Please Harder, Professor

Chapter 29

The second Adrian was escorted out, the classroom went full fucking nuclear. Chairs scraped back like students were evacuating a disaster zone. Whispers flew across rows like ammunition, phones materializing faster than you could say "academic scandal."

"Did you see his face?"

"Someone said he was sleeping with a student."

"Is it true? Is it her?"

I didn't wait to hear more. I grabbed my bag and shoved through the crowd, ignoring Cleo calling my name behind me.

My legs carried me down the stairs, through the main corridor, and out the front doors of the Humanities building before my brain could catch up.

And then I saw it.

A crowd had gathered on the university steps—dozens of students clustered together, phones raised, murmuring like spectators at a public execution. At the bottom of the steps, a police car sat with its doors open, lights flashing in the afternoon sun.

Adrian was being led toward it.

Two officers flanked him, their hands on his arms like he was dangerous. Like he might bolt at any second. But Adrian walked with that same controlled grace he brought to everything—shoulders back, chin lifted, refusing to look like a man being destroyed.

My chest cracked open.

And standing at the top of the steps, watching it all unfold with a look of quiet satisfaction, was Dr. Lisette Vaughn.

She looked pristine. Pressed blazer, perfectly styled hair, lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile but radiated the same energy.

Like she was watching a chess match she'd already won. Like this was exactly the ending she'd been writing toward for years.

Something inside me snapped. I pushed through the crowd until I was standing right in front of her, close enough to see the gleam of triumph in her eyes.

"You did this," I said, voice shaking. "You actually did."

Vaughn turned to me with an expression of mild surprise, like she'd expected me to be grateful. "I did what needed to be done, Sophie. Someone had to protect the students at this institution."

"Protect?" I laughed, but it came out jagged. "This isn't protection. This is revenge dressed up in academic concern."

"I reported predatory behavior to the appropriate authorities." Her voice was smooth, rehearsed. "That's called doing the right thing."

"The right thing?" I stepped closer, fury burning through my veins. "You need to go down there right now and tell them the truth. Tell them this isn't about protecting anyone—it's about you not being able to let go of a man who left you five years ago."

Something flickered across her face. A crack in the mask.

"Be careful, Sophie." Her tone shifted, sharper now. "You're a student here. You have a future to think about. Things like this... they can backfire."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's advice." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "From someone who's been exactly where you are. Blinded by a man who made her feel special while he was systematically dismantling her sense of self."

"He already left you," I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. "Five years ago. He walked away and never looked back. So why do you still care? He's got nothing to do with you anymore."

Vaughn's composure cracked, just for a moment. I saw the wound beneath the polished surface—raw and festering after half a decade.

"Because he doesn't get to do this to anyone else," she hissed. "He doesn't get to keep destroying women and walking away like nothing happened."

"So you decided to destroy him first?" I shook my head. "That's not justice. That's obsession. You're so consumed by what he did to you that you can't see straight. You convinced yourself this was noble when really it's just—"

"Just what?" Her eyes flashed. "Speak carefully, Miss Hale."

"Pathetic," I said.

Vaughn's face went white, then red. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about. Because I've been asking myself the same question for weeks now."

My voice dropped, raw and honest in a way I hadn't planned. "Why do I care? He made it clear he can't give me what I want. He told me to leave. And I did. So why am I standing here defending a man who won't even fight for himself?"

She stared at me, something shifting in her expression.

"Because you already fell for him," she said quietly. "Just like the others."

The words hit like a punch to the gut. I opened my mouth to deny it, to fire back with something sharp and defensive. But the truth lodged in my throat like broken glass.

Was I in love with him? Was that what this sick, twisting feeling in my chest meant? Or was I just addicted to the way he made me feel—seen and owned and completely undone?

"You should go home, Sophie." Vaughn's voice had softened, almost pitying. "There's nothing you can do for him now. And trust me—the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can start putting yourself back together."

I didn't answer. Couldn't. Because at that moment, Adrian reached the police car. One of the officers opened the back door, gesturing for him to get in.

And then Adrian suddenly stopped for a short moment to look up. Through the crowd, through the chaos, through all the people filming and whispering and staring—his eyes found mine. And held.

Everything else faded—Vaughn beside me, the students around us, the officers waiting impatiently. There was only Adrian, standing at the bottom of those steps, about to be taken away. And me, frozen at the top, unable to move or speak or breathe.

His expression was unreadable. No anger, no fear, no accusation. Just that same intense focus he'd always turned on me, like I was the only thing in the universe worth looking at.

The officer's hand pressed against his shoulder, guiding him into the car. Adrian ducked his head and disappeared into the back seat. The door slammed shut with a sound that echoed through my entire body.

And I stood there, watching the police car pull away, carrying the man who'd broken me in all the ways I'd secretly wanted to be broken.