THE DEAN'S BRIDE

I was serving champagne in uniform when my rich roommate destroyed my graduation project and blamed me for the disaster. The board was about to revoke my degree and visa—until the academy’s icy young dean, Julian Cross, took my hand, led me onto the stage, and announced, “Meet my fiancée.” Our engagement was only a deal: I needed to save my future, and he needed board votes for his reform plan. But after moving into his residence, I discovered a secret file bearing my late father’s name. He hadn’t stolen research funds or taken his own life in disgrace—he had exposed the academy’s stolen patents, and Julian was the only witness who stayed silent. When the board erased my admission and branded me a fraud, I stopped begging for their approval. I returned with an invention powerful enough to make their donors abandon them—and forced the man who once failed my father to surrender his title if he wanted a real future with me.