Chapter 6: The Reckoning in Bali

The warm Balinese sun filtered through the bamboo slats of Leo's beachfront villa as he sipped his morning coffee, watching the waves roll onto the pristine white sand of Seminyak Beach. Six months had passed since his unceremonious departure from Northwood University, and life had taken a decidedly pleasant turn.

His phone buzzed on the teak table beside him, displaying a notification from his investment app. Another dividend payment had arrived – his carefully diversified portfolio, funded entirely by Alex Rivera's finder's fees, was performing beautifully. The $57,750 commission from the Vanguard Productions contract had been just the beginning. Alex had been so impressed with Leo's strategic consulting that he'd brought him onto three additional projects, each netting Leo substantial fees for his "industry expertise."

Leo stretched lazily in his lounge chair, admiring the view of the infinity pool that seemed to blend seamlessly with the ocean beyond. The villa rental cost more per month than his old apartment's annual lease, but he could afford it now. More importantly, he'd earned it.

His laptop chimed with an incoming video call, and Leo smiled when he saw Chloe's name appear on the screen. He'd stayed in touch with his former colleague, partly out of genuine friendship and partly because she provided the most entertaining updates on Northwood's ongoing drama.

"Chloe!" Leo answered, adjusting the camera to show the ocean view behind him. "How's life in the academic salt mines?"

"Jesus Christ, Leo," Chloe laughed, shaking her head at his backdrop. "You look like a tech bro who just sold his startup. Meanwhile, I'm calling you from the supply closet because our office is literally falling apart."

"Supply closet gossip is the best gossip. What's the latest?"

Chloe's expression shifted to barely contained glee. "Oh my God, where do I even start? Do you want the Karen news first, or should I lead with Director Reed's meltdown?"

Leo set down his coffee, suddenly very interested. "Karen news. Definitely start with Karen."

"She's gone, Leo. Fired. Escorted out by security three weeks ago."

"No shit?"

"Complete disgrace. Apparently, the Chancellor himself called her into his office. Word is she was screaming about conspiracies and sabotage before they cut her off mid-sentence." Chloe leaned closer to the camera, lowering her voice. "But here's the really juicy part – do you remember that production contract she signed?"

Leo fought to keep his expression neutral. "Vaguard something?"

"Vanguard Productions. Well, it turns out Karen had been... creative... with the budget reporting. The original contract was for $385,000, but she kept approving additional expenses. Rush fees, equipment upgrades, location shoots, premium editing packages. Every time Alex Rivera suggested an enhancement, she said yes."

Leo's pulse quickened. This was better than he'd hoped.

"How much additional?"

"Try $200,000 in overages. The total bill came to nearly $600,000 for what was supposed to be a year-long project."

Leo nearly spit out his coffee. Even he hadn't anticipated Karen's capacity for self-destruction on that scale.

"But wait, there's more," Chloe continued, clearly enjoying herself. "She tried to hide the overages by spreading them across multiple budget lines. Emergency marketing funds, special projects allocations, even some alumni relations money. She thought she could bury it in bureaucracy and no one would notice until next fiscal year."

"And someone noticed?"

"The Chancellor's office does quarterly budget reviews. When they saw the marketing department was 400% over budget, they started asking questions. Karen panicked and tried to blame the production company for charging excessive fees."

Leo felt a cold smile spread across his face. "How did that work out for her?"

"Disastrously. She demanded that HR review the contract negotiations, thinking she could prove the production company had misled her. But Alex Rivera had been meticulous about documentation. Every additional expense, every upgrade, every enhancement – all approved in writing by Karen herself."

"Ouch."

"It gets worse. During the investigation, they discovered that Karen had been authorizing payments without proper approval chains. Basically, she'd been acting like she had unlimited authority to spend university money, which she absolutely did not."

Leo shook his head in mock sympathy. "Poor Karen. I almost feel bad for her."

"No, you don't," Chloe laughed. "And neither do I. Do you know what she said when they confronted her with the documentation?"

"I'm dying to hear this."

"She claimed that the fired content creator – that's you – had sabotaged her contact database and somehow orchestrated the whole thing as revenge. She literally accused you of masterminding a conspiracy from unemployment."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "That's a pretty serious accusation. Did anyone believe her?"

"Leo, she was claiming that a guy she fired for smoking cigarettes had somehow manipulated a professional production company into overcharging the university by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Chancellor asked her to explain how that would even be possible."

"And her explanation was?"

"She didn't have one. Just kept insisting you were more devious than anyone realized." Chloe grinned. "Honestly, it almost sounded like she was giving you a compliment."

Leo laughed genuinely. "What about Director Reed?"

"Oh, Evelyn is hanging on by a thread. The board of trustees is furious. Apparently, the video content that was supposed to revolutionize Northwood's digital presence never materialized."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Vanguard Productions delivered exactly what they promised – eighty-five professional-quality videos over twelve months. The content is gorgeous, Leo. Seriously high-end production values, stunning cinematography, perfect sound design."

Leo frowned. "That sounds like a success."

"It would be, except the videos are getting maybe a few hundred views each. Turns out that creating beautiful content and creating engaging content are two very different things."

The irony hit Leo like a physical blow. "They're technically perfect but completely soulless?"

"Exactly. Remember how your videos felt authentic and spontaneous? These look like luxury car commercials. Professionally shot, expensively produced, and absolutely sterile. Students are making fun of them on TikTok."

Leo stared out at the ocean, processing this information. He'd orchestrated Karen's downfall and extracted a small fortune in the process, but he hadn't anticipated that the replacement content would fail so spectacularly.

"The engagement metrics are brutal," Chloe continued. "Your amateur videos with broken equipment were getting ten times the views and engagement of these professional productions. The admissions office is furious because applications are actually down since the new content launched."

"And Director Reed is taking the heat?"

"All of it. The Chancellor has been asking pointed questions about how she could approve such massive expenditures for such poor results. She's been trying to throw Karen under the bus, but the board wants to know why she didn't exercise better oversight."

Leo felt a complex mix of satisfaction and something that might have been guilt. He'd wanted revenge on Karen Sterling, but Director Reed had just been a lazy administrator who'd enabled Karen's petty tyranny.

"Is she going to survive?"

"Unclear. Word is they're conducting a comprehensive review of the marketing department's operations. Could be wholesale changes coming."

They talked for another twenty minutes, with Chloe filling in details about the university's mounting crisis. The expensive video content had not only failed to increase enrollment but had actually become a source of ridicule on social media. Students were creating parody versions that got more views than the originals.

After hanging up, Leo sat in the Balinese sunshine, contemplating the wreckage he'd orchestrated from half a world away. Karen Sterling, destroyed. Director Reed, likely to follow. A marketing department in chaos. Nearly $600,000 of university money transferred to a production company that had delivered exactly what was promised – technically proficient content that completely missed the mark.

His phone buzzed with a text from Alex Rivera: "Just closed another deal using your playbook. Dinner in Singapore next month? My treat, obviously."

Leo typed back: "Absolutely. How's the Northwood content performing?"

"Beautifully shot, completely ineffective. Exactly what they paid for."

Leo smiled and set his phone aside. Justice, he reflected, was more complex than simple revenge. He'd set out to punish Karen Sterling for her petty prejudice and institutional cruelty. But in doing so, he'd also revealed the fundamental disconnect between administrative metrics and creative reality.

Northwood University had learned an expensive lesson about the difference between the appearance of professionalism and actual professional competence. They'd traded a passionate creator who understood their audience for slick contractors who understood only their own aesthetic preferences.

The waves rolled endlessly onto the beach as Leo finished his coffee and contemplated his next move. He had financial freedom now, creative independence, and a growing reputation as a behind-the-scenes power broker in the production world.

Not bad for a working-class kid who'd supposedly been fired for smoking cigarettes.

Leo opened his laptop and began browsing flight options. Singapore sounded perfect for his next chapter.