Taming the Wall Street Wolf

When I realized the broke high school kid I sponsored was the villain, he was already knocking on my front door. I pulled it open.

Jude stood there, shifting his weight, lugging a massive, battered industrial sack. His dark eyes were bright.

A stream of glowing comments flashed across my vision: [Is this the future ultimate villain?] [Tsk, the mad dog's puppy phase.] [Wait till he gets rich and powerful.

He’ll be the biggest roadblock for the main couple.] [He digs his own grave. Sebastian destroys him in the end. Doesn't even leave ashes.] My breath caught. I stepped back.

The light in Jude’s eyes died. A bitter smile twisted his mouth. "Sorry. I just wanted to say thank you, Astrid." He dropped the heavy sack on the porch and turned away.

My brows snapped together. "Wait!" Chapter 1 He kept his head down.

His voice scraped out, low and rough. "Do you need me to do something else?" "You're leaving just like that?" Jude gave a tight nod. "School’s out for the summer.

I just wanted to see you, Astrid. I saw you. I should head back." The comments rolled past: [He's actually so pitiful.

If he just kept this loyal golden retriever vibe, he'd totally be endgame!] [Bro, wait.

You’re telling me he hitched a ride in a pickup from his farm to town, caught a bus to the terminal, hopped the subway, and suffered through a 13hour grueling Amtrak coach ride to New York—just to bring his sponsor a bag of farmgrown food?] [He traded backbreaking farm labor just to get those crops.

How did such a good kid turn into such a walking red flag?] [I'm officially obsessed with him.

God knows how many dirty looks he got hauling that massive feed bag all the way here!] My throat tightened.

Sweat coated his forehead, plastering dark strands of hair to his skin. "Forget it.

Come inside and cool off." Jude hesitated, shrinking back toward the edge of the porch. "My—my shoes are dirty." I glanced down.

His canvas sneakers were scrubbed to the point of fraying, coated in a thick layer of road dust. He had tried so hard to keep them clean.

I pointed at the heavy sack. "Carry that in for me. I have slippers for you." Jude’s head snapped up. Pure shock hit his face.

I pulled a fresh pair of slides from the rack. "Put these on." He set the bag down and stood rigid in the middle of the living room, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

I pressed an icy glass of lemonade into his hand and let out a soft laugh. "Sit on the couch. Stop freezing up." He forced a tight smile.

He perched on the very edge of the cushion, terrified of leaving a smudge on the expensive fabric. I asked about his classes. That shifted his focus.

The tension drained from his shoulders. He was brilliant. Top of his class at the toughest public school in his district. I listened to the steady cadence of his voice.

This kid was absolutely nothing like the monster the comments claimed he’d become.

His dark eyes burned with a quiet resilience, driven by a desperate hunger to claw his way out of poverty and make something of himself. A kid like this?

Tearing his life apart and shedding blood over some girl? Impossible. Jude blinked, rubbing the back of his neck as a flush crept up his jaw. "I'm just going to hit the books.

Get a head start on next semester's syllabus…" [The villain was born to gaslight. He’s totally planning to go tutor.] [Don't wreck your SAT prep, bro!

Even if you're the villain, you gotta get into a good college!] [Ten bucks an hour? That's practically slave labor.] [And Foley is a nightmare!

When her kid’s grades don’t go up, she screams at him. He takes all that abuse, and it totally twists his mind!] [He has no choice.

He only uses Astrid's sponsorship money for tuition. He insists on hustling for his own living expenses.] I cut through his lie.

I chose my words carefully. "A friend of mine is desperately hiring at her bookstore. If you’re open to it—" I didn't even finish.

A look of urgency crossed Jude's face. "Is it an important friend? How can I help?" Chapter 2 My probing words choked in my throat.

I stared at his striking face for a long second before giving a slow nod. "Could you watch the shop for her?

I'll pay you a hundred bucks a day." Before Jude could even open his mouth, the comments exploded. [What is the sponsor doing?!

If the villain doesn't suffer, how will he become that ruthless, obsessed corporate shark?] [Exactly!

If he doesn't go back to the city to tutor Jaxon, how is he supposed to bump into Gemma on her vacation?] My heart stirred slightly. Suffering wasn't a prerequisite for success.

Given the choice, who wouldn't want to walk in the sun?

And as for this socalled "female lead" the comments kept obsessing over… If she was only going to bring Jude pain, what was the point of them even crossing paths?

Why should Jude, a kid with a brilliant future, be reduced to a mere stepping stone for their epic romance?

Jude picked nervously at the seam of his faded denim. "I… I've never done retail.

I'm scared I'll mess it up." I offered a soft smile and clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "It's fine. Everyone starts somewhere. I believe in you." Jude froze.

His dark, downturned puppydog eyes went perfectly round. His lips parted, trembling slightly like he was about to say something.

The sharp click of the front door unlocking shattered the moment. "Astrid! I just got into a fight with my mom!" The neon comments immediately went into a frenzy. [Yes!

The female lead is here!] [Oh damn! The sponsor is actually the FMC's cousin!] Who? My cousin? I glanced toward the entryway.

Shock flickered across my face as Gemma stormed in, but the pieces quickly snapped into place. Gemma was Aunt Catherine's daughter.

Her parents were deeply in love, their family was drowning in old money, and she was the textbook definition of a sheltered heiress.

She was fiercely naive, completely unfiltered, and carried a natural kindness toward everyone and everything.

Looking at it now, she really was the absolute gold standard for a romance novel heroine. [Dammit, our MMC is still MIA! Why did the villain run into her so early?] [It's fine!

Once Gemma studies abroad, her family's empire will crash. Then she'll be forced into an arranged engagement with Sebastian!] [Marriage of convenience!

They'll catch feelings without realizing it.

Thank God the villain becomes a newmoney billionaire by then—he shows up just in time to trigger Sebastian's redflag possessive streak!] I blinked.

Wait— According to these floating words… Gemma's family business was thriving. How could they suddenly face financial ruin out of nowhere?

And if Jude was already a massive success by then… Why the hell was he still just a pawn in their twisted little love games?!

In a blink, Gemma was already invading my personal space. "Astrid, I want to go to a historic art retreat down in Savannah, but my mom is absolutely forbidding it.

You have to talk some sense into her!" She finally registered the other person in the room. Her grip on my arm loosened. "Oh?

We have company." I snapped out of my daze. "This is Jude. The student I sponsor." I turned to Jude. "This is my cousin, Gemma." They exchanged awkward hellos.

I watched helplessly as Jude's gaze lingered on Gemma's face. Then, his eyes dropped, pinning directly onto our linked hands.

The comments practically shrieked: [Who could resist the ultimate sunshine FMC?!] [Lmao, the villain is already catching feelings!] [Wait, the place Gemma wants to go… isn't that where she meets Sebastian?!

The timeline bumped up!] [Omg Astrid, separate them right now! Our precious baby Gemma belongs to Sebastian!] Chapter 3 I frowned slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

I nudged Gemma toward the stairs, telling her to wait in the secondfloor study so Jude wouldn't feel cornered.

Once her footsteps faded, I turned back to him. "Since I pulled you into this, you're staying here. The third floor is entirely guest rooms.

Pick whichever one you want." Jude held my gaze. A slow, deliberate nod followed. "Whatever you say, Astrid." I got him settled and headed straight for the study.

Gemma immediately launched into a rapidfire explanation about the fight with her mom.

She desperately needed this Savannah art retreat to finalize her portfolio for Ivy League applications. Old money backing her up, an elite degree to stamp her resume.

A perfectly paved golden road. I gave her a reassuring nod. "I'll talk Catherine down." Gemma paused by the door. "Astrid, you're literally in college.

Why are you sponsoring some random high school kid?" I never really cared about material things.

When I started my freshman year, my mom dumped a seventythousanddollar monthly allowance into my account.

I stumbled across a crowdfunding thread for underprivileged students by accident. Hundreds of kids from deadend towns flooded the comments.

Leaving that kind of cash rotting in my bank account felt pointless. I wanted it to actually do something. I dropped a single comment offering sponsorships.

My DMs exploded with thousands of requests. Jude barely registered as a blip in the chaos. I started by backing thirty kids.

It turned out only a handful of them were actually in real financial need. So I cut the list down to eighteen. Jude made the cut. Even then, he barely crossed my mind.

That completely shifted after his freshman state placement exams. He scored first in his entire district and won a thousanddollar academic scholarship.

He wired every single cent straight to my account. "I know this is nothing to you, Astrid. But I earned this myself. Please let me give this to you." That hit me hard.

That became the exact moment I truly saw this orphaned kid. Trapped in poverty, but fiercely proud. Drowning in insecurity, but built out of pure steel.

He sent clockwork holiday greetings. He tracked every single dollar I wired him, firing off meticulous expense spreadsheets at the end of every month.

But mostly, he sent me screenshots of his report cards. Flawless straight A's. Ranked number one, every single time. I ran a deep dive on his high school.

It functioned as a viciously competitive magnet school. Underfunded, but brutal. Holding the top rank there meant he had to bleed for it. I laid all of this out for Gemma.

She looked a bit surprised. Then her expression tightened. "But does that really justify moving him into your house?" My voice caught.

Blazing afternoon sun poured through the glass. The deafening buzz of cicadas thrummed against the windowpanes.

My mind flashed to Jude hauling that battered industrial sack on his shoulders.

Then the glowing comments slashed across my memory—the terrifying warnings that Jude would turn into a bloodthirsty, obsessed monster, entirely for Gemma. I let out a heavy sigh.

I didn't even know if I answered her or tried to convince myself. "Maybe because I refuse to let that be his ending." I called Catherine later that afternoon.

I talked her into signing off on the Savannah retreat, then carefully planted a warning about the family business's cash flow. Thank God she didn't interrogate me.

She just promised to have Theodore run a full corporate audit. Chapter 4 Before bed, a hesitant knock sounded at my door. I opened it to find Jude in a crisp, laundered white tee.

Raw panic flickered across his face. "Astrid, are you sure I'm not intruding?" A soft laugh escaped me. "Stop being so formal.

Just call me Astrid." I held his gaze, catching the fragile, splintering edge of his pride. "You're doing me a massive favor by helping at the shop. How could that be intruding?

Jude—this isn't charity. You aren't a burden. Drop the stress." His thick lashes gave a sharp jerk.

He stared at me for a long, heavy beat before a faint, genuine smile broke through. "Okay, Astrid." The bookstore gig was dead quiet. It gave Jude hours of uninterrupted study time.

I dropped in occasionally under the guise of buying books, and he shadowed my every move. Like a massive, stubborn golden retriever refusing to leave my heel.

I let out a helpless laugh. "Go read your textbooks. Ignore me." He just gave a hard, obstinate shake of his head. Eventually, I stopped fighting it.

Gemma wrapped up her art retreat a week later. Her text pinged my phone just as I finalized the order for a birthday cake. I remembered the exact date from his background check.

That day, Jude turned eighteen. I grabbed the cake and a gift, swinging by the bookstore to pick him up. Through the storefront glass, a flawless scene played out.

The gentle boy and the vibrant girl. Neon text violently flooded my vision: [Knew it! No one survives the sunshine FMC's aura!] [Look at him!

He is literally obsessed with her already!] [Ugh, his lore is so dark. Mom bailed, dad’s an abusive alcoholic gambler. He survived on scraps from neighbors.

Gemma tossing him a crumb of kindness literally becomes his entire will to live.] [Our tragic, broken villain.

Save that obsession for the next life, bro.] I slammed the car into drive and headed straight home. Jude’s subway commute took two agonizing hours. The deadbolt clicked.

He walked in, freezing the second his eyes snagged on the dining table. I snapped out of my head, throwing him a bright smile. "It's your birthday.

The man of the hour finally made it." He let me boss him around like a deer in headlights. I shoved him into a dining chair and slapped a cheap paper crown on his head.

I lit the candles. I sang the song. I ordered him to make a wish. Jude just stared, completely mesmerized. He didn't snap out of it until I leaned in to blow out the flames.

His hand shot out. His long fingers clamped around my wrist. His skin was so hot it made my wrist tingle. His dark eyes were redrimmed.

The sound tore out of his throat, raw and crushed. "Astrid. Blow them out with me