Chapter 27

• Professor Grayson sat in his office, the video playing again and again on the screen of his phone like a cursed loop that refused to break. Ariel’s soft moan echoed through the tiny speakers, a sound that had once been intimate and precious, now weaponized against them both. The way he had kissed her neck desperately, the raw, unguarded emotion that had flickered in her eyes as he fingered her… it all played repeatedly on his phone screen, each replay driving the knife of guilt and longing deeper into his chest. His jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his face began to ache.
• The message accompanying the video was brief but chilling: “Stay away from her, or things will get ugly.”
• He had read the words so many times they were etched in his mind. He placed the phone face-down on his desk, leaning back in his chair.