The car ride home was different from any other. The silence wasn't cold anymore; it was thick with a secret excitement. Alex seemed to be in a very happy mood, his dark eyes shining with a light I hadn't seen before. I felt happy too, but beneath that happiness, I was incredibly nervous. My heart was still racing from what happened in his office. I kept thinking about his promise of a "punishment" and what would happen once we stepped inside the apartment.
We parked the car and walked toward the door. Neither of us had any idea that our private world was about to be interrupted.
When Alex pushed the door open, he stopped. Standing in the middle of the living room was an elegant woman with a serious face. She looked exactly like an older, female version of Alex.
"Mother?" Alex exclaimed.
A huge smile broke across his face—a real, genuine smile. He rushed forward and pulled the woman into a warm hug. It was strange to see the "Cold Professor" acting like a loving son.
"Alex, my dear," she said, hugging him back. "I hope you don't mind that I let myself in. We have a lot to talk about."
I stood by the door, feeling like the air had been sucked out of the room. I smoothed down my tight dress, feeling suddenly very exposed and embarrassed. I stepped forward slowly, trying to look as innocent as possible.
"Hello, Ma'am," I said, my voice trembling slightly.
Alex turned, and for a split second, I saw a flash of realization in his eyes. He remembered the "punishment" he had promised, and he realized how dangerous this situation was.
"Mother, this is Luna Jones," Alex said, his voice returning to its professional tone. "She is a student at the college, and she is staying here as part of her scholarship program."
I bowed my head slightly. "I'm Luna. It's an honor to meet you. I am a scholarship student under the Professor's care."
Alex's mother looked at me. Her eyes were sharp, scanning my face, my hair, and my short dress. The silence in the room became heavy again, but this time, it was full of suspicion.
The "punishment" would have to wait. The woman who knew Alex best was now in our home, and I knew that one wrong move would ruin everything.
Alex's mother tell him that she had a talk so if he come to library it would be great.
The happy mood from the car was gone. The apartment felt different now that Alex's mother was there. After the introductions, she looked at Alex with a very serious face.
"Alex, come with me to the library," she said. "We need to talk in private."
Alex looked at me for a second. His eyes were full of a secret apology, but he couldn't say anything in front of his mother. He followed her into the North Hall library and closed the heavy wooden door.
I went to my room, but I couldn't sit still. My heart was beating so fast. The library was right next to my room, and the walls were thin enough that I could hear their voices if I listened closely. I pressed my ear against the wall, my breath catching in my throat.
"Listen, Alex," I heard his mother say. Her voice was firm. "It has been a long time now. You are successful, you are established, and you need to get married. I have already chosen a girl for you. She comes from a good family, and she is perfect for you."
My heart shattered. A girl? Chosen for him?
"Mother, please," Alex replied. I could hear the frustration in his voice. "I am busy with my work. I don't want to get married right now. I am not ready for this."
"You are going to see her, Alex," his mother interrupted. She sounded like she would not take 'no' for an answer. "I have already made the arrangements. Be ready to meet her and be ready to get married. It is time you started a real family."
Alex tried to argue again, telling her he had no interest in marriage, but his mother was not ready to hear anything he had to say. To her, the matter was settled.
In my room, I sank onto the floor. I felt so sad that it was hard to breathe. Just an hour ago, Alex was holding me on his desk, telling me I was his. He was promising me a "punishment" that felt like a reward. But now, his mother was planning his wedding with someone else.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was still wearing the tight dress I had put on to get his attention. Now, I felt like a fool. I was just a student living in his house, and Elena was just a colleague—but this new girl was someone his mother had chosen.
How could I ever compete with that?
The tears I had been holding back finally started to fall. I realized that in the world of someone like Professor Alex, I was just a secret. And secrets are usually meant to be replaced.
The silence in my room felt like it was crushing me. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door, half-hoping Alex would burst in and tell me it was all a lie. But the door remained shut. I could hear the muffled sounds of footsteps in the hallway—the sounds of my life changing.
His mother wasn't leaving. She had brought her luggage, and she was moving into the guest room across the hall.
Just like that, our world was gone. The late-night talks, the accidental touches in the kitchen, and the promise of that "punishment" in the office—all of it had to be buried. We weren't a man and a woman anymore. We were a Professor and his student again, living under the watchful eye of a woman who wanted him to marry someone else.
My heart felt like it had been shattered into a thousand pieces. I looked at the dress I was still wearing—the dress that had caused so much passion in the office—and I felt a wave of shame. To his mother, I was just a scholarship student he was helping out of pity.
On the other side of the wall, Alex was suffering just as much. He stood by the window in the library, his hands clenched into fists. He wanted to scream. He wanted to tell his mother the truth—that he didn't want her chosen bride, that he only wanted the girl crying in the room next door.
But he couldn't. Not yet.
He knew his mother. She was traditional, powerful, and protective. If he told her about his feelings for Luna now, she wouldn't understand. She would see Luna as a distraction, or worse, a threat to his career. She would make sure Luna was removed from the college and sent away where he could never find her.
To protect Luna, he had to keep his mouth shut. He had to act like the perfect, obedient son while his heart was bleeding.
He walked out of the library and saw Luna standing by her door, her eyes red and puffy from crying. For a second, their gazes locked. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms. He wanted to whisper that he wasn't going to marry anyone else.
But his mother's voice called out from the kitchen. "Alex, dear? Come help me with these bags."
Alex's jaw tightened. He gave Luna one last look—a look full of pain and longing—before he turned away.
The bond that had been growing between us was now hidden behind a wall of secrets. Our privacy was dead. Every time we looked at each other, we had to pretend we felt nothing. We were living under the same roof, but we had never been further apart.