Rejected By The Club, I Pulled My Funding

Chapter 3

"The shortlist is out. Did you see it?"

Ryan handed me his phone. Only Tyler's team remained on the Young Innovators Challenge shortlist, listed under the club's name. My name was nowhere to be found.

"Just as expected." I returned his phone and headed for our backup workspace.

The room was a storage area on the third floor of the laboratory building. It was small, but it had been enough for the four of us to spend 3 sleepless nights building a scale model.

When I opened the door, Madison stood in front of our workbench with three club officers.

She stared at the model in disgust.

"This is it? It looks like a kindergarten craft project."

"What are you doing here?" I blocked the doorway.

"I'm here to tell you that this room belongs to our club starting today. Facilities already approved it."

She lifted the model high and dropped it.

It smashed against the floor. Then she stomped on it three times.

The miniature buildings shattered, and the circuit board broke into several pieces. The officers behind her laughed.

Emma Lewis, the younger student on our team, arrived just in time to see it. She froze.

"Our model. We spent 3 days..."

She crouched to gather the pieces and cut her finger on a sharp edge.

Madison looked down at her.

"Aw, does that hurt? I don't even recognize the brand you're wearing. I suppose anything made by someone who can't afford designer clothes is destined to be cheap junk."

Emma looked up, her lips trembling.

Madison snapped at an officer. "Cut the main power. They aren't using this room again."

The lights went out. Only a narrow strip of light came through the open door.

"Disconnect the internet too," Madison ordered from the doorway. "Facilities has been notified. Everything in here will be removed as unauthorized trash."

Emma burst into tears.

I turned on my phone's flashlight and aimed it at the wreckage.

"Don't cry. Record all of this."

"What's the point?" Emma wiped her face. "We lost our place in the competition, and now the model is destroyed. Who are we supposed to show?"

"The people who need to see it."

I used my phone as a light while she filmed every broken piece and severed connector, along with the disabled breaker and unplugged network cable.

Tyler's loud voice suddenly echoed in the hall.

"I'm telling you, I already have a letter of intent from Mercer Capital!"

I stepped into the doorway. He was waving a photocopy in front of a group of students.

"See this? Mercer Capital! This is a multimillion-dollar project! Anyone on campus who lends Lucas equipment or space today is opposing me and Mercer Capital!"

I leaned against the frame and studied the copy. Even from several yards away, I could see what was wrong.

It was a generic template downloaded from Mercer Capital's website. The header size and reference-number format were both incorrect.

I stayed quiet. Tyler was too busy boasting to notice me.

Madison passed me on her way out and sneered.

"Why are you still here? Planning to sleep in the dark?"

She gestured for her officers to kick my backpack and folder into the hallway.

"Take your trash with you."

I bent down, picked up my bag, and brushed off the shoeprints.

Emma came out with red eyes.

"What do we do now?"

"Go back to your dorm. I'll handle this."

At the end of the hall, I took out my phone and made a call.

"Director, this is Lucas."

"Lucas, you received the materials for this afternoon's final review, right?"

"I did. I just need to confirm something. Am I attending as the investment representative?"

He chuckled.

"Of course. Your senior investment associate badge should have arrived at the university this morning. You'll attend under your real name."

"Understood."

I hung up and checked the time.

It was 2 p.m. The final review began in 1 hour.

Emma was still standing in the hallway, staring at me.

I put away my phone.

"Go get cleaned up. There will be good news later."