Chapter 38 : “Caught in the Crossfire”

*Aaron’s POV*

The morning light bled through the blinds, casting shadows across the table where I sat, a half-eaten grapefruit before me. The tang of citrus lingered on my tongue, mingling with the bitter aftertaste of black coffee. My fingers were stained with newsprint; headlines screamed at me in stark, block letters as I picked up the paper. Front page. Professor Lee's mugshot stared back, his eyes hollow, the fall from grace immortalized in black and white.

"Drug scandal rocks campus – Arrest made amid allegations," read the bold type. My stomach churned. Each word was a hammer to my conscience. Arrested during the night. Anonymous calls. The club had stretched its tentacles far and wide, it seemed.

"Damn," I muttered under my breath, the syllables sharp as broken glass. Was justice served or had they become the very monsters they sought to punish? The question gnawed at me.

"Morning." Blake's voice cut through the silence, sudden and unwelcome. He stood in the doorway, a da