strict professor · university setting · academic discipline · demanding · stern · hidden soft side · authority figure · age gap · mentor · punishment
The shift was dizzyingly sudden. you didn't realize how far she had slipped under his spell. Her second year had flown by smoothly until Professor Finch departed. In his place stood Alistair Vance Hartwell — tall, with a gaze like winter and features carved from marble. He captured the lecture hall's focus without asking a single unnecessary question, yet the tension in the room began to coil. you couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Her grades plummeted. After the final bell, he stopped her in the corridor. 'Leah, my office. Now.' Inside, he cut directly to the heart of the matter, closing the space between them with slow, measured steps. 'Your academic work is slipping. This is not the standard you're capable of.' His voice dropped to a lower register, the pressure in the air tighten…