I’m In Love With My Brother’s Best Friend?! – Episode 38
Kaitlyn told Professor Calloway that Maddy was right. The lie tasted like surrender. Shock moved through the classroom.
Cole stared at her. He had watched Kaitlyn write the paper at the kitchen table, revising each argument until long after midnight. Her confession made no sense.
Professor Calloway asked whether she understood the seriousness of academic dishonesty. Kaitlyn said she did. Each word carried her farther from the internship she wanted.
Maddy performed wounded outrage. She claimed Kaitlyn had stolen her work because she was desperate to appear intelligent. The hypocrisy nearly shattered Kaitlyn’s resolve.
Professor Calloway announced that Kaitlyn would receive a failing grade and be removed from the internship competition. She would also be reported to the dean.
Depending on the investigation, expulsion remained possible. Sammy looked at Kaitlyn with disbelief. No one who knew her work ethic could reconcile the accusation with her character.
Cole understood that fear, not guilt, controlled her. He looked toward Maddy and saw satisfaction too precise to be innocent. Something had happened between the accusation and confession.
He asked Kaitlyn to look at him. She refused because one glance might reveal the truth. Protecting him required allowing him to believe she had destroyed herself.
Professor Calloway ordered her to gather her belongings. Kaitlyn reached for her bag with unsteady hands. The future she imagined only minutes earlier had disappeared.
Cole stopped her. He said Kaitlyn had not cheated. Authority sharpened his voice enough to halt the room.
Professor Calloway asked why Kaitlyn would confess if she were innocent. Cole answered that she was protecting him. The admission turned every head.
Kaitlyn begged him not to continue. His career and their secret could still survive if she accepted punishment. Cole refused to let love require her destruction.
Professor Calloway demanded an explanation. Cole said he knew the paper belonged to Kaitlyn. Maddy interrupted, claiming he covered for her because of their inappropriate connection.
The professor warned all of them that unsupported accusations would lead directly to the dean. The classroom had become an ethics hearing more real than any planned lesson.
Cole said he could prove authorship. Maddy challenged him, certain he would have to expose the relationship to do so.
Kaitlyn saw the decision on his face. He was about to risk the position he had spent years earning. Every sacrifice she made to protect him had become useless.
Professor Calloway gave them one final chance. Evidence had to appear immediately, or Kaitlyn, Maddy, and Cole would all face disciplinary action.
Maddy protested that the threat was unfair. She had expected Kaitlyn to fall alone, not to be pulled into the investigation.
Cole stepped toward the front of the class. He knew the paper’s arguments because he had watched Kaitlyn create them. Explaining how he knew would expose everything.
Kaitlyn whispered his name in warning. Cole met her eyes and chose her future over his secrecy. The next words could cost him his job, Ryan’s trust, and the only family he had ever known.