One Night
One Night 79

Chapter 79

Audrey

The sound of pen scratching on paper was all that filled the silence of my dorm room. With a red pen in hand, I carefully worked through the enormous stack of papers that Professor Stevens had asked me to grade. Even though it was a lot of work, it kept my mind off of other problems-mainly the matter of replaceing a mentor for my thesis-which was a good thing.

Suddenly, the sound of a soft ping from my laptop cut through the silence. I glanced over at the screen with a sigh. expecting another rejection email or perhaps sonte more instructions from Professor Stevens.

Instead. I felt my heart leap into my throat as soon as I saw the sender’s last name: Black.

With trembling fingers. I clicked to open the message. My eyes widened as I read its contents:

“Dear Miss Thatcher,

1 hope this email replaces you well. Upon further reflection, I believe I may have been hasty in my initial assessment of your qualifications. I would like to extend an invitation for you to return for a second interview at your earliest convenience. Please let me know if you are available to discuss this opportunity further.

Best regards.

Atticus Black”

I stared at the screen for a few long moments, utterly dumbfounded by his letter. Upon further reflection, he had said…. What sort of game was he playing at? Just a couple of days ago, he had made it clear that I was only valuable to him as a potential bedmate and that if I wanted to work with him, I would need to sleep with him first.

Now he wanted me back for another interview?

For a moment, I just stared at the screen, wondering what to do. The idea of accepting his offer was tempting. I had to admit. But ultimately, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“As if,” I muttered as I clicked and dragged the email to my trash folder without any intention of responding.

There was no way I was going to subject myself to his leering gaze and inappropriate comments again, no matter how badly I needed a mentor for my thesis. I didn’t want to be mentored by someone who treated humans like meat. I’d replace someone else eventually-anyone but him.

But as I tried to return my focus to grading, a nagging thought kept pulling at my attention. Why would he suddenly want me back if I had made it crystal clear that I wasn’t going to sleep with him? He had seemed so certain that the only way he would even consider a human such as myself was if I slept with him.

So why the sudden change of heart?

All of a sudden, my mind flashed back to my conversation with Edwin after I had fallen asleep in his class yesterday. The concern in his eyes, the way he had pressed me for more information…..

Oh, no,” I whispered as a sinking feeling began to form in my stomach. “He wouldn’t…

But even as I said those words, I knew it wasn’t true. Of course Edwin would intervene if he thought something was wrong. It was just like him to try and fix things, even when I hadn’t asked for his help.

Chapter 79

Before I could talk myself out of it, I was on my feet and heading toward Edwin’s office. I needed answers, and I needed

them now.

A little while later, I found myself standing outside his office. Smoothing down my shirt, I reached out and knocked on the

door.

“Come in,” his mu**ed voice replied.

Opening the door, I found Edwin hunched over his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration as he studied some papers. He looked up as I walked into the room, surprise flickering across his face.

“Audrey Is everything alright?”

I decided to cut straight to the chase despite my racing heart. “I just received an email from Mr. Black asking me to come back for another interview,” I said, placing my hands on my hips. I don’t suppose you had anything to do with that, did

You?

Edwin’s expression shifted momentarily, and I swore I saw the faintest look of guilt creeping into his eyes. He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. “I may have… had a conversation with him, yes,” he admitted.

I stared at him for a moment, my mouth hanging open. “What did you say?” I whispered.

Edwin shrugged. “I told him that if he didn’t reconsider you, then I would pull my shares out of his company. He admitted to discriminating against you for being a human

I couldn’t help my reaction. “Da**it, Edwin! I hissed. “I told you that it was fine. Why did you have to go and get involved?”

Edwin blinked at me incredulously, clearly not expecting my outburst, but I didn’t back down. Even when he stood imposing frame towering over me, I didn’t cover in his shadow,

up, his

“I had to step in because I knew there was more to the story, he replied c**lly, pressing his fingers into the surface of his desk, which stood between us. “And I was right, wasn’t I? What really happened in that interview, Audrey?”

I crossed my arms, looking away. “It doesn’t matter. I handled it on my own.”

“Clearly not, if you’re falling asleep in my class and lying about why,” Edwin countered.

“Okay, so I was up late sending out new emails to potential mentors,” I said-another half-truth, conveniently leaving out the part where I was also unable to sleep due to the memory of what Mr. Black had said to me. “That’s it.”

Edwin pursed his lips, shooting me a disbelieving look. Although when he spoke, his voice had softened slightly. “Well, I suspect that there’s more going on here than you’re telling me. If something else happened, you need to tell me so I can act accordingly.”

“It’s none of your business,” I countered with a huff. “Like I said, had it handled. And frankly, I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you would do something rash if you found out-like calling and threatening him, for example.”

“How can I stay out of it when my student is falling asleep in my class?” Edwin asked in an exasperated tone of voice.

At that moment, something in me snapped. I had heard enough about being his student, and this was the last straw. “Oh, cut the student c***p,” I bit out. “I don’t think the nice things you do for me are just about that anymore.”

My words seemed to hit Edwin like a physical punch to the gut le went silent, his gray eyes studying me intently for several long seconds. The tension in the room was palpable as I waited for his response,

2/3

Rapid VOL

@11%8

21:17 Mon, Sep 16

Chapter 79

Finally, he spoke, and his voice was low and measured. “You’re right.” He straightened, smoothing down the front of his vest. “It’s not just about you being my student anymore. I do care about you, Audrey. I consider you… something of a friend.”

1 blinked, taken aback by his honesty. But before I could respond, he continued.

“But there’s more to it than that. Mr. Black is my business partner. If one of my partners is discriminating against potential. employees, that’s information 1 need to know. It’s not fair to keep that from me when it could impact my business. If anyone found out that I had a business partnership with someone who openly discriminates against humans, it could ruin me.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand to stop me

“And if you don’t trust me enough to tell me pertinent information that could potentially harm my business, then maybe I should stop being so nice.”

His words stung more than 1 wanted to admit. I struggled to replace a response, my mouth opening and closing repeatedly. Part of me wanted to tell him everything about what had happened, to let him help. But another part, the part that had learned to rely only on myself, rebelled against the idea.

“Fine.” I finally said, my voice cold. “Stop being so nice to me, and make this easier for both of us.”

Without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel and strode out of his office, slamming the door behind me.

SEND GIFT