Her Billionaire Professor

Chapter Five: Two Worlds Collide

Helen walked towards the office door. And even despite her limbs screaming in hesitation, she twisted the knob and swung the door open.

“Are you stalking me now? What were you doing looking through my window?” Liam asked, looking rather displeased.

“I came to take my payment, for the–”

“Yes, I know why you're here.” Liam interrupted Helen, while stealing a glance at the other lecturer. “Can you give us a moment? Please?”

The lecturer didn't seem to like the request, but she obliged. “Yeah, sure. I'll see you later,” she said with a smile.

Liam waited for his colleague to walk out of the office, a few moments of silence that it was, before he spoke to Helen. “The fact that you came to take your payment doesn't explain why you were standing outside, peeking at me through the window.”

“Well, you looked busy. I was caught between interrupting your lovely session, or leaving my request till next time.”

Liam didn't say anything. He just shook his head and walked back to his desk. He pulled a drawer open and brought out hundred dollar bills. He then stretched his right hand to give Helen three of them.

“What? I thought you'd transfer it to my bank app?” Helen said, looking quite dismayed.

“I don't use any bank apps for now, Helen. I'm trying to keep a low profile. Take this now before I change my mind about the ring.”

Helen hissed faintly, then grabbed the bills from Liam. She'd really hoped she'd get the money digitally, so she could immediately pay the hospital bills. But now, this cash was going to force her to go to the hospital if she wanted to make the payment. And she wasn't too sure she'd be able to make it there before noon. She was now in a race against time to keep the hospital from disconnecting her grandma's oxygen supply.

“Is that how they show gratitude where you come from?” Liam asked, looking displeased with the way she'd collected the money.

Helen rolled her eyes, tossing another biting remark at him. “Someone as mannerless as you shouldn't pay so much attention to manners, Mr Rivers.”

Liam’s jaw tightened. “You think you're so sleek, don't you?”

“What are you gonna do, Mr Rivers? Try and choke me to death again?”

In one step, Liam closed the distance, pressing her back against the wall. Not hard, but enough to jolt her into silence. His hand caught her wrist and pinned it beside her head, his gaze locking onto hers.

“You never know when to quit, do you?” His voice was low, the heat in it something between warning and temptation.

Helen’s breath hitched, though she refused to look away. The air between them thickened; charged, almost dangerous.

And that's when the office door swung open.

****

“Hey ma, how're you doing?” Rebecca said on the phone as she walked through the tarmac. “You're probably mad at me, and that's why you let this call go to voicemail. I'm sorry I wasn't able to take your calls earlier. Gosh, ma. Life has been so chaotic of recent. Just like you I've been trying to deal with Liam's disappearance. I actually even just got off a plane right now. Hopefully I can get settled soon and we'll be able to speak. Don't worry, ma. I will find your son, we'll all be united as one family very soon. I'm sure of it.”

Rebecca now slid her phone into her pocket and set off, the rhythmic thud of her rolling bag trailing behind her like a steady drumbeat. Her heels clicked against the polished floor, her chin tilted up with the purposeful swing of someone who had a destination, and a plan.

She soon got to the roadside entrance of the building. One of the cab men immediately walked up to her. “Ma'am, welcome to the city. Hope you intend to stay for a while. I can take you anywhere you'd like.”

“Do you know how to get me to evergreen university?”

“Yes, of course! I take people there everyday.”

“Good, then you should be able to get me there before noon.”

“That's a stretch, but I can make it.” The man now grabbed Rebecca's traveling bag. “Come on, let's head out immediately.”

He put the bag in the trunk of his car and opened one of the back doors for Rebecca to get in.

Soon, the cab jolted to a stop in front of the sprawling campus gates, and before she could even reach for the handle, the driver was pointing out landmarks like a tour guide on commission. “This way, this way. Geography Department’s just around here,” he said, steering her through winding paths with the pride of a man navigating his own living room.

After she'd paid the cab driver, Rebecca asked around for the “new lecturer's office.” And with time, she got the information she needed.

Her lips curved into a predator’s grin, her steps quickened. The words hummed in her mind like a secret chant.

“Liam would be so shocked. He wouldn't know what hit him. He thinks he's smart? Heh!”

Rebecca walked to Liam's office, and without knocking, her palm slammed against the door, sending it swinging wide on its hinges. The sharp scent of paper and cologne hit her first. Then her eyes locked on the scene: Liam’s body caging a younger woman against the wall, his hand pinning her wrist high above her head. Rebecca’s breath stalled. The sight struck her chest like a blunt blow.

“What the f**k?” Rebecca exclaimed. Getting the attention of both Liam and Helen.