and you'll be gone."

"Then I'll just have to be more careful."

"No. You'll have to be smarter." He pressed a card into my palm. "My office. Thursday. Bring your models."

I walked into the hallway, the victory sour in my throat. I'd won the class. But somewhere in the administration building, someone was sharpening a blade with my name on it.

Respect was a weapon. And now everyone knew I could wield it.

But maybe that was exactly what they were afraid of.