All Chapters of The Professor's Beautiful Secret: Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Eliana's POV"We are here, miss," the driver said as the cab rolled to a stop.I jerked from my thoughts and peered out the smudged window. Towering brick buildings stretched across manicured lawns, their glass windows catching the morning sunlight like jewels. My fingers traced the campus map in my lap—I had studied every pathway, every building until the lines blurred together.I fumbled through my purse and pulled out crumpled dollar bills. The driver's weathered face broke into a grin as I placed them in his outstretched palm. He even lifted his hand in a small wave as I stepped onto the sidewalk and slammed the car door shut.Emerald University. A fresh start. Hopefully.My wrist burned where I checked my watch—fifteen minutes late already. I clutched my bag tighter and hurried across the campus, my heels clicking against the stone pathway. Students lounged on benches, their eyes following my movement. Heat crawled up my neck, but I kept my gaze fixed ahead.The auditorium doors

Derrick's POVI arrived at the auditorium forty minutes before class started, my coffee still steaming in the empty room. Susan's shrill voice had pierced through my sleep at five in the morning, screaming about some missing quarterly report that she later found exactly where she had left it. Even after she discovered her mistake, sleep would not return. I had lain in bed staring at the ceiling, counting the cracks in the plaster until my alarm finally rang.Now exhaustion tugged at my eyelids as I arranged my lecture notes on the podium. But the moment students began trickling through the doors, alertness shot through my system like caffeine.The seventh person to enter made my breath catch in my throat.Eliana moved down the aisle in a red dress that hugged every curve of her body. The fabric clung to her hips, skimmed her thighs, and made my mouth go dry. Heat pooled low in my belly as I watched her choose a seat in the fifth row. When she settled into her chair and glanced toward

Eliana's POVFor the next four days, I became a master of escape. The moment Professor Matthews dismissed class, I gathered my books with lightning speed and rushed toward the exit before he could call my name. During lectures, though, my eyes betrayed me completely. No matter how hard I tried to focus on my notes, my gaze would drift to where he stood at the podium. Every single time, I would find him already looking at me, as if he had been waiting for that exact moment. The air between us crackled with unspoken tension.Outside of class, I took different routes across campus, ducked into bathrooms when I spotted his familiar silhouette, and generally acted like a woman on the run. The few times our paths crossed accidentally, I managed nothing more than a stiff "Good morning, Professor Matthews" before hurrying away, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.Tuesday morning, my phone buzzed with a text from Annabelle: *Meet me in classroom 204B. Faculty building. Urgent!*My fingers fl