I’m In Love With My Brother’s Best Friend?! – Episode 37
Cole returned graded papers while Professor Calloway prepared the lecture. When he reached Kaitlyn’s desk, professionalism concealed the memory of their night together.
He praised her work formally. Beneath his breath, he added that she should report to his bed after class for private tutoring. Heat rushed into Kaitlyn’s face.
She hid a smile and took the paper. Their secret suddenly felt playful rather than burdensome. Across the room, Maddy noticed the exchange.
Professor Calloway announced that she, not Cole, had graded the assignments. The distinction protected the integrity of the course and removed any possibility of favoritism.
Many students had applied for her exclusive spring internship. Anyone receiving lower than a B on the paper would be removed from consideration.
Kaitlyn looked at her grade and felt hope surge. The internship was her primary academic goal, proof that she belonged at the university for more than the drama surrounding Cole.
She imagined earning the position and silencing everyone who dismissed her as a naive freshman. Her work, not a relationship, would establish her value.
Maddy raised her hand. The smug confidence in her posture warned Kaitlyn before she spoke.
She accused Kaitlyn of switching their papers. According to Maddy, the strong submission bearing Kaitlyn’s name was actually hers, while the weak paper belonged to Kaitlyn.
The class erupted in whispers. Professor Calloway asked Maddy to repeat the allegation. She demanded Kaitlyn be disqualified and the internship awarded to her.
Kaitlyn denied everything. She had written every sentence herself. Cole knew it too because he had been present while she worked at home.
Before he could defend her, Maddy leaned close enough to whisper. She had seen Kaitlyn leave the bar with Cole. If Kaitlyn refused to cooperate, Maddy would expose them.
The threat placed Cole’s teaching position against Kaitlyn’s academic future. A relationship between a teaching assistant and student could make every grade look compromised, even though Professor Calloway had graded this paper.
Maddy promised Cole would be fired and Kaitlyn removed from the internship. The truth no longer mattered once suspicion began.
Kaitlyn looked toward Cole. He sensed danger but had not heard the whispered terms. Protecting him required accepting public disgrace.
Professor Calloway demanded an answer. Silence would appear guilty. Kaitlyn’s dream internship hung one sentence away from destruction.
Maddy smiled, certain love would make Kaitlyn sacrifice herself. She had finally found a method more effective than insults or violence.
Kaitlyn thought of Cole’s career, his early graduation, and the family he feared losing. She could not expose everything they had risked after one night together.
She lowered her gaze. The class waited while Cole watched confusion and alarm replace confidence on her face.
Kaitlyn opened her mouth to confess to cheating she had never committed. Maddy had stolen neither the paper nor the grade yet, but she was about to steal Kaitlyn’s future by turning love into blackmail.