Novel Full Chapter 370: The Finance of Desire
Chapter 370: The Finance of Desire
“Come on in, then,” Heena invited, her voice sounding a fraction thinner than she liked.
As she turned her back to lead them in, Alex didn’t move immediately. He lingered a step behind, his gaze dropping with an unhurried, shameless interest.
He analyzed her figure from behind, his eyes tracing the sharp curve of her waist and the disciplined flare of her hips.
Despite being in her late forties, she had maintained herself with a defiance that was visible in every line of her body. For a fleeting second, he was tempted to reach out and give the fabric of her skirt a firm, testing squeeze.”
Tisha, catching the bold, unguarded direction of his stare, didn’t miss a beat.
With a silent, knowing smirk, she reached up and delivered a sharp, playful slap to the back of his head.
Alex didn’t flinch; he just offered Tisha a slow, coy smile, his eyes dancing with the shared secret of his audacity.
Heena turned back just in time to see the tail end of the exchange.
Tisha’s hand lowering from the back of his head, Alex’s mouth curved into a slow, unrepentant smile that made it clear he’d been caught doing something he had absolutely no intention of apologizing for.
The casual, physical intimacy between the professor and her student felt like a foreign language to her.
A strange, tight sensation coiled in her chest.
A sharp, sudden awareness that whatever existed between these two had nothing to do with academic mentorship.
And beneath that awareness, quieter but impossible to ignore, a thin blade of envy she hadn’t been expecting.
“Please,” Heena said, her voice regaining its clipped, academic authority as she gestured toward the leather armchairs. “Have a seat.”
She took her own seat behind the heavy mahogany desk, seeking the familiar comfort of her authority.
Tisha settled into the leather chair, crossing her legs with a fluid, relaxed grace that seemed to defy the late hour. Alex took the seat beside her, leaning back with a quiet, dominant ease that made the office feel smaller.
Heena found herself watching the young man with an instinctive, growing suspicion.
She still couldn’t come to terms with why Tisha… the most guarded woman on faculty… was so unnervingly relaxed in his presence.
Her eyes involuntarily traced his features, and for a traitorous moment, her breath hitched.
He was, by any objective standard, godly.
A bitter, unbidden thought flashed through her mind: if she were still in her twenties, she would have abandoned her pride and her ledgers just to chase a man like this.
As the thought peaked, she realized she had lingered too long.
Her gaze collided with his, and she found herself locked into a pair of dark, knowing eyes. Alex didn’t look away; instead, he held the contact, a spark of amusement dancing in his stare.
Flushed by the realization that he had caught her staring, Heena felt a localized fever burn across her cheeks.
She sharply pulled her gaze away, refocusing on Tisha with a frantic, professional intensity that was a second too late to be convincing.
”So,” Heena began, her fingers interlacing over her desk blotter as she tried to reclaim the room’s professional gravity. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from my dear Tisha?”
Despite her composed exterior, a cold knot of anxiety tightened in her chest. She was still terrified of what Tisha was about to say… waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the mention of Sterling’s name to shatter her dignity.
”I’m just here to visit, my dear Heena,” Tisha replied, her voice dropping into a smooth, professional lilt. She leaned forward slightly, her expression shifting into one of practiced concern. “I’ve just finished up my own work, and I wanted to see how you were coping.”
Heena blinked, the unexpected normalcy of the remark doing little to settle her nerves.
“With the final exams coming up and the department under so much pressure,” Tisha continued, her eyes searching Heena’s face with a hidden, razor-sharp focus.
“I imagine the workload is becoming a bit much for you lately?”
Heena reached for a stray pen, rolling it between her fingers to anchor herself.
“It’s… manageable. The usual end-of-term chaos.”
”Is it?” Tisha tilted her head, her smile widening just enough to be dangerous. “Good for you.”
Tisha’s smile didn’t falter, but the air in the room seemed to shift, growing denser. She uncrossed her legs and leaned in, her forearms resting on the edge of the mahogany desk.
“Actually, Heena… I do have something specific to discuss with you,” Tisha revealed, her gaze locking onto Heena’s with an unblinking clarity.
Heena’s heart gave a violent, erratic lurch. Her pulse began to race, a dull thudding in her ears that drowned out the hum of the office air conditioning.
’Here it comes,’ she thought, her fingers tightening around the stray pen until the plastic groaned.
“Go ahead,” Heena said, the words forced through a throat that felt like it was closing.
“You know, as I’ve already introduced Alex here,” Tisha gestured toward him with a casual, almost proprietary flick of her hand.
“He’s been developing some very ambitious plans lately. He’s starting his own venture, and he realized quite quickly that he lacks a sophisticated understanding of high-level finance.”
Heena blinked. The expected blow didn’t land. Instead of a scandal, she was being presented with… a syllabus?
The relief was so sudden it was almost nauseating. She felt the frantic tension drain from her spine, replaced by a dizzying lightheadedness.
It wasn’t about Sterling. It wasn’t about the important matters or the bistro or the betrayal. It was just a student looking for a tutor.
“He was quite insistent,” Tisha continued, her voice trailing off with a hint of that same secret mischief. “He said he wanted to learn from the best mind in the building. Naturally, I thought of you.”
Alex offered a slow, devastatingly confident smile as he took the lead, his voice dropping into that dark, velvety register that seemed to vibrate right through the desk.
“Yes,” Alex said, his eyes holding Heena’s with an intensity that made her feel like the only person in the world. “I’m in the process of launching my company, and I’ve realized that a venture is only as strong as its foundation. I need a master’s hand to guide the financial structure. And after looking into your curriculum, Professor, I decided I wouldn’t settle for anyone but you.”
Heena stared at him, her professional mask finally settling back into place, though her heart hadn’t quite forgotten the rhythm of the scare. “You want… private consultation?”
“I want the best, Mrs. Sterling,” Alex murmured, leaning in just enough to breach her professional perimeter.”But only if you accept me. ”
”And I’m willing to do whatever ’extra-curricular’ work is necessary to get it.”
Heena stared at Alex for a long, calculating moment. She wanted to peel back the layers of this young man, to understand the gravity he exerted that had managed to pull even the “Ice Queen” out of her orbit.
But then, the reality of her desk… piled high with audits and invigilation schedules… settled back onto her shoulders.
“Tisha, as much as I appreciate your trust…” Heena began, her tone professional but weary. She glanced at the mountain of paperwork on her desk, then back at Tisha with a tired smile. “Even if I wanted to, I really don’t have the time.”
“Don’t worry about the schedule, Heena,”
Tisha interrupted, her voice smooth and absolute. “And certainly don’t worry about overworking yourself. I’ll personally take care of your administrative overflow.”
Heena froze, her pen hovering mid-air. She looked at Tisha, searching for a sign of a joke, but found only a calm, unwavering resolve.
Tisha was offering to take on hours of grueling bureaucratic labor just to clear Heena’s plate for this boy.
“You just have to say yes,” Tisha added, her gaze never wavering.
The suspicion in Heena’s chest didn’t lessen; it curdled into something far more potent.
’How far is she willing to go for him?’ she wondered. This wasn’t just mentorship. This was an investment. It was a sacrifice.
Curiosity, sharp and biting, finally got the better of her. She wanted to see what kind of man could command this much loyalty… and what he would do once he had Heena in a room alone.
“Well…” Heena finally said, a slow, practiced smile returning to her lips as she looked back at Alex. “If you are both this determined… I suppose I would love to teach a young man with such… specific ambitions.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Alex said. He didn’t just thank her; he spoke the words with a low, resonant frequency that felt like a private acknowledgment of her surrender.
Tisha leaned back, a look of pure, predatory satisfaction crossing her face. The first step was done. She looked at Alex, then back at Heena, the mischief in her eyes now a cold, burning flame of triumph.