LOVE OR OBSESSION?

Chapter 17

LOVE OR OBSESSION?

RYAN,

I wanted to stop.

I wanted to do the right thing—to turn away, to focus, to face Emily. But I couldn’t.

The obsession had already taken root, wrapping itself around my thoughts like ivy, suffocating every rational decision I tried to make. It wasn’t just curiosity anymore. It was something darker, something that pulled me toward Elena in ways I couldn’t explain.

Something that was becoming impossible to ignore.

Eddy and I strolled down the hallway after lectures, the usual chatter of students filling the air. Laughter, hurried footsteps, the occasional slam of a locker—it all blurred together into meaningless noise. My mind was elsewhere, trapped in a maze of questions that led back to only one answer: Elena.

She had been missing from school for days now, and no one seemed to be talking about it. Professors came and went all the time, but something about her absence didn’t sit right with me. It felt... off. Like a piece of the puzzle had been ripped away, leaving an empty space that refused to be ignored.

I had waited outside her house more times than I cared to admit, lingering just long enough to catch glimpses of the life she lived behind those closed doors. But all I ever saw was her husband.

It was always him—coming, going, existing in a space I desperately wanted to occupy.

It was ridiculous.

It was reckless.

But I couldn't stop.

Something about Elena felt like an unsolved equation, a problem I needed to crack open, dissect, and understand. But every time I got close, she slipped through my fingers like smoke.

I didn’t even realize I had spoken aloud until Eddy turned to me, his expression sharp with curiosity.

"Where is Professor Elena?" I asked, breaking the silence. My voice was casual—too casual—but Eddy knew me too well.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why? You keeping tabs on her now?"

I scoffed. "No. It’s just weird, don’t you think? She’s been gone for too long. She took a leave, but she should be back by now."

Eddy exhaled, shaking his head. "Ryan, you’re overthinking it. Maybe she took extra time off. Maybe she got sick. Maybe she just doesn’t feel like coming back yet."

That explanation should have been enough. It would have been enough for anyone else.

But not for me.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"Have you noticed that she acts weird?" I pressed.

Eddy snorted. "Of course. That’s why she’s the Ice Queen. She’s always been cold, distant. Even the other professors say so. Nothing new there."

I frowned. That wasn’t what I meant. Elena’s coldness wasn’t just an attitude; it was a shield, one that she wielded so effortlessly it was almost impossible to see past.

But I had.

Maybe only for brief moments.

The way her fingers trembled when she thought no one was looking. The flicker of something—pain, regret, fear?—that passed through her eyes before she blinked it away. The way she seemed to vanish, even when she was right in front of me.

There was something beneath her carefully constructed facade, something fragile, something breaking.

And I wanted to know what it was.

"Let’s drop it," Eddy continued, nudging my arm. "Talk about something else. You’re acting weird, man."

I hesitated, and his gaze sharpened.

"Don’t tell me you’re actually falling for her."

I looked away.

"Ryan," he said, his voice tinged with disbelief. "She’s married."

As if I needed reminding.

I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. "I know that."

"Then snap out of it. This isn’t real. It’s a fantasy. A crush. She’s off-limits, and even if she wasn’t, you think she’d look at you twice? You’re a college student. She’s your professor. And she’s not just married—she’s married to someone powerful. You’re playing with fire."

"I thought it was just a fantasy too," I admitted. My voice was quieter now, like I was confessing something I wasn’t ready to say out loud. "But no matter how hard I try, I can’t get her out of my head. It’s insane, Eddy. But it’s real."

Eddy sighed, rubbing his temples. "Jesus, Ryan. You need help."

Maybe I did. Maybe I was too far gone to pull myself out of this.

Eddy kept talking, kept trying to drill logic into me, but I barely heard him. My thoughts drifted, looping back to Elena, to the way her presence lingered in my mind like a whisper, a ghost that refused to be exorcised.

Then something shifted.

A flicker of movement at the end of the hallway.

My pulse quickened.

My eyes were drawn to the classroom door, to the shadow that flickered just beyond it.

And then she walked in.

Elena.

The room seemed to shrink around her.

The noise, the movement, everything faded into the background.

Her presence was like a thunderstorm—silent at first, but powerful, electrifying the air. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose bun, stray strands framing her sharp features. She moved with that same quiet grace, her posture as rigid as ever, but there was something different about her today.

Something heavier.

She wasn’t just cold.

She looked... haunted.

My heart pounded.

She didn’t look at me. She didn’t look at anyone. She just walked to the front of the class, set her bag down, and began sorting through papers as if she hadn’t been gone for days.

Like nothing had happened.

But something had.

I could feel it.

And I needed to know what it was.

I watched her, searching for the cracks beneath the surface. Her fingers trembled as she flipped through the stack of papers, barely noticeable but there. The tension in her shoulders was different today—tighter, strained.

Was it something at home? Her husband?

Something twisted inside me at the thought of him.

Eddy nudged me again, whispering under his breath, "Dude, stop staring."

I blinked, forcing myself to look away.

But it was too late.

Elena’s gaze lifted, and for the briefest second, her eyes met mine.

A sharp current ran through me, quick and electric.

Her expression remained unreadable, but something passed between us—something silent, something heavy. It was gone just as quickly, her attention snapping back to the papers in front of her.

But I had seen it.

I had felt it.

She wasn’t okay.

And no matter how wrong it was, no matter how much I knew I should walk away...

I wasn’t going to.