Adrian frowned the moment he stepped into his office.

The door clicked shut behind him, sealing away the noise of Blackwood University’s corridors.

For a long moment, he simply stood there.

His lecture notes remained tucked beneath one arm. The classroom had gone exactly as planned.

His eyes drifted toward the polished oak desk.

He crossed the room, loosened the knot of his tie with one hand, and unlocked the top drawer.

Beneath neatly arranged documents sat a second phone.

Matte black.

It existed for one purpose, which was work.

He picked it up, and the screen lit instantly beneath his thumb. There was only one name in his contact list.

Christian.

Adrian pressed the contact without hesitation.

The call connected before the second ring.

"You disappeared last night." Christian didn’t bother with a greeting.

Adrian leaned against the edge of his desk.

"I had investors waiting." Christain continued at the other end of the line. "And they complained all through the night."

"They always complain."

A quiet sigh came from the other end. "I covered for you. Now you owe me."

Silence lingered between them, then Christian spoke again.

"You’ve never walked out of a meeting before."

Adrian’s gaze drifted toward the office window overlooking the university courtyard below.

Students wandered between buildings with coffees in their hands.

"I had somewhere else to be."

Christian laughed once. "I’ve known you for twelve years. You even switched off this phone." One could hear the frown in his voice. "You never do that.’

Adrian glanced at the device in his hand. His eyes flicked to the timetable pinned beside his desk.

Friday.

He was scheduled to teach until noon on that day. He looked through the glass wall of his office, calculating.

A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.

He ended the call without another word.

"I’ll call you back," he said simply.

Before Christian could protest, the line disconnected.

He already knew who it was. "Come in."

The handle turned slowly, and Emilia stepped inside. The door closed quietly behind her.

His expression softened the moment his eyes landed on her.

"Professor Ash—"

"I got you something."

He walked toward his desk, pressed a discreet button beneath it, and the blinds slid shut with a quiet hum, giving the room privacy from the corridor.

He picked up a luxurious black gift bag.

"I can’t take anything from you." She shook her head before he could even offer it. "I really can’t."

"You haven’t even seen it."

"I don’t need to."

"You’ve already decided?"

"Yes."

He regarded her quietly. "Why?"

She folded her arms. "Because previously, it was twenty thousand dollars."

He didn’t interrupt.

"And today it’s another gift." She sighed. "I don’t understand why you keep buying things for me."

"I don’t."

She blinked.

"I buy things," he corrected. "Whether you keep them is your decision."

He set the bag on the desk between them.

After a long hesitation, her curiosity won.

She stepped closer. Inside were three elegant perfume bottles nestled in black velvet. She lifted the first.

A tiny engraved pineapple rested on the glass.

She laughed softly. "Nothing beats a good pineapple scent." She repeated what she had told him last night.

He simply hummed, and watched her.

She picked up the second bottle. "Strawberry..." Then she picked up the third. "Vanilla."

Her smile became genuine. "They’re beautiful." She carefully placed them back inside. Then something caught the light beneath them.

Her brows knitted together.

She reached inside again.

A slim gold bracelet rested inside its own velvet case. Tiny diamonds traced delicate vines around its surface.

She didn’t need to know jewelry to understand it was worth an impossible amount.

Her smile disappeared. "No." She closed the box immediately. "Absolutely not."

"It would suit you." He assured her like a promise.

"It probably costs more than my tuition."

He raised a brow at her. "It doesn’t matter."

"It matters to me." She placed it back inside the bag and gently pushed everything toward him. "I can’t accept this."

"You can."

She looked at him. "You don’t even know my wrist size. And I know nothing about you."

"For your wrist size, I noticed it."

She stared at him with wide eyes now. "You... noticed?"

"You wear a watch." She instinctively looked down at her wrist. "It leaves a faint mark."

She looked back up, completely speechless.

"You measured my wrist... from a watch mark?"

"I estimated it." He corrected her.

She laughed in disbelief. She shook her head, smiling despite herself. "I don’t understand you."

She paused softly. "We aren’t exclusive, right?"

"No, we aren’t." He stood up, and moved out of his desk, with his eyes fixed impossibly on her, and one hand in his pant pocket.

Then, he casually leaned on the desk before her. Silence settled comfortably between them.

Finally she sighed. "I’ll keep the perfumes."

His eyebrow lifted. "The bracelet stays with you."

"It doesn’t."

"It does."

She narrowed her eyes. She looked at the velvet box again, then back at him. "What if I get kidnapped by someone because they see this in my wrist, and suddenly thinks I would have a ransom to give?"

She was still trying to find another argument when Adrian stepped closer. Close enough that her words caught in her throat.

"Professor?"

"We’re past that, aren’t we?" he asked, tucking a stand of her hair behind her ears. "You didn’t call me that last night while you bounced on my dick to your satisfaction and released all over me."

Emilia’s face reddened. She looked away with mild embarrassment, while trying to hide a smile.

Adrian chuckled, deep and dark.

Without saying anything else, he reached up and gently cupped both of her cheeks.

"What are you—"

Her sentence dissolved into a muffled sound as he lightly squished her cheeks together, turning her protest into an unmistakable pout.

She blinked at him in surprise.

His eyes warmed up with quiet amusement. He leaned down, and pressed a brief, gentle kiss to the little pout he’d created.

The unhurried soft kiss lingered for a heartbeat before he pulled away.

Emilia stared at him, completely speechless.

"Did you just kiss me while I was trying to argue?"

"I did."

Her eyes widened. "That is unbelievably unfair." She tried to stay annoyed. She really did, but the corners of her mouth betrayed her first.

She let out a helpless laugh. Her smile lingered as she looked down at the gift bag once more.

"I’ll accept the perfumes," she murmured.

"And the bracelet?"

She met his eyes. "We’ll negotiate."

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