All Chapters of Fated to My Professor: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

AstridMy heart was thundering and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Solomon never liked me, so why was he so invested in my personal life now? What kind of plan could he have concocted that would require Eddie to seduce me? Was that the reason he’d come on to me so strongly the night of the formal dinner? Because Solomon told him to? It didn’t make sense. I must have misunderstood somehow. What could Solomon possibly hope to gain by this? If I fell for Eddie, then wouldn’t that just mean he was stuck with me? He didn’t want me to stay in Bridgewater, so why? I grabbed the banister and pulled myself onto the stairs. I was in such a rush that I didn’t notice Victoria walking down the steps. I managed to stop before I collided with her, but I stumbled backwards and nearly fell off of the steps. Victoria grabbed my arm and pulled me upright. ‘I have got to stop running off in a fit of emotion,’ I thought bitterly. ‘I keep crashing into people.’ “Goddess, are you alright?” V

TristanThe past week had been nothing short of miserable. The only bright spot had been working with Astrid on the education initiative. We really worked well together. She had practical and interpersonal skills that I lacked that allowed her to step in and make up for my own shortcomings. I tended to feel that logic and data should stand on its own merits, but that was rarely the case. When a well thought out argument couldn’t sway someone, I was quick to anger. Astrid remained calm and found a way to approach the issue that took into account the goals and personalities of those we were dealing with. I appreciated that skill, even if it annoyed me that it was necessary. The rest of the week had been a mess. Dean Parker kept insisting to me that the investigation was progressing quickly, thanks to resources provided directly by the Alpha. I knew that must be Astrid’s doing, but I didn’t ask her about it. I didn’t want to know how much she’d told her father about what happ

TristanAfter my initial meeting with Dean Parker, I was a total mess. Everything I feared would happen, was now happening. I was being looked into for abuse of power and sexual relations with a student.I knew there wasn’t anything legitimate that could be brought against me, but I wouldn’t put it past Lilian to manufacture something. She had plenty of friends that seemed to hang on her every word. If she told them to lie about me, they might do it. I had certainly received plenty of threatening and insulting emails from them over the past week. I knew that the threats weren’t credible, but in the interests of the investigation, I had forwarded all of them to the Dean’s office. If that wasn’t enough, I had heard more than one student call me a creep as I walked down the hallways or across campus. I ignored them, but that didn’t mean that the taunts weren’t bothering me. My reputation was destroyed either way.If this went on much longer, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to

TristanI had never intended to bring Lilian into this directly. If I could have avoided it, I would have. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she had gotten under my skin, nor did I want to give her any more attention. But now that Astrid had brought her up by name, I didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to lay out all of the facts for Dean Parker. I had no idea how he was going to take it. He could assume that I was trying to deflect the blame from myself—that wasn’t my intention. I would take whatever disciplinary action the Dean saw fit. I knew that ultimately anything the investigation turned up would be my responsibility, and I was prepared for that. I tried to avoid giving too much detail in front of Astrid, but I could feel that she was staring at me as I told the Dean about Lilian’s behavior over the past few years. I felt her tense when I mentioned the text messages and emails. I really didn’t want to share those with anyone, but I understood that

AstridI returned the kiss, but Tristan pulled back before it could go further. He looked at me with his bright, green eyes full of uncertainty. I felt the same way. No matter what we told ourselves, this is where we wanted to be. Why else would we keep ending up together? I had given myself all the possible excuses for why we couldn't work, but none of them seemed valid anymore. It all felt juvenile and pointless. If we truly wanted to be together, there had to be a way. But maybe I was too afraid to take the plunge.Only, when I looked at Tristan, he didn’t seem afraid. He looked almost hopeful. “Why are we fighting fate so hard?” I asked softly. Tristan shrugged. “I don’t know,” he answered, tucking my hair behind my ear. His voice was hoarse, strained as his eyes roamed my face. “It seemed like there were so many good reasons in the beginning. I had convinced myself that we couldn't pursue this and still end up happy in the end. But now…” He let his words trail off. I