Page 61 of My Forbidden Professor

My fingers twine unconsciously with Jacob’s. “We fell in love, Dad. Deeply, madly, irrevocably in love. And now we’re going to fight like hell to keep it, no matter what consequences get thrown our way.”

“It’s true. I’m in love with Steph. I’m also fully prepared to hand in my resignation to be with her,” Jacob says.

I whirl on him. “Jacob! No. I don’t want you to. I said I’d talk to Dad about this—”

I swim in the deep ocean of his gaze. “Baby, it’s really not his problem. This is on me. I’ll find a way. I’ll make it work. My career is over anyway.”

Jacob is too private. Too willing to take everything on his own shoulders to his detriment. When it comes down to it, it’s not fair. The scales have to tilt in our favor once and for all.

“No. It’s not.” I face Dad. I’ve spent years being afraid he’d reject me, and disgusted because if what I did with Daniel. But Jacob has changed me. I see the truth. I’m not alone. I can reach out to those who love me and want the best for me. I don’t need to suffer any more.

Jacob is my light, my deliverance, my soul’s craving after years’ worth of starvation. And if exposing every last secret wound and humiliation is the price I have to pay to keep him firmly rooted in my world...well, it’s a small one in the grand scheme of things.

Because the real tragedy would be letting him slip away.

“The dean is blackmailing Jacob. He forced Jacob to funnel university funds into the dean’s own private bank account and set it up to look like Jacob has been acting on his own. Jacob won’t only lose his job. He’ll go to prison if he doesn’t do what Marcus tell him to.”

Adeline sucks in a breath and Dad curses under his breath. I press on, not giving any of them time to speak.

“That’s not all. I…I’m in trouble too.”

“What’s going on, Steph?” Dad says. “How are you in trouble?”

My heart races as I prepare to detonate the biggest powder keg. “There is...so much more going on. With me, with Jacob, with...with everything.”

So many times, I’ve sworn I would never burden my father with the truth about Daniel. But that vow was made from a place of fear and shame—the wounded, naive part of myself that believed suffering silently was somehow the best path forward. Well, no more. Not when I’ve finally glimpsed the truth of how vital Jacob is to me.

There’s no going back now. I only have everything to gain.

“It started when I was sixteen,” I rasp out words that cut like glass. “That’s when Daniel first...when he seduced me.”

Dad’s jaw slackens as his eyes widen in obvious shock. Adeline pales, before glancing from me to Dad and back again. “Daniel Adam? From…work?”

“He’s the one.” I nod, blinking back hot tears. The vault of memories I’ve kept locked away for so long finally bursts open.

“I was just a kid—so desperate to be seen as mature beyond my years. Daniel preyed on that, laid it on thick until I fell for everything he said, hook, line, and sinker.” A hiccupping sob forces its way free. I fold into Jacob’s body when he collects me and holds me against him. “By the time I realized what a sadistic, opportunistic predator he truly was...it was too late.”

I draw in Jacob’s scent, letting it ground me. Daniel can’t hurt me here. He doesn’t get that power. Not anymore. I can’t look at Dad or Adeline as I force out the next harrowing admission.

“He took photos. Intimate, explicit ones of us. Together. My one and only time.” Bile scorches my throat, my voice going watery and reedy. “And he’s been using them to blackmail and manipulate me ever since.”

A harsh, guttural sound punches from Dad. Adeline actually recoils, one palm flying up to muffle a horrified gasp.

“That asshole,” she whispers.

“Tell me everything.” Dad bites out, each syllable precise and lethally devoid of inflection. “Every detail that sadistic son of a bitch has put you through. I need to know it all, in order to comprehend just how badly I’ve failed you as a father.”

The stark rawness in his voice nearly buckles my knees. “Dad, no...this wasn’t your fault. None of it, I swear—”

“Like hell it wasn’t!” The roar detonates between us. Dad’s fists are clenched so tightly the tendons stand out in harsh relief against his forearms, every line of his body vibrating with a fury so potent it’s practically radioactive.

“My own daughter, subjected to years of manipulation?” He actually growls, low and feral. His eyes glitter with incandescent rage. “This ends. As of this moment, we go full nuclear against Daniel Adam and ruin him forever.”

The vehemence in his tone sends a full-body shudder through me. Because, for the first time in nearly half my life, this is out in the open. I don’t have to keep this secret any more. It can’t harm me anymore the way I’ve let it. I’m still horrified, but the relief that pours through me is dizzying. Jacob’s palm settles over the frantic thundering of my heartbeat, anchoring me back to the moment.

“And Marcus Sotheby,” I say. “We’ll stop both of them.”

Dad levels a sharp, assessing look at Jacob. A muscle feathers in Jacob’s jaw, but he doesn’t look away. Just holds Dad’s gaze steadily, the air between them practically crackling. But I can also detect the undercurrent of white-hot indignation simmering there. Dad hates nothing more than what was done to his wife by her own father. He’s already razed the ground with Harry’s blood, and now he’ll do it again.

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