All Chapters of His Defiant Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

A few days later, Lucian found himself sitting in the lecture hall, staring at Thea as she animatedly explained how the relations between cells work to an engaged audience.He had known that he was late for the meeting and Haden had filled him in before disappearing off with that other professor.But he still wanted to come for the chance of meeting her again. She was already nominated by her seniors to lead the project. And from what he heard, this class wasn’t even hers to teach, and she was informed to fill in last minute. Something he learned from the receptionist who looked concerned after talking to her department head.Clearly, the man had a problem with not being chosen as the lead researcher for this project and was playing silly games on Thea. She didn’t look like she was filling in though. She was completely in her element.He looked around the hall for a few moments, he could note a few male students whose eyes followed her around like lost puppies. He was pretty sure that

“... Partiality is a real concern when it comes to academic research. I am sure that even your department suffers from backlash over things like this hence the obvious effort the dean was making for transparency,” Lucian said barging into the conversation.The meeting was going smoothly as they tried to determine who was going to be joining their program but he just had to disrupt the equilibrium.He didn’t know why he was doing this. He had spent the last few days agonizing over how to approach Thea and ask her what he had been meaning to ask for a while now. Deciding to come to this meeting even though his presence wasn’t necessary was partly because he simply wanted to see her after the accident.But when she came into the room, unlike how he anticipated seeing her for days, her eyes barely rested on him as she moved on to talk to Haden, which irritated him.“Lu-! I mean Mr. Salvator! That’s a rude thing to say!” Haden said looking at him as if he grew a second head. And maybe he d

“We should be heading back soon…” Peter said as he leaned backward and Thea nodded. He was right. The ambiance was so good and once he stopped pestering her about Lucian they were actually starting to have some fun, which is why she hadn’t noticed how time was passing. She picked up her phone wondering what time it was only to be surprised. ‘10 missed calls from Lucian Salvator’ The notification read and before she could unlock her phone, it was ringing again. Lucian was calling again. “Hello,” She answered wondering if something important was going on for him to call this much. But her alcohol fogged mind wasn’t really focused enough for her to worry. “You’re finally answering,” He answered in a strange clipped tone. “I’m sorry, I must have not heard the phone since the bar is a bit noisy. Is something the matter?” She asked hoping that it was nothing that required her immediate presence. She was in no shape to meet him not to mention have a normal conversation after what ha

“Hey… I know I’m the one who suggested this. But isn’t it a bit too much?” Lucian asked as he looked up from the desk looking at them.“Shut up,” Thea and Haden said at the same time and Pen simply sighed.They were busy sorting through the preparations for the orientation fair they organized to select scholarships and members for the project. It had been three hours since they started this mess and it didn’t look like it was going to be over anytime soon.“When I talked about impartiality I only meant that we should really choose the talented people. But this is too much,”“You’re the one who didn’t trust our system to choose who those are going to be,” Pen said her voice irritated, “We are merely doing what you suggested so please shut up and move your hands,” She added and both Haden and Lucian flinched,“She just told me to shut up,” Lucian whispered to her and Thea sighed as she stood up.“I’m making some tea. Who wants some?” She asked.“I would love some coffee,” Lucian said.“

“You seem to be deeply mistaken about something, Professor Pierce,” The dean said looking at Robert through his glasses with the same amused smile he had earlier, except for the cold glint in his eyes, Thea would have never detected his anger.“Pardon?” Robert asked as he looked back at the dean seeming startled by his interruption.“Hearing you talk like this, Mr Salvator might think that our university takes this project as a joke,” He said with the same smile and a chill ran down Thea’s spine.Yupp, her grandfather was angry.“Not at all, I’m already aware of how hard the university is working to accommodate to our selfish requests,” Lucian said with a smile not letting go of Thea’s hand as he intertwined their fingers again.“I’m sure that hiring Thea must make Professor Pierce anxious too. Since he wasn’t there for her thesis and the beginning of her career,” Her grandfather said.The first reference to her thesis made Thea’s heart tighten for a moment. They rarely ever talked ab