The tension in the room was palpable as Adrian’s footsteps echoed across the dorm. He slammed the door shut behind him and stood in front of Elena, his expression colder than she had ever seen it. The gentle, protective side of him was gone, replaced with a strict, no-nonsense demeanor. His brow was furrowed, his jaw clenched, and his eyes bore into her as though she were a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve.
“Why the hell did you jump in the pool, Elena?” His voice was sharp, his anger simmering beneath the surface, threatening to boil over. “What’s going on with you? What the hell is bothering you?”
Elena sat on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest, her gaze cast downward. She hadn’t expected to be confronted like this. She had hoped for comfort, or at least understanding, but instead, she was met with Adrian’s cold fury.
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but the words refused to come out. Adrian’s question made the tears well up again, the hurt and confusion of the past few days threatening to consume her.
Adrian stepped closer, his tone more forceful now. “You’re going to tell me, Miss Harper. You’re not getting away with this. What pushed you to do something like that?”
The mention of her last name, so harshly delivered, made her flinch. She was always Elena to him, but now it felt like she was just a student. Just a problem.
Elena’s voice cracked as she finally spoke, her words coming out in a rush. “It’s… It’s my mental health. I’ve been struggling for a while now, okay?” She wiped her eyes, trying to hold it together. “The rumors… the incidents… they’ve been eating away at me. I can’t escape them. Every day, people whisper behind my back. I feel like I’m drowning. And sometimes, the only way to get away from it all is just… to jump.” Her breath hitched, and her shoulders trembled as she fought to keep her emotions under control.
Adrian’s expression didn’t soften. If anything, it grew harder. He was silent for a moment, processing her words, but the fury didn’t leave his eyes.
“Is that supposed to be an excuse?” His voice rose. “Do you think that just because you’re struggling, you can throw yourself into a damn pool and act like that’s going to solve anything? That’s the easy way out, Elena.” His words were like ice, each syllable cutting deeper into her.
Elena bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears, but they started to fall anyway. She hadn’t wanted to break down in front of him, but the hurt had become too much to bear. She had tried so hard to keep it all together, but now, the dam had broken.
Adrian’s anger was now palpable, his voice louder, sharper. “You’re a mess, Miss Harper. A complete mess,” he spat, the words leaving his mouth like daggers.
That sentence-You’re a mess-hit Elena harder than she had ever expected. It felt like a punch to the gut, and she couldn’t hold it in anymore. The pain, the frustration, everything she had been bottling up came rushing out.
Her voice shook as she stood up, her hands trembling. “I’m a mess?” she repeated, her eyes flashing with anger. “Well, maybe I’m a mess because I’m trying so damn hard to prove that I’m not! That I’m not just some failure! I’m trying to show you that I’m capable of this scholarship, of doing something right, but it’s never good enough for you, is it? You never believed in me, Adrian. From day one, you hated me. You humiliated me. You made me feel worthless. I tried so hard to be perfect, to do everything right, but you always found a way to tear me down.”
Her words poured out, fueled by the months of torment, the constant feeling of not being good enough. She felt herself unraveling in front of him, but she couldn’t stop.
“You hated me!” Elena screamed, her chest heaving with the force of her emotions. “And if I couldn’t study as hard as you wanted, you could’ve told me calmly, like a teacher should. But no, you always chose humiliation over silence. You never gave me a chance to prove myself. Why? Why did you treat me like that?”
Tears streamed down her face, and she sank to her knees, her hands covering her face as she sobbed uncontrollably. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. The weight of everything-the rumors, the pressure, Adrian’s coldness-all of it crashed down on her, and she couldn’t breathe.
Adrian stood frozen for a moment, his chest rising and falling as he processed what she had said. The anger inside him had faltered, replaced by something he wasn’t ready to confront. Guilt. Regret. The realization that he had gone too far with her, that his harshness had been the last thing she needed. He had only made her feel worse.
Before he could think any more, he found himself kneeling in front of her, reaching for her face and gently pulling her hands away. His heart clenched when he saw her, broken and vulnerable in a way that he had never seen before. He couldn’t help it. He wiped the tears from her cheeks, his thumb grazing her skin with surprising tenderness.
“Elena…” His voice was quieter now, softer. “Who said I hated you, silly?”
She shook her head, her sobs quieting a little, though the pain in her eyes didn’t fade. “You’ve always treated me like I wasn’t good enough,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Adrian’s gaze softened, and he reached for her, pulling her into his arms. She resisted at first, still too angry and hurt, but he held her tighter. “I never hated you,” he murmured into her hair. “I was angry, but it wasn’t because I hated you. It was because I saw you struggling, and I couldn’t figure out how to help you. I was too damn proud to see it.”
He held her for a long moment, her sobs slowing as she clung to him. Adrian’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, but the only thing that mattered right now was Elena.
He pulled back slightly to look at her face, his thumb brushing away the last of her tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I never should have treated you that way.”
Elena looked up at him, her eyes red from crying. She said nothing for a moment, then softly murmured, “I don’t know what to believe anymore, Professor. Everything feels like a mess.”
Adrian let out a breath, his own emotions raw and tangled. “Then let me help you, Elena. I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”
For the first time, there was a flicker of something hopeful in her eyes, though it was still fragile. It wasn’t forgiveness, not yet, but it was a beginning. And for Adrian, that was all he could ask for right now.