Chapter 144: A Storm in the Making

Sierra was always quick to sense both kindness and malice. She could tell Bella’s curiosity wasn’t laced with bad intentions, which made her expression soften even more.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sierra. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major.”

Bella blinked in surprise before breaking into a bright smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Sierra!” Sierra also smiled back.

Compared to her current lighthearted mood, Denise was on the verge of a breakdown at the hospital. Her surgery had been unsuccessful, keeping her bedridden longer than expected. And just when she thought her situation couldn’t get any worse, someone sent her a screenshot of Jonathan and Sierra holding hands at school.

That wasn’t all. Jonathan had even made a public statement declaring that he had pursued Sierra for a long time and warning others not to harass her. Some messages sent to Denise were filled with pity. Others mocked her misery.

But she didn’t care about any of those. All she could see was that picture: Jonathan’s protective stance, Sierra’s relaxed expression, and their interlocked fingers. The sight of it made her chest tighten painfully, and her breathing grew rapid and erratic.

Why? Why was that woman getting everything she wanted so effortlessly?

Denise clawed at the sheets, trying to sit up, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. The combination of her frustration and worsening pain became so intense that her vision blurred, and with a strangled gasp, she lost consciousness. Denise wasn’t the only one seething.

On the other side of the city, Kason was staring at his phone, his expression dark as a storm cloud. News about Jonathan and Sierra had spread far beyond Northwind University, and someone had made sure to send him a copy of the infamous hand-holding photo.

Sitting across from him, a man named Chase Palmer smirked as he swirled the whiskey in his glass.

“Looks like she’s playing you, Mr. Kason.”

Everyone in their circle knew Kason had a particular interest in Sierra. Hell, he had even taken her to one of their private gatherings, a clear indication that he claimed her as his.

That was the only reason Chase hadn’t laid a hand on her yet. So, how could he not take pleasure in Kason getting humiliated like this? Kason’s grip on his glass tightened until his knuckles turned white.

To him, Sierra had always been his possession. He had never officially marked her, but that didn’t matter. And now she had thrown herself into the arms of some lowly professor?

Without another word, he downed the rest of his drink, his jaw clenched so tightly it could crack steel. Chase, seeing an opportunity, leaned in with a smirk.

“Want me to teach those lovebirds a lesson?”

He had been waiting for an excuse to mess with Sierra, but Kason had held him back before. Now? Now, it looked like all restrictions were off. Kason didn’t respond immediately.

Then, after a long pause, he said coldly, “No one touches my toys but me.”

His voice was low, controlled, but laced with something dangerous. “But that professor?” Kason sneered. “He needs to be reminded of his place.”

Jonathan had disrespected him once before, three years ago, when he had refused to collaborate with any pharmaceutical companies, including Kason’s. At the time, Kason had dismissed him as an eccentric academic. Now, Jonathan had dared to take his woman. And that was unacceptable. Chase grinned; his excitement barely contained.

“Got it. I’ve never played with someone like him before.”

“De nullad un tha ahata anamina in ne Ionathan’s fore Handrame Tall I make lika ha’d ha firm in hrank”

11:00 AM

Chapter 144: A Storm in the Making

His smile twisted into something wicked. In the background, muffled cries of pain filled the air—his latest plaything trying and failing to escape his grasp.

But Kason wasn’t looking at Chase anymore. His gaze was fixed solely on the image of Sierra, his fingers tightening around the screen.

Meanwhile, Sierra remained blissfully unaware of the storm brewing around her. After her general course, she had her biochemistry class. This was Jonathan’s class.

She took her usual seat in the lecture hall, watching as Jonathan walked to the front of the room. This wasn’t the first time she had attended his lectures.

But today the context had changed. Before, he had been just her professor. Now, he was her boyfriend. Sierra tilted her head, observing Jonathan as he adjusted his glasses before speaking. A quiet realization dawned on her.

Before, she had thought he was the refined, academic type, gentle, composed, a man of logic and reason.

But now? Now that she knew him better, that was all an illusion. Underneath the glasses and tailored suits, he was something entirely else.

Not a gentle scholar, but a calculated predator. Her lips curled slightly at the thought. Jonathan, who had been sweeping his gaze across the lecture hall, immediately caught the subtle shift in her expression.

His own lips twitched in response. He was always composed during lectures, but for the briefest second, he looked at Sierra, not as a professor but as a man. And that one look, that one tiny crack in his usual façade, was enough to make her heart skip a beat.