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Chapter 19
publish date:
2026-07-26 22:06:55
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BEAUTIFULLY UNFAITHFULLY Chapter 21
Julian's POVI didn't open my notebook. I didn't click my pen.Around me, forty upper-level students were frantically scribbling down every word that left her mouth, treating her slides like holy scripture. In the rows behind me, I could hear the quiet, intimidated whispers of the regulars. “Did you see how Vance handled her the last time?” “He’s terrifyingly smart.” “I heard the upstate department tried to fast-track his thesis.”I ignored them entirely. I didn't care about their assessment of my intelligence. My intellect was a tool, a weapon engineered for a single, devastating purpose, and right now, the only validation I required was the frantic rhythm of the vein pulsing at the base of Laurel’s throat.While the rest of the room stared blindly at the projection screen, I just watched her eyes.I knew exactly what I was doing to her. Every time I shifted my weight in the tiered desk, every time I let my dark, gold-flecked gaze slow-burn across her mouth, I was intentionally pu
BEAUTIFULLY UNFAITHFULLY Chapter 20
Laurel’s POVBy Friday afternoon, the relentless Manhattan rain had finally given way to a crisp, brilliant autumn sunshine that flooded the campus with long, amber shadows. I stood before the small mirror in my office vanity, smoothing down the lapels of my charcoal-gray blazer and ensuring not a single strand of hair had escaped my flawless, tightly pinned low bun.I looked exactly as the head of the Behavioral Psychology Department should, composed, untouchable, and firmly in control.But as I gathered my lecture notes for the 2:00 PM seminar, my fingers were laced with a fine, persistent tension. The memory of Wednesday’s encounter in the hallway, the effortless, flirty audacity Julian had displayed right in front of Amanda, had left a humming electricity beneath my skin that I hadn't been able to shake for forty-eight hours.I took a deep, steadying breath, picked up my briefcase, and walked down the corridor toward the Lecture Hall.When I pushed the double doors open, the roo
BEAUTIFULLY UNFAITHFULLY Chapter 19
Julian's POVThe glowing blue text on my laptop screen blurred into an illegible smear of numbers and offshore routing codes.I slammed the screen shut, the sharp plastic snap echoing like a gunshot in the cramped silence of my apartment. I threw myself back against the mattress, staring up at the water-stained ceiling, my hands clenched into tight fists at my sides.I couldn't focus. For the first time in my life, my brain, the one tool I had always trusted to remain cold, analytical, and entirely under my control, was completely hijacked.Every time I closed my eyes, I didn't see the financial algorithms or the evidence boards. I saw the flash of the projector screen. ‘I see you, Laurel.’ I saw the sharp, ragged intake of her breath, the helpless flutter in her chest, and the way her lips had softened into that subtle, beautiful smile before her clinical defenses snapped back into place. And the hallway... the way she had looked at me when I handed her that article, her skin flushin
BEAUTIFULLY UNFAITHFULLY Chapter 18
Laurel’s POVMy heels clicked a frantic, defensive rhythm against the linoleum as I practically fled the lecture hall. The atmospheric pressure in that room had become entirely unbreathable. Julian’s smooth, deep baritone delivery of ‘reaction formation’ still echoed in my ears like a direct indictment. He had dismantled my clinical shield in front of students without breaking a sweat, exposing the raw panic humming beneath my skin.I hurried down the corridor toward the department wing, desperate for the sanctuary of my office. But as I rounded the final corner, the sight of a familiar figure leaning against the wall pulled me up short."Amanda?" I blinked, the sudden shift in reality catching me off guard."The one and only, darling," Amanda beamed, straightening up. She looked effortlessly chic in a tailored trench coat, holding a heavy boutique paper bag. "My gig wrapped up earlier than expected, so I caught the red-eye back. I knew you’d be drowning in midterms and department non
BEAUTIFULLY UNFAITHFULLY Chapter 17
17Laurel’s POVBy Wednesday morning, the weather hadn't broken. A relentless gray fog rolled off the Hudson River University, blanketing the campus in a dense, damp chill. I walked into the building with my coat collar turned up, clutching my leather briefcase like a shield. I had spent the last forty-eight hours analyzing every syllable of my phone call with Amanda, trying to anchor myself to the safe, predictable reality of my marriage, my career, and my social standing.But the moment I unlocked the double doors to the lecture hall, my carefully constructed equilibrium shattered.The tiered rows were only a quarter full as the students slowly trickled in from the morning fog, shaking out their umbrellas and shedding their damp layers. I kept my head down, navigating the small wooden steps down to the stage, and approached the heavy mahogany podium.I stopped dead in my tracks.Resting directly on top of the polished wood, precisely where I always placed my tablet, was a single, pr
BEAUTIFULLY UNFAITHFULLY Chapter 16
Julian's POVMonday morning arrived with the crisp, unforgiving bite of mid-March.I was in the Lecture hall twenty minutes before the class was scheduled to start. I chose a seat in the second row, dead center. It was close enough to force her to acknowledge my existence, but far enough back that she couldn't accuse me of crowding her. I laid out my notebook, a sleek black pen, and waited.When she finally walked through the double doors, the air in the room instantly thinned.She was magnificent. In her well tailored charcoal-grey pantsuit, her five-foot-eleven frame moving with a rigid, calculated grace. Her dark hair was swept up in a flawless, professional twist, and her jaw was set in a line of absolute, unyielding determination. She looked every bit the formidable Prof. Laurel Cruz Leonard. There was no trace of the trembling, desperate woman who had clung to my shoulders in the dark.Except for the slight, almost imperceptible tremor in her fingers as she set her leather brie
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