chapter 2

Cassandra's POV

The contract in my hands felt heavier than it should have. I stared at the words on the page, but the words didn't make any more sense to me. Across the desk, the professor leaned back in his chair, his sharp gray eyes fixed on me.

“Sign it,” he growled.

I lifted my gaze in surprise, meeting his. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he said smoothly. “Sign it. I won't repeat myself, Cassandra!”

God, it was on with the way he said my name again! His arrogance was infuriating. I couldn't allow myself to be swayed by this arrogant hulk of a man, regardless of the fact that he had done things to my body on that fateful night two weeks ago. Things that still played over and over in my head, no matter how many times I pushed it aside.

With a burst of indignation, I slammed the contract onto the desk, the sound echoing in the small office. “Oh, you’ve got some nerve, professor!" I roared. “Do I look like I'm someone you can coerce with threats and a loud voice? I’m not signing anything, especially not something handed to me like this.”

I turned on my heel, ready to leave and forget this bizarre encounter, but before I could reach the door, his voice stopped me.

“If you walk away, you're playing with fire."

I froze, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I heard the creak of wood as he stood up and moved from behind the desk. His presence suddenly felt much closer. I could feel the heat of him behind me, and when I turned, he was standing barely a foot away.

Those gray eyes I had come so close to falling in love with, now blazed with anger.

“You think you can walk away from this?” he snarled. “You have no idea what you’ve started. You have no idea what that night together is going to cost us.”

“What I’ve started?” I shot back, laughing bitterly. “You’re insane. This—” I gestured at the contract still on his desk, “—is ridiculous.”

His expression darkened. “You are the first woman I’ve ever been with,” he growled, his voice dropping to an almost reverent whisper. “And you think you can just run away from that? From me?”

His words caught me off guard, and I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled out of me. “What is this, some kind of soap opera? You can’t be serious.”

His eyes narrowed at my mockery, but I was too angry and confused to care.

The professor stared at me for long seconds. Then he stepped closer. He was so tall that I was forced to tilt my head to look into his eyes.

“You think this is a joke?” His voice was cold now, stripped of any charm.

I folded my arms, glaring at him. “What are you going to do, force me to sign? You can’t make me.”

“Oh, Cassandra,” he murmured, his lips curling into a cruel smile. “You have no idea how easy it would be, what I could do to you. What do you think your school's board of directors would say if they heard you’d been seducing professors to improve your grades? You, a scholarship student? I heard you're graduating this year." He shook his head. "You might have to kiss your graduation goodbye."

His words hit me like a slap. My mouth opened to retort, but no sound came out.

“You wouldn’t....” I finally managed, my voice shaking. "You wouldn't do that."

“Wouldn’t I?” His calm tone made the threat all the more menacing.

My chest tightened. The last thing I needed was a scandal. After losing my parents, I’d worked too hard to build a life, juggling two part-time jobs and endless nights of studying just to keep afloat. A rumor like that could ruin everything.

“You’re a psychopath!” I hissed. "A fucking lunatic."

“Careful,” he warned with an annoying, wolfish grin. “Think very carefully about what you say next.”

His cold words sent shivers down my spine. He wasn’t bluffing; I could feel it in the way he looked at me, like he was calculating every move I might make. I stood there, trembling with fury. My eyes darted back to the contract on the desk.

Three months. At least, I'd been able to make out that much.

Three months of being his mistress. The thought made my stomach churn, but what choice did I have? If he followed through on his threat, everything I’d worked for would be destroyed.

With trembling hands, I picked up the pen and scrawled my name on the dotted line.

“There,” I said, throwing the pen down. “Are you happy now?”

For a moment, he didn’t respond, just stared at me with that same unsettling smirk. Then, he reached for the paper, inspecting it carefully.

“Good.” he replied curtly, folding the contract neatly and placing it in a drawer.

I turned to leave, but his voice stopped me again. “Not so fast, Cassandra.”

I clenched my jaw, spinning around. “What now?”

“As part of the agreement, you’ll be moving in with me,” he said matter-of-factly. "You have to prepare for that."

“What?!” I nearly shouted. “That wasn’t in the contract!”

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s implied. You'll be my mistress after all. It makes no sense to live so far away from me.”

I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “You’re delusional if you think I’m going along with that.”

I turned to stalk away. But before I could make it to the door, two men appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. They blocked my path, their expressions blank but their intentions clear. Their hands reached out and grabbed my arms.

“Let go of me!” I yelled, struggling under their grip. "Fucking gorillas! Let me go!"

"You agreed to the terms, Cassandra." Professor Marcus stepped forward. "There’s no turning back now.”

I struggled against their grip, my mind scrambling for an escape. “This is insane! You can’t just—”

“Enough!” he snapped. “Unless you want me to follow through on my earlier threat, I suggest you cooperate.”

I stopped struggling, my body going limp as despair set in. The men released me once I stopped fighting, and Professor Marcus gestured for me to follow. Numbly, I walked behind him.

As we stepped outside, the sun felt too bright, too harsh against the dark pit forming in my stomach.

This was more than a mistake—it was a trap, and I’d walked right into it.