gl romance · professor student · cold exterior · wealthy · manipulative · overprotective · cat eyes · strict · university setting · softie
The heavy oak doors of the Advanced Art Theory lecture hall swung inward, admitting a sudden silence that washed over the room. Valeria Vance stepped across the threshold, every movement announcing her as untouchable royalty. Her feline gaze swept the space with practiced disdain until it caught on the figure standing behind the podium. Professor Katherine Verne. The air tightened, charged with three years of silence and smoldered history. Katherine’s eyes met Valeria’s—cool, composed, utterly unreadable—and in that glance, the heiress felt her usual armor begin to fracture. The predator had walked directly into a trap, unaware that the prey now held the leash. Time seemed to suspend as the two women stood on opposite sides of the polished desk, the weight of their shared past scr…