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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

HECTOR

Once Heather finished paying back Eric for all the shit he had put her through these past two semesters, I grabbed him by the collar and picked him up off the ground. I dragged his ass to the door and unlocked it.

After tossing him out into the main office, where my employees looked over, I crouched down to his level so he would know that I wasn t playing around, that I would do anything to protect Heather.

“Get out of my office,” I growled at Eric. “And don’t you ever come back.”

Eric scrambled to his feet, piss staining the front of his pants.

Before he could run out in embarrassment, I grabbed his tie. If Heather tells me that you ever reach out to her again, I will personally find a punishment that fits you. And if you pissed yourself over this, you won’t like what I have in store. Understand?”

“Y-yes, s-sir!”

Everyone in the office stayed silent as he stumbled down the walkway toward the elevator, frantically pushing the down arrow. The elevator doors beeped, and a bunch of executives walked out together.

I leaned against the door and stuffed my hands into my pockets, loving every moment of this embarrassment’s life right now. Eric’s face turned a darker shade of red, and he scrambled into the car.

When the doors closed, Evelyn giggled from the opposite corner of the room with her hand over her mouth.

I cleared my throat and looked at the secretaries and executives. Get back to work. Then, I walked back into my office and closed my door.

While I expected Heather to be beaming behind me, she sat on the couch with a frown.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, walking over to her and crouching beside her. I tucked some hair behind her ear and drew the pad of my thumb softly across her cheek. “He’s not going to bother you ever again, Heather.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I just feel bad.”

“Why?”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “I should’ve known.”

“How could you have known his true intentions?” I asked.

She shrugged and glanced at the door, chewing on her inner cheek. She didn’t think she was good enough, smart enough, persistent enough, even though Eric had admitted to wrongfully failing her.

And not because he wanted an interview, but because he wanted her .

“Come on,” she said, voice smaller. “If I had known those were his intentions from the very beginning, then I could’ve tried to bring it up with the dean … but I didn’t pick up on it and wasted multiple semesters of my life. Sometimes, I’m just stu?—”

“Enough,” I growled.

She widened her eyes. “B-but …”

“Enough,” I growled again, grabbing her hand.

If she wanted to constantly demean herself, I would force her to tell me what she loved about herself. I would force her to rip away all her insecurities and just be present with me. Happy. At fucking peace with herself.

I didn’t care how long it’d take. I didn’t care what happened between us.

All I wanted was for her to love herself and to see how intelligent she really was.