TWO. THE COLD PROFESSOR

Anthony's cold, sharp voice left Shanon frozen at the door. She stared blankly at Anthony who was talking to someone on the phone. His face flushed with anger and his jaw tightened. Anthony gestured with his eyes for Shanon to come into his room and closed the door behind her.

Shanon gulped nervously while feeling her heart, which was pounding very hard. She thought Anthony had just shouted at her and punished her. She actually almost fainted as his cold words pierced right through her heart.

“I don't care, you are suspended indefinitely. If you show a good attitude during your suspension, I will consider taking you back. But if not, you had better get out of my campus forever. This university is too good for an incompetent lecturer like you.”

Silence ensued after Anthony finished his call with someone who pissed him. Shanon sat up straight in her chair, waiting anxiously for Anthony while telling her heart to stop beating so fast. But unfortunately, Shanon couldn't stop her crazy heart beating. The silence around her made her nervousness worse.

“So, where do we start, Ms. Wilson?”

Anthony sat on his throne and placed his cellphone on his very neatly arranged table. Thick books were stacked on the right side of his desk with precision, his nameplate was right in the middle of the table, and on the left he had several important folders with various labels.

“Ms. Wilson?”

Shanon gasped in surprise because Anthony had just caught her daydreaming while looking at his desk.

“I'm sorry about what happened in your class, sir. I realized that it was very inappropriate to do that."

“Good. You realize your mistake. I know you didn't do it."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Shanon couldn't hide her surprise as Anthony grinned at her.

“Your loyalty towards your friend is very commendable. You protect your best friend, right? Sarah Johnson.”

“I-I... It was my fault.”

"So you really like me and want to sleep with me?"

“I-it's not like that. I don't..."

Shanon sighed softly. She thought she was not good at lying in front of her professor. He was too genius to be deceived.

"She was just joking. Sarah can be very nosy sometimes. But she didn't mean any harm.”

“Disturbing other students in the middle of my class is a bad thing. Don't you realize that, huh?”

Shanon flinched in surprise when Anthony suddenly hit the table. Her face turned deathly pale and she looked down deeply at the floor.

“Tell me, what punishment should I give her?”

"What? Don't!" Shanon hurriedly covered her mouth because she suddenly shouted.

“Please, don't punish Sarah. She won't do it again. I will make sure of that.”

“She embarrassed you in front of all your friends. Why do you still want to protect her?”

“Because she is my best friend. We have been friends since high school. I love her like she was my own sister. So please, don't punish her. Friendship is not only about good things, there are times when we have to compromise on bad things."

"Okay. She escaped my punishment this time. But if she makes a mistake again next time, you will get the punishment because you promised me to make sure she won't do it again. Especially in my class.”

Shanon sighed in relief. "Thank you very much."

“Don't be too happy. I know you are one of the scholarship students here.”

Shanon's body stiffened. She started to worry about what Anthony would say next.

“Behave like a smart girl. I can revoke your scholarship whenever you cause trouble.”

With sickening arrogance, Anthony made a gesture with his chin towards the door. “You may go now.”

With a pale face and a body as stiff as a board, Shanon left Anthony's room. She didn't expect that she would still receive threats about her scholarship, even though Anthony knew she was innocent. It was enough to make her heart pound very hard and her face turn pale all the way to the cafeteria.

“Hey, how did it go? What did the handsome professor say?”

“I need water. I need something to calm my pounding heart.”

“Oh my, your hands are so cold. What did he do to you? Did he kiss you in his office?”

“Stop being ridiculous, Sarah. I became like this because of you!" Shanon shouted at her loudly.

All eyes were on her for a few moments. But Shanon didn't care. She plopped down on the empty chair in front of Sarah and snatched Sarah's orange juice before she sucked it all up.

“You stole my juice!”

“It's better than getting punished. I just saved your ass from that super tyrannical professor.”

"What do you mean?"

"He knows that it wasn't me who did it but you."

“Wow, he's great. The rumors are true. Not only does he have two eyes on his face, but he also has two eyes on his back. Some of our seniors tried their luck by cheating on tests in Anthony Bruce's class. And you know what happens, they get caught just seconds after they unlock the answers they smuggled under their table. Ughh... their fate is so bad."

“I can't believe he has eyes on his back. But he definitely has a sixth sense.”

"You were lucky to be alone with him in his office. Why didn't he just call me if he knew you weren't the one writing on the paper?”

Shanon snorted. She regretted defending Sarah so fiercely in front of Anthony.

"So, you didn't get any punishment, right?"

“Fortunately not.”

Shanon decided not to tell Sarah about Anthony's other threats. She didn't want to discuss it, for the sake of her heart which had been beating very hard since earlier.

"I'm grateful. He's a good professor. Sometimes, people overestimate him just because he is too disciplined and cool. Look, he will not punish anyone if that person is innocent.”

“Ok, stop this nonsense. I'm sick of hearing you praise Mr. Bruce in front of me. Hold on a moment," Shanon motioned to Sarah to be quiet because her cell phone suddenly rang.

“Yes, Mom?”

“You go to the hospital now. Avery just had an accident. Her condition is critical.”

"What? Are you serious?"

“Are you deaf and didn't hear my words, huh? Your sister had an accident. Quickly drag your ass over here right now. We have a critical situation.”

Before Shanon could say anything, her stepmother had turned off the phone. Shanon was left in a state of panic and anxiety thinking about her sister.

"What happened?"

“I have to go to the hospital. Avery had an accident.”

Shanon stuffed her cell phone into her bag and hurried out of the cafeteria.

"Wait. Let me take you to the hospital," Sarah ran after her and kept pace with her.

“Going to the hospital by car is faster than by bus. Let's go. Thank me later.”

Shanon grinned at her friend, who was always overconfident. But she was grateful to have a friend like Sarah. At least, she could be relied on in critical times like that.

-00-

About ten minutes later, Shanon arrived at the hospital. Sarah was right that going by car was faster than going by bus. The crazy girl drove crazily on the busy streets until she was able to cut a twenty minute drive into just a ten minute drive.

Shanon looked for her stepmother in confusion. She finally caught her mother's face among the people who were crowding the hospital lobby.

"Mom, how is Avery's condition?"

Shanon gasped. Her heart was beating very fast seeing the unreadable expression on her stepmother's face.

“Her condition is critical. She is currently in a coma."

"Oh, God. How did it happen?" Shanon covered her mouth. She almost screamed to vent her sadness over what happened to Avery.

The only sibling she had had an accident and was lying in a coma. She remembered that at breakfast they were still joking at the dining table and talking about fun things. Avery was her biological older sister, her only support after her father died. Avery always protected her from her stepmother, who could sometimes be cruel. Avery was even responsible for running the company left behind by their father, which was almost bankrupt. Avery had been having difficulty finding investors. Their company couldn't be saved if they didn't get investors. And Avery had just signed a big deal with a rich man to save their company from collapse.

“No need to cry. There is no point wasting tears at a time like this.”

“What actually happened to her?”

“How would I know? The police only told me that Avery had an accident. She was probably careless and driving without paying attention to the surrounding traffic.”

"I want to see her. Where is her room?”

Before Shanon sped away towards the receptionist, Yvone grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her towards a quieter corner of the hospital.

"We have more important conditions than just worrying about Avery."

“But she's in a coma. You've been blackmailing her all this time to work day and night for that company that's almost collapsing."

“That's her duty as your father's eldest daughter. You and your sister have to save the company at all costs.”

Shanon looked away to the side. She was sad about her and Avery's condition, which had not been very prosperous since their father died. Yvonne had spent all their father's money on fun. In fact, it didn't stop there. Yvonne also owed a lot of money and used their company as collateral at the bank.

“The man who will be an investor in your father's company has made a deal with Avery.”

"We can tell him that Avery is sick and can't continue with the agreement."

"Not that easy. He has paid fifty percent of the total amount we need to pay off our debts at the bank. We cannot back down.”

"But what can we do?" Shanon shouted at Yvonne and tried to release her grip on her arm.

"Let me go. Let me see Avery.”

"You can't go anywhere before this is finished," Yvone glared at her and tightened her grip on her arm.

“We'll ask the man for some time until Avery wakes up. That's the only solution. Now let me see Avery.”

“You don't know what your sister has signed, huh,” Yvonne snorted sarcastically.

“Avery never told me the details. She just said she had taken care of everything.”

“You naive. Avery has signed an agreement to marry that man."

Shanon gaped in surprise. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Yvonne.

“You sold Avery to that guy. You must have forced her to do it, right?”

“Sshhh... Don't scream. We're at the hospital."

"I don’t care. But you are really cruel. You sold Avery's life to pay off your debts. If my father hadn't married you, we would have been fine. Our company will be fine.”

Yvonne laughed discordantly. She looked at Shanon like she was looking at a cockroach that she would trample any moment.

“But in fact, your late father preferred me. Your late father even entrusted me to hold his company accounts. Huh, you have been able to live a decent life so far only because of my mercy. I can kick you and Avery out of the house whenever I want. All the house certificates and assets belonging to your father have been transferred to my name."

“No way. You must have done something to my father. You manipulated him. My father couldn't possibly entrust his assets to you instead of his children.”

“Well, that's what was written in his will. You can check it yourself with your father's lawyer. I'm sure Winston will be happy to show you.”

Shanon's throat tightened. She suddenly felt like she had lost her footing on the earth. Avery never told her about it. But seeing how Avery had been so obedient to all of Yvonne's orders all this time, it had explained everything to Shanon that Avery had known everything all along. Her sister had been protecting the two of them, so that they could live properly in a house full of beautiful memories with their father and mother.

“Why are you just silent? Shocked, huh?”

“You're a thief. You took it from us.”

“There's no need to be angry with me. You will need me to pay for your sister's hospital treatment.”

Shanon's breath hitched at the thought. She just realized that Avery would need a lot of money for her treatment costs.

“Currently our cash is running low. I can't waste money on Avery's treatment costs. The doctor said that Avery would not survive long without life support equipment attached to her entire body."

“Please, don't. Don't let the doctors remove her life support.”

"Well, Avery can still get treatment at this hospital as long as you can get money for the treatment costs."

“I-I'm going to look for a job. How much does Avery's treatment cost now?”

“Ten thousand dollars. For one week.”

Shanon's legs grew weak when she heard the amount of money Avery needed. Her savings didn't even reach ten thousand dollars. To earn ten thousand dollars a day requires more work than just being a waitress. Meanwhile, she couldn't apply for a job at a prestigious company before she graduated.

"How? Can you make ten thousand dollars in a day?”

"I will try it."

“Tch, you idiot. You can't. Even Avery herself couldn't raise ten thousand dollars in a day. The only way you can afford your sister's treatment is to marry that rich man.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Shanon asked in shock.

“You have to replace Avery to marry that man tomorrow morning. Nine o'clock at City Hall.”