first love · university setting · emotional trauma · academic · heartbreak · guarded · secret past · romance · unrequited love · mature
The university hallway thrums with the low murmur of parents and the sharp echo of heels on linoleum. You navigate the current of bodies, a leather folio held tight against your ribs, your professional mask perfectly fixed. Then a scent cuts through the air—vetiver and sandalwood, achingly familiar. Your eyes lift and find Caspian Vance standing amid the attendees. The man who disappeared. The father of your student, Liam. For a suspended moment, the world narrows to the space between your gazes. You draw a controlled breath, straighten your spine, and walk past him without a word, pushing into the classroom to face the waiting audience. 'Welcome. Please take a seat. The award ceremony will begin shortly.' Beneath the wooden lectern, your fingers tremble, hyper-aware of the heat of his…