Chapter 4

The photoshop scandal still haunted me like a shadow I couldn’t shake. Everywhere I went on Tuesday, people stared. Some smirked, some whispered. A few had the nerve to laugh openly. I kept my head high and my mouth shut, but inside I was screaming.

By late afternoon, I couldn’t avoid it anymore. The project for Professor Damien Vale’s class was due by 5 p.m., and I had already missed the digital submission deadline because of the chaos. The only option left was handing it in physically at his office. My hands trembled as I clutched the USB drive and printed report. Zara offered to come with me, but I told her no. I needed to do this alone.

The faculty building was quiet at this hour. My footsteps echoed down the polished hallway until I reached his door. Professor Damien Vale. The nameplate alone made my pulse race. I took a deep breath, knocked softly, and pushed the door open when I heard his low voice say, “Come in.”

He was sitting behind his large oak desk like a king on a throne.

God, he was devastatingly handsome.

The late afternoon light coming through the window highlighted every perfect angle of his face sharp jawline, dark intense eyes, and those broad shoulders filling out his crisp black shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing strong veins and faint scars that only made him look more dangerous. He leaned back slightly in his chair, one hand resting on the desk, exuding quiet power even while doing nothing. I froze in the doorway, mouth suddenly dry.

  “Ava Blake,” he said, his deep voice sending a shiver down my spine. He didn’t smile. He never did. But his eyes locked onto me fully for the first time I could remember. “You’re late.”

  “I….I’m sorry, Professor,” I stammered, stepping inside and closing the door behind me. My cheeks burned. “There was… an issue with the online submission. I brought the physical copy and the drive.”

He watched me approach his desk, those dark eyes never leaving my face. Up close, he was even more overwhelming. The faint scent of his cologne mixed with something darker, woodsy and masculine. I could see the sharp line of his collarbone where the top button of his shirt was undone. My mind flashed back to my fantasies, his hands unbuttoning that shirt, his mouth on mine.

I placed the report and USB on his desk with shaking fingers.

He picked up the report slowly, flipping through the pages without speaking. The silence stretched, thick and heavy. I stood there awkwardly, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

  “Why didn’t you bring it earlier?” he asked, his tone calm but commanding. He looked up at me again, eyebrow slightly raised. “Office hours ended thirty minutes ago.”

  “I… I got held up,” I stammered again, hating how nervous I sounded. “There was a situation on campus and…”

He set the report down and leaned forward slightly, elbows on the desk. The movement made his shirt stretch across his chest. “A situation,” he repeated, voice low. “I saw some of the noise in the group chat.”

My heart stopped. He had seen it. The humiliation crashed over me again. I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.

  “It wasn’t real,” I whispered, voice cracking. “None of it. Sophia and Lila….”

  “I didn’t ask for explanations, Miss Blake,” he cut in smoothly, but there was something different in his eyes now, not quite indifferent. Something sharper and darker. “I expect professionalism from all my students. Regardless of personal drama.”

The words stung, but the way he looked at me really made the heat pool low in my stomach. For a brief second, I imagined him standing up, rounding the desk, and pulling me against him. Kissing me until I forgot every cruel word Sophia and Julian had ever said.

   Instead, he simply nodded toward the chair opposite him. “Sit. I’ll review it now.”

I sat, knees pressed together, trying not to stare at him too obviously. He read through my project in silence, occasionally making small notes with a sleek pen. Every few seconds his eyes flicked up to me, studying me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. The air in the office felt charged. It was too warm and too intimate.

  “You have potential,” he said finally, closing the report. “Your analysis is solid. Better than most. But you’re letting external noise affect your work. That’s a weakness.”

 “I know,” I murmured. “I’m trying to stay focused.”

  He leaned back again, watching me. “Try harder.”

The silence returned. I should have left. But my body refused to move. Being this close to him, alone in his office, was everything I had fantasized about and more. The way his presence filled the room. The quiet intensity radiating from him. The faint scar I could see just above his collar.

I wanted him to notice me. Really notice me. Instead, he stood up, towering over the desk. 

  “You can go. I’ll grade it tonight.”

  I rose on shaky legs. “Thank you, Professor.”

As I turned toward the door, his voice stopped me.

  “Ava.”

I looked back. My name on his lips sounded dangerous and addictive.

  “Stay out of trouble,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “Some situations are more complicated than they appear.”

I nodded, unable to speak, and slipped out of his office with my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst.

The hallway felt colder after being in there with him. I leaned against the wall for a moment, catching my breath. That was the longest conversation we’d ever had. The most he’d ever really looked at me.

But the high didn’t last. Sophia and Lila were waiting near the exit of the faculty building, arms crossed, smirking like they’d been expecting me.

  “Had fun in there, Blake?” Sophia drawled. “Submitting your project? Or were you on your knees for extra credit?”

  Lila laughed. “Professor Vale probably laughed when he saw the group chat. Imagine thinking someone like him would ever want a scholarship whore.”

I walked past them without responding, but their laughter followed me all the way across campus. Later that evening, back in my apartment, I replayed every second in his office. The way he said my name. The way he looked at me. The quiet power in his voice. Even after the humiliation, even after Julian’s latest threats, Professor Damien Vale was the only thing that still made my heart race.

And for the first time, I wondered if maybe  just maybe he was starting to see me too