Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Daniella’s POV

My heart was beating fast as I walked down the quiet hallway, and my hand was shaking when I reached out to open the door to Professor Kent’s office. I took a deep breath,  I pushed the door open, stepping inside while the door shut behind me with a soft click. He was standing right by his table, and he looked up at me the moment I came in, his silver eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made me want to step back.

"Close the door properly, Daniella," he said, and his voice was low, and it sounded rough in the quiet room.

I turned around, and I made sure the lock clicked into place, and then I turned back to face him, keeping my hands glued to my side so he wouldn't see them shaking. As I walked closer to his table, my eyes fell on a piece of paper that was lying open right next to his stack of lecture notes, and I couldn't stop myself from reading the bold words written on it.

The letter said that someone knew about what happened at the penthouse, and it said that if he didn't stop interfering, they were going to report everything to the university board and ruin his career forever.

I froze where I was standing, and my mouth went dry, and I felt a cold chill run down my back as I looked from the letter up to his face.

"Who wrote that?" I asked, and my voice was barely a whisper, and I pointed a finger at the paper on his table.

Kent didn't answer my question right away, and instead, he folded the letter with his large hands, and he shoved it into his desk drawer, shutting it hard enough to make the small desk lamp shake.

"That is none of your concern, Daniella, and you shouldn't be looking at things on my desk anyway," he said, and he crossed his arms over his broad chest, staring down at me with a tight jaw. "What I want to know is who that guy was in the class just now."

I blinked, completely taken aback by how fast he changed the subject, and I took a small step closer to the table. "You mean Logan? He's just a new student, and he needed help with his notes, so I gave them to him, that's all."

"You were smiling at him, and you took his hand like you knew him for years," Kent said, and his dark eyebrows pulled together, and he leaned against the edge of his table, his eyes searching my face. "I don't like seeing you talk to guys like him, and you need to stay away from him."

"Why do you care who I talk to?" I asked, and my voice sounded higher than usual because I was so confused, and I couldn't understand why he was acting like this. "He was just being nice to me, Kent, and it's not like I'm doing anything wrong."

"I care because you don't know what kind of men are on this campus, and I know how guys think," he said, and his tone was sharp, and he stepped closer to me until he was standing right in front of me, overpowering me with his height. "You are too trusting, Daniella, and look where that got you with Gareth."

The mention of Gareth's name felt like a slap in the face, I looked down at the floor, and I felt my chest tighten as the painful memories came rushing back. I gripped the edges of my oversized sweater, my hands were trembling so much that I couldn't hide it anymore, and I tried to pull away from him.

Kent saw my hands, and his posture softened immediately, and the harsh look in his eyes vanished, replaced by something that looked like concern.

"Hey," he said, and his voice became much gentler, and he reached out, his large hand hesitated in the air before he lightly touched my shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that, and I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I'm not upset," I lied, keeping my eyes fixed on his dark shirt, and I felt the baby in my stomach flip, reminding me of the real reason I had walked into his office in the first place. "I came here because I need to tell you something really important, Kent, and it's about that night at the penthouse."

Kent stayed completely still, and he looked right into my eyes, and he listened to me without interrupting. "What about that night? I told you already, I know I was rough, and I left the card for you because—"

"No, it's not about the card," I cut him off, and I took a deep, shaky breath, trying to build up the courage to say the words out loud. "I didn't go there because I wanted money, Gareth lied to me, and he set me up, but that's not even the worst part of it, the worst part is—"

Before I could finish my sentence and tell him that I was pregnant with his baby, the office door was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang, hitting the wall hard.

We both turned our heads fast, and my heart dropped right into my stomach when I saw Freya standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, and her face twisted in absolute fury.

"I knew it!" Freya raised her voice, and she stepped into the office without waiting for an invitation, her heels making loud clicking sounds as she walked towards us. "I saw you walking in here after class, Daniella, and I knew you were in here trying to throw yourself at my fiancé!"

"Freya, get out of my office right now," Kent said, and his voice turned instantly cold, and he stepped in front of me, blocking me from her view as he glared at her. "You do not walk into my private space like this, and you definitely do not yell in here."

"I don't care, Kent!" Freya shouted, and she pointed an angry finger at me from behind his back. "She's been sneaking around you all day, and now she's alone with you in your office with the door locked! What were you two doing in here? Everyone on campus is already talking about how she's trying to get with you for better grades!"

"That's not true!" I yelled back, stepping out from behind Kent because I couldn't stand her lying about me like that anymore. "I came here to talk to him about something personal, and it has nothing to do with my grades or you!"

"Personal?" Freya laughed, but it sounded fake and bitter, and she looked at Kent with disbelief written all over her face. "You hear her, Kent? She's trying to trap you, and she thinks she can just talk to you whenever she wants, but you're my fiancé, and I won't let some cheap girl ruin our engagement!"

"I am not your fiancé, Freya, and I never wanted any of this," Kent said, his voice deadly serious as he took a step toward her, forcing her to take a step back toward the open door. "If you don't leave my office in the next three seconds, I will call security and have you dragged off this floor."

Freya looked at Kent, and then her eyes darted back to me, filled with so much hatred that it made my skin crawl, and she sneered at me before turning back to the hallway.

"This isn't over, Daniella," Freya spat out, her voice echoing down the hall so that other students who were walking by stopped to look. "By tomorrow, the whole school is going to know what kind of girl you really are, and you won't be able to hide in his office forever!”