Chapter 2

I couldn’t sleep.

I kept hearing his voice echo in my head.

I’m your professor.

The words sank into me like slow poison.

I stared at the cracked ceiling above my dorm bed, still in the same dress from the clinic, the envelope of money clutched to my chest like it might vanish if I let it go.

How had I missed it?

I hadn’t even seen his face properly on campus. I’d been so consumed by fear, by my father’s bills, by the fact that I had just signed away my body for survival.

And now… Noah Bennett was not just my surrogate client.

He was my lecturer.

My course instructor.

My ethics professor.

I laughed bitterly at the irony.

I didn’t sleep that night and the next morning, I barely ate. My stomach curled at the idea of facing him again. I thought about withdrawing, running, or disappearing from campus before anyone found out. But I couldn’t not when $200,000 sat in my drawer, not when the doctors had scheduled my father’s surgery for the following day.

So I went to class.

I slipped into my seat at the back, hood pulled low, eyes down.

Then the classroom door opened.

And in walked Professor Noah Bennett.

Every head turned. He looked effortlessly confident, tailored in navy, with the same calm control that filled his office. The girls around me whispered and smiled, sliding lip gloss across their mouths like it might summon his attention.

But I knew something they didn’t.

He wasn’t just handsome, he was dangerous.

“Good morning, everyone,” he said, setting his briefcase on the desk. “We’ll be covering chapter three today, power dynamics in institutional relationships.”

My heart dropped, of all topics.

I could feel the heat crawling up my neck. I didn’t dare look up.

The lecture blurred past me. My notes were nonsense scribbles. My pulse thudded with every footstep he took around the room. Then…

“Grace Carter,” he said.

The entire class turned.

I looked up slowly.

His expression was unreadable. “Could you meet me after class, please?”

I nodded once, blood roaring in my ears.

When class ended, the other students trickled out in lazy clusters. I stayed frozen in my seat. He waited until the last girl Bridget, who lingered long enough to twirl her braids and flash him a fake-coy smile finally exited the room.

Then it was just us.

He walked slowly to the door and shut it.

My breath caught.

“Noah,” I said before I could stop myself.

He turned. “That’s Professor Bennett in this classroom.”

I looked down. “Right.”

He moved to the edge of the desk and sat. “We need to talk.”

I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek.

“I didn’t know you were a student here,” he said. “I didn’t know you were in my department. If I had…”

“You would’ve picked someone else?”

His jaw tightened. “Maybe.”

I blinked against the sting in my chest. “It’s too late now.”

He studied me. “You understand the position we’re in.”

“I do.”

“This” he motioned between us “ can’t exist. You understand that too, right?”

I swallowed. “I’m not trying to make it exist.”

There was a beat of silence.

He exhaled. “I’m not terminating the contract. That wouldn’t be fair but this pregnancy has to stay confidential between us. No one else can know.”

“Agreed.”

Another pause.

Then, softer: “Are you… okay? After the procedure?”

My heart twisted.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

He nodded, eyes lingering on me a second too long.

Then stood.

“You should go.”

I stood too, grabbing my bag, turning toward the door. My fingers brushed the handle.

“Grace,” he said behind me.

I paused.

“Don’t get too comfortable around me.”

I turned back slowly, searching his face. “Why not?”

“Because,” he said quietly, “I’m trying very hard not to cross a line we can’t uncross.”

I walked out before he could see the heat rise in my cheeks.

That night, I got a message from the hospital.

The surgery had gone well.

My father had made it.

My mom cried over the phone, praising God, calling me her miracle.

And still… I couldn’t feel peace.

I stared at my reflection in the dorm mirror, messy bun, shadows under my eyes, skin a little paler than usual.

There was a life growing inside me now. One that didn’t belong entirely to me.

And the man connected to it?

He was standing in front of a lecture hall… warning me not to fall for him.

But what scared me more?

I already had.