Arthur Cooper was the distinguished yet distant professor at the university—the kind of man whose self-control and cool demeanor made him the object of every female student’s admiration. Yet only Thea Mitchell saw the stark difference in his private persona. Alone with her, he was wild, untamed, convention be damned.

Outwardly, they remained professor and student. In secret, he’d pull her close every night in his office, high on the thrill of what they were hiding. At first, shame nearly swallowed Thea whole. Soon, though, she gave in to Arthur’s relentless pull.

When she aced a test, he seized the moment to reward her with discreet touches behind the lecture podium—hidden from the other students. If she stumbled, he’d teach her a private lesson, ruler in hand, until she trembled and begged him to stop. Despite her fear, she could never resist his pull.

Then everything changed. Stomach pains sent her to the hospital, where she discovered she was pregnant. She stared blankly at the medical report—three weeks. Her mind went blank, and her body shivered in shock.

Grad students got pregnant sometimes. But her secret relationship with Arthur—professor and student—made everything messier. Thea didn’t know what to do next.

Panic drove her to Arthur’s office. But the conversation she overheard froze her in place.

“Cooper, remember that picture you took of Thea Mitchell in bed? The guys posted it online, and it’s blowing up campus… She’s quite the sensation now!”

“And that time she wore that Victorian dress? The video caused a stir!”

“Everyone thought she was the university’s sweet, reserved girl? More like the campus’s biggest siren!”

Listening to the crude remarks, Thea felt like she’d been plunged into icy water. Each word shattered what she believed and cut straight through her heart.

Amid the laughter, she stared at Arthur in disbelief, unable to reconcile the disaster with the man she thought she knew.

Their four-year relationship had always felt real. Arthur, cold to everyone else, was gentle only with her. He loved her openly, and they fell into each other without hesitation. He knew all her little quirks: how she lingered a few extra minutes in bed every morning, that she took two and a half sugars in her coffee, even the way she clutched her sleeve when she was upset.

She couldn’t accept that all those years of love had been a façade—that her ideal partner had secretly been plotting her downfall. But why?

Inside the office, Arthur exhaled smoke. His eyes were veiled by the haze—and by something darker.

“She owes Zhuri far more than this.”

“Thea’s jealousy made her lure Zhuri out at night. She paid thugs to assault her, leaving Zhuri so disgraced she took her own life.”

“I’ll make sure she pays for what she did to Zhuri. Tenfold.”

Zhuri? The name struck like lightning, ripping through the still water in her mind.

Thea snapped back to reality. Memories she dared not revisit flooded in. Zhuri Snyder—her once closest friend. Innocent. Vibrant. Pure. She had never been one for nightlife, but that night, a group assaulted her in a bar, and she ended her life in despair.

Before the tragedy, the last message on Zhuri’s phone had been an invitation from Thea to meet at the bar.

Thea clenched her fists.

But she didn’t send that message! She’d been searching for the true culprit behind Zhuri’s tragedy all along!

With renewed determination, she stormed into the office. Startled gazes met her. Defiance blazed in her eyes as she challenged Arthur.

“Arthur Cooper! I didn’t orchestrate that attack on Zhuri! The message that night…”

“You heard all that?” Arthur’s icy voice cut her off before she could finish.

He approached casually, fingers gripping her chin hard, and taunted her.

“Thea Mitchell, are you trying to absolve your worthless life by dragging Zhuri down with you?”

His figure loomed over her, his gaze cutting and predatory. The air around him turned chillingly oppressive.

“I’ll make sure you pay for Zhuri’s suffering—piece by piece. Tell me, Thea Mitchell, how does disgrace taste?”

Thea didn’t know how she managed to escape the office.

She sprinted across campus, tears blurring her vision. Every whisper and judgmental stare echoed in her mind. She covered her ears, unwilling to listen or think, until she finally found refuge in her dormitory. Hidden behind her bed curtain, she broke down in uncontrollable tears.

Driven by desperation, she opened her phone, trembling fingers struggling to access the campus website.

The top trending headline read:

[“Campus ‘Sweet Girl’ Linked to Unknown Man, Boozy Nights Exposed!”]

Alongside it were hundreds of images of her—vulnerable and pleading.

Tears splashed onto her screen as she read the comments. Each crude insinuation twisted her stomach and brought bile to her throat.

On the brink of despair, her phone rang.

Thea answered weakly, her voice raw, as the stern voice of Dana Ellis, the officer on the other end, came through.

“Miss Mitchell, we’ve made progress in the investigation you requested regarding Zhuri Snyder’s case.”

“We’ll need a week to verify the details, but we’ll have answers for you soon.”

Thea Mitchell holed up in her dorm room all night. By dawn, she was already slipping into the academic building, cap pulled low and sunglasses on, trying to stay off everyone’s radar. In her rush, she ran smack into another girl.

“Hey! Watch it! You got eyes or what?”

With her posse flanking her, Emma Snyder scowled and snatched the sunglasses right off Thea’s face.

“Well, well. Look who it is—the school’s not-so-innocent little darling.”

The realization hit Thea like a slap. She was face-to-face with Emma—Zhuri’s twin sister. Emma had been carrying a torch for Arthur Cooper for years, and after what happened to her sister, she’d made it her mission to oppose Thea at every turn. Almost no one knew about Thea and Arthur’s secret relationship. Emma was one of the few who did.

“What are you hiding in that bag, Thea?” Emma demanded, grabbing the strap of Thea’s backpack. Her voice was sugar-sweet and grating at the same time.

“What kind of paper is this? Got some dirty little secret, huh? You’d better hope this doesn’t spread.” Emma’s voice echoed down the hall, and Thea’s heart dropped. In her panic last night, she’d forgotten to hide her pregnancy report.

“Give that back!” Thea protested, but Emma just giggled, unfolded the report, and read it aloud with theatrical flair.

“Pregnant... three weeks?”

The hallway went dead silent. Emma’s mischievous grin vanished, replaced by something cold and vicious. A crowd began to gather, drawn to the drama, their mocking, judgmental voices ringing loud and clear in Thea’s ears.

Eyes brimming with tears, Thea snatched the report back and tried to run, but Emma and her crew dragged her into a restroom stall.

“You disgraceful tramp!” Emma spat, raising her hand and cracking Thea across the face.

“You think ruining my sister’s life wasn’t bad enough? Now you’re cozying up to Arthur? In your dreams!”

Thea staggered from the slap, her cheek burning as she slammed into the wall. Before she could even react, a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped over her head, soaking her to the bone. The cold ripped a shiver through her whole body.

Dazed, she was shoved to the floor. Her hair was pulled, her clothes yanked, insults hurled at her from every direction.

“Thank us for cleaning you up, since you’re so dirty!” Laughter erupted around her as Thea’s voice cracked from screaming.

On the verge of breaking down, without meaning to, she whispered, “Arthur Cooper...”

Those three words lit a fuse. She flinched, realizing her mistake, her face going pale. She stayed silent, forced to look up at the camera Emma was holding, drowning in shame and despair.

With a triumphant grin, Emma leaned in close to her ear. “Keep dreaming, sweetheart. Arthur isn’t coming to save you.”

“You ruined my sister’s life, and Arthur despises you for it,” she hissed, venom dripping from every word. “But me? I look just like her. And when he’s drunk, he’s lost control more than once.”

A chill settled deep in Thea’s heart, leaving her numb.

She didn’t know how long the abuse lasted, only that her consciousness began to slip, and through a distant fog, she heard a teacher on duty yelling. Finally, Emma and her friends backed off and left her alone.

Thea was taken to the infirmary and spent the night there. When she woke, a barrage of messages from Arthur awaited her. He warned that anyone who skipped class risked failing and jeopardizing graduation.

Despite everything, Thea hesitated. In the end, she bundled up and forced herself to go to class. The classroom was small, and by the time she arrived, only one seat was left—right in the middle.

With eyes on her like daggers, Thea made her way to the seat—only to find insults scrawled across the desk.

“Easy,” “Available,” “Open All Night”...

She hesitated, fighting back tears, when a box suddenly flew in from the front corner and spilled open. Out tumbled the maid outfit from the video, cards printed with humiliating photos of her, and disgusting notes full of lewd jokes.

Laughter exploded around her—vicious and unrestrained. Thea bit her lip until it bled, her eyes burning with humiliation.

At that moment, the classroom door swung open. Arthur Cooper walked in—with Emma at his side.

Standing at the podium, Arthur swept his gaze across the room. Then, without a flicker of hesitation, he addressed her:

“It’s class time, Thea Mitchell. Clear out your stuff and leave. Don’t disrupt the class.”

Once the commotion died down, the classroom burst into laughter.

Humiliation burned through Thea Mitchell until she couldn't take it anymore. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Emma Snyder stood nearby, lips curled into a mocking smile as she eyed the cruel words scrawled across Thea's desk.

"Who would do something like this? Bullying poor Thea—how cruel," she said, feigning shock, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Sure, Thea might've been accused of awful things and caught in scandalous videos with God knows how many men, but she's pregnant now. We should really be considerate of her situation."

The room buzzed again with murmurs and snickers.

Arthur Cooper watched the whole spectacle, his face impassive, giving nothing away. "Thea Mitchell, once you've sorted out your personal issues, you're welcome to return to my class."

His coldness drove into her heart like a blade and twisted. She wanted to defend herself, but emotion locked her throat, and her fingers went white from how hard she clenched them. Clutching the box of damning evidence, she fled the room in disgrace.

Outside, a sudden downpour washed over her, soaking her to the bone and drowning out her sobs. Her foot slipped, and she dropped to her knees. Pain sliced through her as she tried to stand, only to collapse again—exhausted, defeated.

The ache in her heart was unbearable.

That night, fever burned through Thea. In her delirium, a burning warmth pressed against her back. The air hung heavy with whiskey and tobacco. Through blurred vision, she made out Arthur Cooper's flushed, drunk face.

"Arthur… let me go," Thea protested weakly. Her attempts to push him away were feeble. "You've already accused me. You've already said I hurt Zhuri. What more do you want from me?"

Arthur was drunk out of his mind. He bit down hard on her shoulder and muttered, "Today is the anniversary of Zhuri's death…"

He gripped her chin cruelly, eyes bloodshot, and dragged her to the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Four years ago, you set her up to be mocked by everyone," he accused, forcing her to face the world outside. "Now let them see you grovel—begging beneath me."

A crowd had gathered below. Thea's heart felt like it was being scorched by flames. She fought with everything she had, but Arthur's grip was unyielding.

"No, please…" she begged. Tears streamed down her face as the whispered plea barely made it past her lips.

Arthur knew her too well. Even as her mind screamed in shame and denial, she couldn't stop the tears, and at last her strength gave out.

Voices jeered from below. Cameras flashed without mercy, each burst of light stabbing into her like a needle.

He forced her to look outside, baring her most vulnerable self to the hungry eyes below. Her consciousness began to slip just as she felt warmth trickle down her legs—blood...

Breathless and faint, Thea blacked out.

When she woke, she was in the campus infirmary. Arthur was nowhere in sight. The attending doctor dropped medication onto her bedside table, his tone dismissive.

"You've had a miscarriage. Take the medicine, or you'll just waste more of my time cleaning up after you."

He looked her over with disdain, irritation plain on his face.

"A student like you—so young—already getting involved with God knows who and getting pregnant so carelessly..."

With effort, Thea wiped the cold sweat from her brow. Her face was pale as she cradled her abdomen, her heart growing colder by the second.

Just then, her phone buzzed.

It was an urgent message from the administration office, summoning her to cooperate with an ongoing investigation.

Gathering what little strength she had left, Thea made her way there. Arthur and the dean, Ronin Jackson, were already waiting.

"Thea Mitchell, you've always been a well-behaved student. Care to explain this?" Ronin's voice boomed as he tossed a manila envelope onto the table beside her.

Photographs spilled out—taken the night before—of Arthur pinning her against the window, the crowd outside capturing every moment.

"Dean Jackson, there's no need for an explanation," Arthur cut in smoothly.

"These photos… They were taken after Thea tried to seduce me and slipped something into my drink without my knowledge. It's on me for not recognizing her unbalanced feelings sooner and letting them lead her to this."

Thea looked up in shock, her heart shattering at his lies.

Swallowing back tears, she tried to speak. "It wasn't me. It was—"

The office door swung open, and a sugary voice cut in.

"I can vouch for Professor Cooper!" Peyton Murphy declared, striding in.

"I saw it all with my own eyes. Thea called him away under the pretext of asking a question. I followed because I was worried, only to be locked outside—but I still saw her try to spike his drink when the seduction failed!"