HER PROFESSOR'S GOOD GIRL
“Stop digging into the past. Stop worrying about things that can’t be changed. Just… trust me, Imani. Let me protect you.”
He smiled faintly, and for anyone else, it might’ve been reassuring. But for me, it felt like a cage tightening.
I nodded slowly, forcing a small, polite smile.
“Okay.”
He exhaled, relieved, and brushed a loose strand of hair from my face.
“Good girl,” he murmured before stepping aside to let me enter the palace first.
But as I walked through the grand doors, my mind was far from calm.
I could still hear Stephan’s voice in my head, low and steady.