Chapter 54 Gloating
Leopold unbuttoned his collar, needing the extra breathing room. No way was he going to let anything interfere with his performance tonight.
"First off, that student council election. If I remember correctly, the night before, you took our entire dorm squad out for street barbecue, claiming it was to boost our campaign morale."
Maddox furrowed his brow, seemingly searching his memory before responding, "Yeah, I remember something like that."
Leopold let out a cold laugh. "Well, Zephyr spent that entire night with his head in the toilet bowl. I ended up carrying him to the campus clinic for an IV drip after midnight."
"And your point is?" Maddox looked genuinely confused. "What does that have to do with the election?"
Leopold knew Maddox hadn't actually remembered. He sighed. "I ate the same food, but I took some stomach meds when I saw Zephyr getting sick. So I was fine that night, but by the time the election rolled around the next day, I was fighting nausea the whole way there. The minute you walked inside, I started getting dizzy and threw up outside the building. The school nurse sent me straight to the hospital."
"That really happened?" Maddox wore an expression of complete ignorance. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Leopold pinched the bridge of his nose. "I finished my IV and rushed back to find you guys at the auditorium. Not a soul in sight. The janitor told me you'd won the election and taken everyone out to celebrate."
Maddox fell silent for a moment.
Then he smacked his forehead. "I thought you were... When I got back to the room, you were face down on your bed with your back to the door. I figured you were crying or something."
Leopold couldn't even find the words to express how he felt. If he deserved punishment, let the law handle it—not death by Maddox's obliviousness.
"Do I look like someone who cries over small stuff like that? What were you thinking?" Just as he was about to go off on Maddox, he remembered he still had two more examples. "Don't change the subject. Let's continue. Sophomore year, during that trip—didn't you notice I stopped going to the basketball court for half a semester? Didn't you wonder why?"
"Why?" Maddox asked blankly.
Leopold realized Maddox truly had emotional intelligence only when it came to women—absolutely none for his male friends.
"Gage Foster, the basketball team captain—his girlfriend Kaida was on the cheerleading squad."
"Kaida Carter?"
"That's the one," Leopold's face darkened slightly at the mention of her name. "She tried to hook up with me behind Gage's back. After I turned her down multiple times, she started telling people I was into her and had asked her out to the movies. When Gage found out, he came after me. Wouldn't listen to a word I said—he was convinced I'd made moves on his girlfriend. During practice, he deliberately tried to hurt me, and almost broke my leg with a dirty tackle. I finally snapped and showed him the videos of Kaida messaging me. I had to shatter his rose-colored glasses."
"I stopped going to the gym after that. Didn't want to get dragged into their drama."
Maddox's expression turned completely gossip-hungry. "How did I miss all this?"
Leopold gave him a sidelong glance. "How would you know? You were too busy serial-dating every girl on campus."
"Who was I even dating back then? Help me remember."
Leopold nearly died from frustration that Maddox expected him to recall his dating history.
"Stop. Let's move on to the third incident." Leopold's lips curled into an eerily gleeful smile with a touch of schadenfreude.
"What's with that face? You look creepy as hell." Maddox shifted uncomfortably, sensing the third story would not reflect well on him.
Leopold regarded him with composed satisfaction. "Looks like you already know what's coming."
Maddox sniffed, clearly on the defensive. "No idea what you're talking about."
Leopold couldn't care less if Maddox wanted to play dumb. "Fine. If you don't know, I'll spell it out for you in excruciating detail."
"Wait." Maddox's brain kicked into gear. "Brielle tried to get with you behind my back?"
Leopold paused. "Your description isn't exactly accurate."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maddox challenged.
"You and Brielle were never actually together. Am I right?" Leopold pointed out.
"Well, technically, but—" Maddox started.
"But technically nothing." Leopold reminded him. "During that period when you two were hanging out, she never actually agreed to be your girlfriend. You were just walking around in a lovesick daze, convincing yourself you were her boyfriend. In reality, you were her backup plan at best. She never wanted you in the first place."
"If not me, then who? You?" Maddox scoffed.
Leopold nodded. "Yes. Me."
Maddox fell silent.
"Brielle only got close to you as a way to meet me," Leopold continued. "We weren't in the same major, so we didn't have many opportunities to cross paths. All those times she came to 'check homework' or 'drop off blueprints'—did you seriously think that was all it was? She only came to the dorm to see me. She'd even show up knowing you weren't there, still claiming she needed to drop off assignments."
Maddox's jaw went slack. He blinked several times. "So... you hooked up with her while I wasn't around?"
"Are you kidding me? I had a girlfriend at the time," Leopold massaged his throbbing temples. "Maddox, how the hell did you even get into the architecture program?"
"She knew you had a girlfriend and still...?" Maddox couldn't finish.
"Exactly," Leopold said. "Just like you said—who could resist a tall, handsome guy with a great body who's also thoughtful, gentlemanly, and smart? Women who go for alpha types all fall for guys like me."
"That's just cruel, adding 'great body' to your list when I didn't," Maddox snorted.
"So now you get it?" Leopold pressed. "She was hanging around you to get to me. Anything else you want to say?"
Maddox rubbed his face, completely deflated by Leopold's evidence.
The mood had shifted dramatically from their initially cheerful reunion to this heavy silence.
Leopold noticed how dejected Maddox looked and, glancing over with a slight smile, said, "Since you're so heartbroken, I'll upgrade you to the presidential suite."
Maddox immediately perked up. "For real?"
Leopold gave him a look. "On my turf? Would I lie to you?"
Just like that, Maddox was back to full energy. "Sweet."
However, Leopold hadn't actually notified the hotel manager in advance. His inspection tour was meant to be a surprise check to identify any issues at the hotel.
Which was why he hadn't arranged for a hotel car to pick them up at the airport either.
As they pulled into the hotel, Maddox handed over Leopold's bank card. With that card, they'd have access to anything in the hotel.
While Maddox handled the presidential suite check-in at the front desk, Leopold began his inspection tour of the property.
Meanwhile, Erica and Caroline approached the front desk, gave their company name and their own names, only to be informed by the receptionist that the presidential suite they had reserved had already been checked into by another guest.