Lahat ng Kabanata ng Forbidden Lecture: My Professor's Secret Craving: Kabanata 191 - Kabanata 200

It was now two weeks to graduation, and Aria’s life felt like it was moving toward a new direction. Even though she still thought of Jason, she didn’t reach out to him.She had to stick to her decision.“Okay, Len,” Jade narrowed her gaze at her. “It’s either you’re planning a crime, or you’re very much in love.”Aria laughed as she stood in front of the mirror in the boutique, smoothing down one of the many outfits I’d tried on for graduation.

The days flew by… until finally, it was the night of graduation.Aria sat cross‑legged on the couch in her pajamas, twirling the edge of her sleeve between her fingers while Lena flipped through channels, Mia scrolled on her phone, and Jade laid on the rug with her legs up against the wall.Tomorrow was everything. Tonight, she just felt… jittery.“You’re quiet,” Mia said without looking up. “I don’t like it. You’re making the air weird.”“What? I’m not making the air weird.”Lena glanced over. “You kind of are. You look like you’re about to sit an exam, not walk a stage.”“Don’t remind me,” Aria sighed. “You’ll make me more nervous. The thought of it all… It’s just a lot.”“That’s the point,” Jade said. “It’s supposed to be a lot. You survived hell. Now everybody comes to clap.”Mia tossed her phone aside. “Okay, this is not how we spend the night before graduation,” she declared. “We should be doing something fun. Stupid. Unproductive.”“Like sleep?” Aria asked, hopeful.“Like the c

Inside the auditorium, Aria and other graduating students clustered at the spot beside the stage, whispering and craning their necks to spot friends and family.Professors and administrators made their way to the stage. Dean Hargrove was speaking with members of the board as the ceremony was about to begin.The hum in the air was electric.Then the ceremony began.The dean’s voice carried clearly through the speakers as he welcomed everyone and praised the graduating class.One by one, members of the faculty and board took turns speaking.They congratulated the students, spoke about perseverance, about growth, about the work required to reach a moment like this.And then the names started.Each time a graduate crossed the stage to collect their certificates, the hall responded with applause and cheers.Aria tried to smile, but her heart was busy doing its own awkward little dance.Then—“Ms. Aria Marie Jenkins.”Her breath caught in her throat, and she adjusted her gown, smoothing her

Everything still felt unreal to Jason.The video on the giant screen. Aria’s horrified face. The disappointed look of board members and other professors. The gasps from the crowd.It all felt like an out-of-body experience… like time slowed down.Even now, as he sat at one end of the conference table for an emergency faculty meeting the next morning, he still felt oddly detached from it.Dean Hargrove sat opposite him with legal counsel, HR, and several board members in the room.Everyone looked grim. Careful in the way people got when something had already gone bad, and they were just deciding how much worse to make it.Jason’s expression remained calm, but it was a complete contrast to what was going on inside him.“...the incident at the graduation had already gone public,” Hargrove was saying. “There’s no room left to spin it as a rumor. The footage circulating is evidence enough.”“We had donors and press in the goddamn room, Professor Anderson.” One of the board members leaned f

Aria stared at the TV, her mouth slightly open as her mind was stuck on that single phrase.Sofia.“I can’t believe it.” She shot to her feet. “No. No, it can’t be true.”Her mother looked up at her. “What is it?”But Aria barely heard it.She rushed back to her room, shut the door, and leaned against it.Sofia.Where had she even been since gradu