Chapter: Caregiver's Creamy Milk (Part 1)Walking into the dim master bedroom of the old mansion, my heels click across the polished hardwood. The smell of stale air and medicine hits me like a freight train. The family warned me that Knox is stubborn, cruel even in his decline, and that he hasn't touched solid food in nearly three weeks. They're paying me triple my usual rate to keep him alive until they can sort out the inheritance mess.I don't ask questions.At thirty-eight, with breasts that haven't stopped leaking since I underwent an experimental hormone treatment, I need the money far more than I need morals.Knox lies propped amid a mountain of pillows in the massive four-poster bed, his once-powerful frame reduced to sharp bones wrapped in thin, papery skin. Seventy-five years old, with silver hair plastered to his scalp, he fixes those pale eyes on me the second I enter.“Another caregiver?” Knox rasps, voice dry as dust. “Here to torture an old bastard before he finally checks out?”“I’m Mia, and I’m here to make
Last Updated: 2026-06-27
Chapter: Craving My New Student (Part 10)The lock clicks into place.No one else is getting in.Lucien stands a short distance from the couch, his gaze tracking me as though he's afraid I'll vanish if he blinks. That look always does something dangerous to me.I cross the space between us.My fingers curl into the front of his shirt, pulling him close enough that our bodies almost touch."Why do you keep coming back to me?" I ask."The same reason you can't let go," he answers. "We both know how this ends, and we still can't help it."I don't give him time to say more. I pull him down, and our mouths meet.The kiss starts slowly. Carefully. Like we're both testing whether this is just another mistake we'll regret later.His hands come up to cradle my face, thumbs brushing over my cheeks.Then the kiss changes.It turns deeper. Hungrier.Tongues sliding. Breaths mingling. Teeth grazing lips.I press myself into him, needing the steady heat of his body, the undeniable proof that he's here. His hands settle on my waist as he gu
Last Updated: 2026-06-24
Chapter: Craving My New Student (Part 9)I walk into Chancellor Whitlock’s office without an appointment. Amy tries to stop me, her voice rising as she calls my name from the reception area, but I brush past her with a curt, “It’s urgent.”The interruption earns me a startled look from Whitlock, who glances up from a stack of documents spread across his desk.He is holding a fountain pen in one hand, reading glasses perched low on his nose.“Professor Hale,” he says, setting down the pen. “Is everything alright?”The concern in his voice almost makes me reconsider.Almost.It is not that he sounds insincere. It is worse than that. It is genuine concern wrapped in institutional control, the kind that comes with knowing every decision here carries consequences beyond the person standing in front of him.If I wait any longer, I might lose my nerve.I remain standing. Sitting would soften this into a discussion instead of what it needs to be.“I am ending the special support arrangement with Lucien Grayson. Effective immediately
Last Updated: 2026-06-22
Chapter: Craving My New Student (Part 8)Lynn recovers first. A small, satisfied smile tugs at her mouth, as if she’s been waiting for this exact moment.“Well, this is awkward. Catherine. Didn’t expect to see you here.”I ignore her completely and fix my gaze on Lucien instead. My voice comes out cutting, stripped of patience. “Explain this bullshit.”The studio suddenly feels tighter, like the walls have shifted closer while no one was looking. Lucien steps forward with his hands slightly raised, his face drained of color.“Catherine, it is not what it sounds like. Let me explain.”Letting out a soft laugh, Lynn leans back against the piano, her arms still crossed. She looks exactly as she used to when we spent nights at clubs, trading secrets over drinks and music that felt harmless. The same woman who listened as I broke down for months over Mark’s growing distance. The same woman who apparently decided I was something she could step over.“Oh, please,” she says lightly. “Let’s not pretend there is confusion here. Lucien
Last Updated: 2026-06-18
Chapter: Craving My New Student (Part 7)Standing at the front of the lecture hall, I move through the material with the steady assurance years of teaching have carved into muscle memory. The notes on the projector advance behind me in sequence, though I barely rely on them. My voice carries cleanly across the room as I connect theory to lived decisions, the kind of choices people make when no one is watching, when ethics are tested in ordinary places.The students respond in uneven patterns. Some lean forward, pens moving across notebooks, capturing every structured idea. Others recline, eyes lowered to phones they try to disguise under the desk, still listening in fragments. A few nod at precise moments, as though something internal has aligned with what I am saying. The rhythm of teaching steadies something in me that has been unsettled. In this space, there is only structure, language, and the expectation of clarity. Everything else is temporarily muted.Halfway through the session, I scan the back rows and pause.Lucien
Last Updated: 2026-06-15
Chapter: Craving My New Student (Part 6)I wake before Mark, and the house feels lighter. The divorce papers have been sitting in my drawer for weeks. This morning, I finally pull them out, place them on the kitchen table beside a pen, and make myself a cup of coffee.By the time Mark stumbles into the kitchen, he's hungover, irritable, and scratching his stomach. His gaze lands on the papers, and he stops short.“What the hell is this?”“Divorce papers,” I say, taking a sip of coffee. “Sign them.”He stares at me as if I've suddenly started speaking another language.“Divorce? You? The old Catherine would never pull this shit. You always forgave. You always stayed.”I set my mug down.“The old Catherine is gone. Sign.”A laugh escapes him, but there's no real amusement behind it.“You can't be serious. We have kids. A life. You really want to throw that away because of one mistake?”“One mistake?” I fold my arms across my chest. “You fucked my friend for months. Disappeared for weeks. Called me leftovers. Don't talk to me a
Last Updated: 2026-06-13
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