Madison sits in the coffee shop near UCLA.
Scrolling through Instagram.
Smiling.
Avery's latest post: a photo of her and Professor Parker on Pepperdine's campus. Holding hands. Both smiling.
Caption: New school. New start. Same us. Sometimes the hardest choices lead to the best outcomes.
The post has 47K likes. Thousands of comments. Most of them supportive.
Madison should be angry. Should feel like she lost.
But she doesn't.
Because they're gone. Both of them. Expelled and fired from UCLA.
Everything Madison wanted. Everything she worked for. Accomplished.
She takes a screenshot. Sends it to her group chat.
Madison: Mission accomplished. They're gone.
The responses come immediately.
omg finally
you actually did it
legend status
bet they hate you
Madison: Don't care. They deserved it.
She sets her phone down. Orders another coffee.
Feels satisfied. Vindicated. Victorious.
