The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 372

Jocelyn immediately noticed the shift in her mentor's demeanor. "Professor? What is it?"

"Well," Thorne began, adjusting her glasses as she hesitated. "I probably shouldn't say anything, considering the promise I made. But I can't keep taking credit for something I didn't do. You deserve to know the truth."

"That grant money didn't come from the university."

Jocelyn froze. "It didn't?"

Then where had it come from?

"It was privately sponsored. We just gave it to you under the university's name."

Privately sponsored?

Jocelyn's mind raced, struggling to process the revelation. "You're joking, right?"

But Thorne's expression was dead serious. "I'm breaking a promise by telling you this, but my conscience couldn't take it anymore. You've spent years thanking me for a miracle I didn't orchestrate."

Jocelyn reached out, gently squeezing Thorne's hand. "Even if that's true, I still remember everything you did for me. Without your encouragement, I would have suffocated under Diana's control. You were the one who pulled me out of the dark. You taught me that the only way to fight back was to become undeniable."

It was that very grant money that had sparked Jocelyn's entrepreneurial drive. It led her to partner with Liam Bancroft, launching their first successful startup. And later... it led her to Adrian Lowell.

Perhaps it was because she had grown up so starved for security that she craved a real family more than anything else. She had thought Adrian could give her that. It took three grueling years to realize the home he offered was nothing but a gilded cage.

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