[MO] Apartment Complex poached subletter from me

Hello-

I signed a 12 month lease with my apartment complex starting in August 2018 and ending July 31st 2019. This is an apartment complex in a college town, I am graduating next Friday and needed to find a subletter to take over my lease for the second semester term.

The way subleasing works here is that I am required to go through the apartment complex's office and have them facilitate the process so when I move out the subletter will take over my lease and pay rent to the apartment complex and not to me. The only thing mentioned in my lease about subletting is that I have to find the subletter on my own and they need to be approved by the apartment complex.

I found someone at the end of October who was interested in subleasing my apartment. I went to the office at my apartment complex at the beginning of November and gave them my subletter's name and contact information. The office told me that the subletter I found must contact them through a form on their website and that they would keep her contact information and be on the look out for an email from her. I instructed my subletter to do so and she did and told me the apartment complex had responded and given her forms to sign and she had sent them back. I assumed everything was good to go.

Yesterday I went to my apartment complex's office and asked if there was anything I needed to do before I move out next week. I was then informed that the person who I had found to sublease had signed a whole new lease for a different apartment in the building. They told me to come back tomorrow and they would have more information on what happened.

When I went back to the office this evening I was told that when the person I found contacted them, my apartment complex quoted them a lower rate if they signed a new lease rather than subleasing through me. The person I found to sublease obviously signed the new lease at the lower rate. Neither my apartment complex or the subleaser told me about this change.

My question is is this illegal or just a shady move by my apartment complex? I know they have been having trouble filling empty rooms and have been trying to get new tenants for the upcoming semester. I am now left trying to scramble to find a new subletter in the 9 days before I graduate and move. Do I have any recourse here?