Chapter 277: The Dog Thing

Jonathan rubbed his nose and cleared his throat. “You’re the one who called yourself an old man. If I kept obsessing over you, that would be the real problem.”

Professor Martin was speechless. He looked like he was about to keel over. Sierra quickly handed him a glass of water. “Here, drink this.”

She shot Jonathan a sharp glare. She already knew how foul-mouthed he could be, but she didn’t expect him to talk like that to their professor. What a jerk.

Getting scolded by Sierra, Jonathan immediately gave in. “I was talking nonsense. It’s totally my fault for not visiting all these years. Please don’t take it to heart, Professor.”

Professor Martin had calmed down by then, but he wasn’t letting Jonathan off the hook.

He’s only apologizing because Sierra’s here, he thought. He’s not actually sorry. He looked over at Sierra, full of pity. “You’ve got terrible taste. Falling for a piece of work like this? You’ve got rough days ahead of you.”

Jonathan opened his mouth to respond, but Sierra beat him to it and nodded. “You’re right, Professor. He really is a dog.”

Back when Mateo and the others called him the Original Dog, she hadn’t fully understood. But after last night, she thought that name didn’t go far enough. In some ways, Jonathan really wasn’t human.

Hearing her say that, Jonathan rubbed his nose again and stayed quiet. Yeah, she was definitely still pissed—and not just a little.

With Sierra helping to smooth things over, Professor Martin’s temper cooled a bit. But that didn’t mean he was letting Jonathan off easy. Using the excuse of testing whether he’d gone rusty, he dumped a stack of tough problems on him.

Jonathan didn’t complain. He glanced at the questions, then said, “Sierra could solve all of these.”

Professor Martin looked at her. He hadn’t interfered much in her work, but he’d noticed her fundamentals were shaky. He’d been keeping her focused on the basics. Now, hearing that, he realized he’d gone too easy on her. Should’ve squeezed everything he could out of her before she ran off.

“You should trust her more, Professor,” Jonathan said. “She’s just as good as me.” Maybe even better. Because Sierra actually loved this field. He just chased the thrill of it.

Professor Martin snorted. “You think you’re hot stuff? You walk around looking respectable, but you’re not even as good as a dog.”

Autumn blinked. “That sounds really familiar. You and Professor Martin are so in sync. Sierra said the exact same thing the day the higher-ups came to inspect.”

Sierra froze. Damn it. Jonathan’s eyes narrowed. “Sierra said that? Who were the higher-ups?”

Autumn still hadn’t caught on. She thought for a moment. “Oh?” Jonathan raised an eyebrow and started narrowing it down in his head. “Shane?”

“Yeah! I heard someone call him Director.” Autumn still hadn’t noticed Sierra’s face, completely oblivious to what she’d just exposed.

Jonathan gave a tight smile. “Here’s some advice: listen to your professors and your juniors. Some people really aren’t even worth what you’d scrape off your shoe.”

Before anyone could respond, he turned to Sierra. “You done for the day? Let’s go.”

It sounded like a question, but Sierra knew better. He was barely holding it together. She sighed. A second ago, she had the upper hand. Now the tables had turned.

Still, her work was finished. She said goodbye to the others and left with him.

After they left, Autumn finally blinked. “Wait… did I just mess up?”

It finally hit her that something had been off about Jonathan. He’d been smiling, sure—but there was a cold edge in his eyes.

Professor Martin, ever the veteran, spotted it instantly. He smacked her lightly on the head. “Spend more time on your research and less on gossip. You’re not here to stir up drama.”

“Right, yes, I totally got it!” she squeaked. “Back to work!”

Nobody dared say another word. They all scrambled back to their tasks.

Meanwhile, in the car, Jonathan glanced over. “Sierra, anything you want to say to me?”

She looked at him, stone-faced. “Starting now, we sleep in separate rooms. Weekends only. And stop leaving marks where people can see them.”