The ticking hour

RiverI hadn’t slept.The sunrise poured through my office window like a mockery, soft golden light slipping across scattered papers and coffee-stained folders. I didn’t look at it. My eyes were fixed on my phone, the last message I sent to Sage still hanging there unanswered.The silence hadn’t broken.By seven a.m., I was on my feet and pacing. I had already been to Sage’s apartment. His bed was untouched. No signs of return. No notes. Nothing.I returned to school, so determined to find out who the student was.I headed straight to the records department.The admin looked up from her desk with mild disinterest. “Can I help you, Professor River?”“I need information on a student,” I said, already placing a printed photo on the counter. “Blond, tall, was wearing a black hoodie last night. Name unknown. He left a party with one of my student, Sage Fleming. I need to know if he’s enrolled here.”She blinked at me, clearly startled by my tone, then reached for the photo. “Do you have a

Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-05-12

Baca selengkapnya

The enemy of my friend

SageThe first thing I noticed was the smell, like cheap perfume spilled over rot. It smelled really terrible, ugh! Then came the color. The room was pink. Not a soft, charming pink either, but loud, bubblegum pink, like someone had tried to make a brothel look like a dollhouse and failed spectacularly. I blinked against the cheap light fixture overhead, every flicker stabbing my skull.I was lying on a bed. My arms were heavy, my legs worse. My head… it wasn’t right. It felt like I’d been caught in a washing machine on spin cycle. My stomach twisted with every breath.“Ugh…” I groaned, raising a hand to my temple. I could barely sit up, and when I did, the whole room tilted like a carnival ride.My voice came out hoarse. “Where… the hell am I?”Footsteps. I hadn’t heard the door open, but I heard them now. Slow, deliberate steps on a hardwood floor. I looked up, blinking hard.A man stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the hall light. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His features were h

Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-05-13

Baca selengkapnya

The price of trust

SageI sat on the edge of the bed, my fingers trembling as I stared at the door he’d just walked out of. My body was sore, and my throat dry, but none of that compared to the war going on in my head.Desmond. That was his name. The man who took me. Who told me stories I didn’t want to believe but couldn’t ignore. He said he’d give me time to think. That was the worst part of it. He wasn’t threatening me, not directly. He was giving me a choice. A twisted, impossible one.I could exchange the professor for Kaiden.“Think about it,” Desmond had said, his voice low, persuasive. “All I want is what’s fair. What’s just. The professor made his choice years ago. Now it’s your turn. Choose who deserves to pay. Him or Kaiden.”And then, without a word more, he’d taken me home.The car ride had been quiet. Desmond didn’t say a word. I didn’t either. I kept waiting for the twist, for the trap to snap. But none came. Instead, they pulled up in front of my house and left me at the gate like some

Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-05-15

Baca selengkapnya

All through silence

SageI stared at the message on my phone, my thumb hovering over the screen like it weighed a hundred pounds.“Tick tock. You have a few hours left.”A few hours left for what, exactly? To stay alive? To make a choice that would save Kaiden? Or to betray the only man who ever claimed to care about me?I didn’t know what to do. Should I tell the professor about it? Could I even trust him enough to confide in him now? I dropped the phone on the nightstand like it had burned me, leaned back into my, and tried to regulate my breathing. But it was impossible. I was jumpy, fidgeting, my fingers twitching, my knee bouncing. Every sound outside made my heart lurch. We had gone back to the professor’s place because he said he couldn’t bear to be apart from me when things weren’t normal.Of course, Amir was guarding the door while I stayed in. I was so jumpy and scared of being alone but I didn’t dare tell them that. I was determined to keep it to myself till I felt like I could trust them bu

Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-05-15

Baca selengkapnya

Semua Bab The Professor Wants Me and So Does My Bestfriend: Bab 211 - Bab 214

The ticking hour

The enemy of my friend

The price of trust

All through silence