Page 285 of In Love with a Cruel Billionaire

But eventually the feeling passed, a hitherto hidden core of strength ultimately prevailing, and Diana's fingers slowly loosened its deathlike grip on the desk.

Dark eyes that neither hated nor judged met eyes that burned an inscrutable shade of gold.

He didn't have to hurt her this way, but he had.

He could have done this differently, but he hadn't.

This, finally, was the end.

Not inevitable, but not salvageable either.

It was the ending he chose, the ending he wanted, and she was just so tired now that she let it be.

Goodbye, Professor.

Him

THE PROFESSOR COULDN'Tremember feeling this empty before.

He knew this was saying a lot, considering his past. He knew, but there was no doubting the gaping blackness threatening to swallow him whole, and the truth made him feel volatile and unstable.

Damn her. Damn her. God damn her.

Sixty-five minutes had passed since his class ended, sixty-seven since she asked to be excused and he had been forced to watch her walk out of the room, the sight of her tearstained face making most of the other students look away.

He had promised everyone civility, but confronted with the strength of his obsession, he had fucking lost it instead. In the eight years he had been teaching, not fucking once had he gone back on his word. But with her, he hadn't just fucking failed her as a student. He had fucking failed her in every damn way.

And if he didn't do something now, he knew it would be as he planned.

It would be over, and he would lose her for good.

It would be over, and one day she would forget.

One day, she would find someone else—-

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

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