After Kai Nightshade left, Aurelia Shaw and Mason Nightshade just sat facing each other like that, neither paying any attention to the other, both absorbed in their own phones.

Aurelia was busy scrolling through Weibo, catching up on the latest celebrity gossip, while Mason was reading business news.

Time passed quietly, just like that, for over an hour.

After Aurelia finished going through all the gossip, boredom made her browse the news as well.

A piece of news caught her attention.

"Q City High School accused of illegally organizing tutoring classes; teachers reported for taking bribes, abusing students, and more. The principal of Q City High is suspected of accepting bribes and selling diplomas, currently under investigation. Could this once top-ranked high school be on the verge of collapse?"

Aurelia's almond eyes narrowed slightly, sparks of fascination swirling in her gaze. Her lips curled up in a predatory, alluring smile—as if catching the scent of prey.

She had only sent the evidence of Hadriel Wilson's affair to Roy. No matter how stupid Roy was, he wouldn't use this kind of method to drag Hadriel Wilson down with him. Who did this—just thinking for a second, she could guess.

She looked toward the man sitting on the opposite sofa.

The man seemed to sense it. He lifted his eyes and met hers, his heart suddenly stirred.

Aurelia saw Mason's eyes blaze with sudden intensity.

Whoever called this man an ascetic god must be talking nonsense! That paper publishing such claims ought to be shut down for good.

"Was the Hadriel Wilson thing done by you?" She asked, her tone phrased as a question but leaving no room for doubt.

"What thing?" Mason replied coolly.

"Don't play dumb with me," Aurelia said. "All that stuff about Hadriel Wilson they're reporting online—tax fraud, selling diplomas, trading promotions—he's hidden those things well for so many years. Besides you, who else could've dug this up?"

"No matter how well something's hidden—a trace always remains," Mason said, not bothering to deny it. "Hadriel Wilson might've covered his tracks before, but people get careless when they're riding high. After so many years of greed without consequence, he thought he ruled that school. The cracks started to show the moment he got cocky."

Mason stood up and walked over, sitting down beside her. Before she could protest, he handed her his phone.

Aurelia hesitated, stealing a glance at him.

Someone like him—his phone must be filled with secrets, not something you casually hand over…

"Scared?" Mason arched a brow, a faint, knowing smile on his lips.

Aurelia took it from him.

There was a password.

"Your birthday," he said, his deep, velvety voice in her ear.

Almost on instinct, Aurelia leaned slightly away, putting space between them, and quickly typed in the password to unlock it.

When she saw what was inside, Aurelia frowned, flipping through one explicit, scandalous photo after another, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"This is…" She looked up at Mason.

Despite the distance between them, his hand rested on the back of the sofa behind her, their posture almost as if he was holding her close.

Aurelia pretended not to notice the discomfort.

"Did you really think Hadriel Wilson only took bribes?" Mason said with a light laugh. "The more power people have, the more they crave. Back then, to secure his position, he married a woman he didn't even like. Over time, that dislike turned into outright disgust."

"With pretty, young students all around him, do you think he could really restrain himself?"

"Some of those in here slept with Hadriel Wilson willingly, trading sex for a spot in college. But some—just like you back then—were forced. It's just that their luck wasn't as good as yours."