Ultimatums and Enemies
428 Words
Chapter Eleven: Ultimatums and Enemies
The email hit Cole’s inbox at exactly 6:00 a.m.
No subject line. No signature. Just one attachment.
The video.
The one of him and Layla. The kiss. The proof.
His stomach dropped.
Then he read the single line beneath it:
> “Your choice, Professor. Resign quietly, or I press send.”
Marissa had moved past games.
She was done warning.
Now she wanted blood.
---
Layla found him in his office that afternoon.
He looked like he hadn’t slept. Shirt wrinkled. Hair tousled. Shadows beneath his eyes.
> “She’s going to leak it,” he said before she could even sit down.
> “What?”
> “The video. She sent it to me this morning.”
Layla felt the floor shift beneath her.
> “She’s bluffing.”
> “She’s not,” he said. “She gave me two days. Resign and disappear quietly, or she sends it to the university board.”
> “That’s blackmail.”
> “It’s also smart,” he muttered.
---
Layla shook her head, pacing.
> “So that’s it? You just give up? Let her win?”
He looked up at her, eyes hollow.
> “This isn’t about winning. It’s about protecting you.”
> “I don’t need protection.”
> “You do when your scholarship is on the line. When the entire school turns on you.”
She stared at him, anger bubbling beneath her fear.
> “So you’re going to fall on the sword?”
He stood suddenly, stepping close.
> “If I have to.”
> “You don’t get to make that decision for both of us, Cole!”
> “I already did.”
---
Silence.
It hurt more than she expected.
> “Was I just a mistake to you?” she asked softly.
> “No,” he said. “You were the only thing that made sense in all this madness.”
> “Then fight for it.”
He looked at her, and for a second, she saw the man she’d fallen for — strong, brilliant, burning beneath his calm.
But then he broke eye contact.
> “I can’t drag you down with me.”
> “Then maybe I’ll fall with you.”
---
That night, Layla opened her dorm door to find an envelope taped to the outside.
Inside was a printed screenshot from the video.
And a single line written in neat black ink:
> “He’s already choosing. Are you?”
- Writer
