Seduced by My Childhood Sweetheart’s Brother

I grabbed my phone out of habit to check the time. It was almost 7:30 am. I sure had slept for a long time. And since it was Monday, I had an important lecture in the morning by Professor King. If I was late, he was going to ask me to sub for many of his tutorial classes.

The morning lecture would begin at 8:30 am, which left me less than an hour. I opened my eyes brusquely. My hair was uncombed, my body was unwashed, and my breakfast was unprepared. Oh, no! Life became a disaster without Andrew.

I turned around and saw that Colin was already awake. He propped his head with his elbow and watched as I let out a scream of pure panic. Other than the joy in his eyes, there was also regret. What was the regret for?

I shook my head. There was no time to dilly-dally. I removed his hands on me and scrambled to the bathroom. I showered and only applied moisturizer on my face. I didn't even have the luxury to dry my hair. Then, I gathered whatever books I needed and ran. Colin shouted something behind me, but I didn't catch anything. I stepped right into the lecture hall as the bell rang. Then, I found a seat on the side and sat down, catching my breath. I could use some cardio training or my muscles might atrophy.

Professor King was supposed to teach us, but instead, it was a new, young teacher. We were told that he was the substitute because Professor King was needed elsewhere. Despite his young age, he delivered an impassioned lecture. His eyes sparkled when explaining keynotes. Needless to say, he loved his job.

Yet, for some reason, I had a bad feeling the moment I heard Professor King was occupied elsewhere. It felt like I was in a free fall. The premonition strung me like a puppet, controlling my limbs and my breathing. Was something bad going to happen? My rotten luck had never once failed me.

Finally, the lecture ended. I walked aimlessly with the crowd until I arrived at Crystal House. I was distraught, and the ominous feeling only grew stronger by the minute. Since I wasn't in the zone, I didn't paint in case I ruined my work. I found an ebook on my phone and flipped through it idly.

At noon, I sat by the table chewing the food Colin had ordered for me. A notification popped up from my work group chat.

"A meeting regarding the new

project will begin at 2:30 pm. Colin

was specifically requested by the

client to be the head of the project

and will host the meeting. All

participants are advised to arrive ten minutes earlier. Luna will also be auditing." This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

Huh? I had no part in the project. Why was asked to audit it? I calle Professor King for an explanation. He said that the project was related to the murals I was in charge of.

Since my work there had been praised many times by the client, thus paving the way for more future collaborations, I was allowed to audit.

"So I can only audit?"

My pedantry must have annoyed Professor King as he replied, "What else do you want? Run the project? Are you trying to take your future husband's job now?"

What? Couldn't ask a simple

question? Where was my freedom of

speech? Besides, I didn't say I

wanted to take Colin's job. I just wondered why I was asked to audit it instead of participate in it. Did he have to overreact like this?

Before I could say anything, Professor King hung up. The frustration in me was suffocating me.