Contractually Yours

Jem's POV

My girlfriend, Mara, just texted me less than five minutes earlier;

"Professor Blake isn't in his office. Just drop the investigation report on my desk. I'll submit it personally.”

That was all she'd written in her text message.

Nothing strange.

Nothing that made me question anything.

So when I reached the faculty corridor and found professor Blake's office door slightly opened, I barely thought about it. I knocked once out of habit.

No answer. I frowned.

"Professor?" I called, pushing the door open.

The file slipped from my fingers before I even realized I had let go of it.

The papers scattered across the polished floor.

Mara jerked around so fast that her eyes met mine before she even had time to move away from the professor.

Mara—my own girlfriend—the woman I've loved with all my life was draped across professor Blake's desk, her short skirt was pushed up past her hips, her legs draped over the professor's broad shoulders.

Blake, the head of the academy's internal affairs curriculum, had his hands buried in Mara's hair, thrusting his cock into her with a brutal, frantic urgency.

"Mara," I choked out. The name felt like broken glass in my mouth.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Professor Blake froze, his face draining of color as he scrambled backward, nearly tripping over his own trousers.

Mara let out a sharp gasp, her eyes widening in sheer terror as she looked at me. For a fraction of a second, I saw raw guilt in her expression.

Then, her eyes hardened. It was a terrifyingly quick calculation.

She started pulling her bra and shirt back against her skin as Blake hurried to bury his dick back into his own pants.

"J-Jem..." Professor Blake shot forward quickly, "This isn't what it looks like."

I laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

But because my mind had simply stopped working.

"What does it look like then?" My voice came out strangely calm. "Go on, Professor. I'm listening. Because from where I'm standing, it looks like a professor screwing my girlfriend right here in his own office... on his desk.”

Neither of them answered.

I looked at Mara instead.

Three years.

Three years of walking her home after lectures.

Three years of studying together until sunrise before examinations.

Three years of believing every smile she gave me belonged to me.

"You told me you were meeting your aunt, Mara. You just texted me that professor Blake wasn't in his office." I said quietly.

Mara opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

"So that was a lie too?" I demanded.

"Jem, please..." Her voice broke as she stepped closer slowly.

"No." My voice suddenly rose.

I shook my head before she could come any closer.

"No. Don't say my name like we're still the same people we were ten minutes ago."

Professor Blake stepped around his desk, trying to regain the authority he had clearly forgotten moments earlier.

"Jem, you're crossing a line.”

I turned toward him so sharply that even he stopped walking.

"I'm crossing a line?" I repeated, disbelief spilling into every word. "You're my supervising lecturer. And I just caught you fucking my own girlfriend like she's your pretty little whore.”

Blake's jaw tightened. "This conversation is over." He turned away.

"No," I snapped. "It starts now."

I pointed toward Mara. "Tell me how long."

She lowered her eyes.

"Mara. Look at me and tell me—for how long has this been happening? For how long has he been fucking you like this? And you kept lying to me that you were a fucking virgin?"

She didn't speak.

I lost it completely. I shouted, "How long, Mara?"

Her shoulders trembled, but she still didn't answer me.

"I asked you a question, Mara! For how long?"

Before she could answer, I noticed Professor Blake pull out his phone and make an urgent call. Almost immediately, I heard hurried footsteps thundering down the corridor.

I turned around quickly.

Five campus security officers appeared.

Relief flashed across professor Blake's face.

He must have called them to come drag me out of his office.

But before I could even process what was happening, Mara suddenly dropped to her knees and burst into tears. Through her sobs, she suddenly screamed, "That's him!”

I froze.

Mara's finger lifted slowly until it pointed directly at me.

My heart stopped. I had no idea what was happening.

"That's him. He's been threatening me for weeks," Mara continued through her tears.

The words didn't even register at first.

I stared at Mara on the floor. I still didn't understand what was happening.

"What... what the hell are you talking about, Mara?"

She began crying even harder.

"He has the files!" Mara sobbed, pointing a trembling, perfectly timed finger at me. Tears streamed down her face, a performance so flawless it sickened me.

"I caught him! He was in the digital archive room—he downloaded the active syndicate informant list to sell to the cartel! I followed him here to report to Professor Blake, and he attacked me to shut me up! He told me to join him or he'd ruin me!"

"That's a lie!" I shouted, stepping back as the guards flanked me. "I came to drop off my project papers! And I saw them together... they were—she was—"

I couldn't finish. Professor Blake interrupted me immediately.

"Secure the suspect!" He ordered, his voice dripping with authority. "Mara showed immense bravery tonight. Jem, you are under arrest for treason and espionage."