Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 1005 : Clingy fiances and failures

*Bianca*

I regret everything I ever said about loneliness.

I stared blankly at my laptop, completely at a loss on how I would escape from the steely grip that surrounded me. Clingy hadn’t even begun to describe my fiance after my visit to the hospital.

Arms wrapped tightly around my waist, just above my belly and his head buried into my shoulder, he was so still I could swear he was sleeping in that position. But a certain member of his which I could feel pressing under my butt as I sat in his lap was not.

“Hmm,” I hummed thoughtfully, wondering if he would let me go once my class started in about five minutes. Part of me thought he might just demand I spend the whole class on his lap. I sighed, feeling a bit helpless at this point.

I knew his overprotective and clingy behavior over the past few days had been my fault. My restlessness had driven me to push myself beyond what I could handle and as a result, I’d ended up spending the day in the hospital.

I knew how much anxiety it had caused Leo. Hence why he was determined to spend all his time at home with me now. But his overbearing behavior wasn’t getting any better, the opposite actually.

I’d been taking it more easy, but Leo’s been wanting to do everything for me lately. Making me breakfast, refusing to let me carry anything that weighed more than a single sheet of paper, even bathing me and insisting on tying my shoes for me.

It was cute at first but now, it was just suffocating.

“Hey, don’t you have work to do?” I asked, absentmindedly burying my fingers into his mop of hair. He hadn’t brushed it this morning yet but he had taken nearly an hour blow-drying and brushing mine out. I picked through the few tangles I felt as he let out a soft noise, similar to a car’s purr.

A smile quirked on my lips at the adorable thing. Leo as a cat fit him just a little too perfectly.

“I’m busy,” Leo mumbled into my shoulder.

“Busy with what?” I asked amused. “Cuddling me endlessly?”

“Yes,” He shamelessly replied.

Damn. He really was hopeless at this point.

I glanced worriedly at the virtual classroom which was beginning to fill up with students on their cameras. The Professor wasn’t there yet but he would be soon considering how much of a stickler for rules he was.

I’d only attended a few classes with my new professor but so far, it had been harsh and difficult. No doubt he wouldn’t take kindly to me being seen lounging around on my fiance’s lap during class.

I sighed. How on earth could I make Leo leave me alone, at least for the hour it took for my class? Then like a lightbulb going off, an idea struck me.

I put on my best charming smile as I slipped my arm around Leo’s tight hold, breaking it just enough so I could tilt my body towards him. He looked up at me confused, blinking his eyes sleepily.

He honestly looked so cute that I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward to brush my lips against his. He lazily kissed me back, holding me gently like I was porcelain about to break under his fingers but I took control, slipping my tongue into his mouth until I was satisfied.

When I pulled back, he still had that dazed look about him, dark circles under his eyes and I gently rubbed them as he gazed at me with such love and adoration that it made me feel a bit guilty, to be honest.

“Hey, baby,” I cooed at him, trying to persuade him with my soft voice, “I’m feeling hungry and I’m really craving that one bakery you went to a few days ago? You know, the one with those cake sampler platters we tested for the wedding? Could you go get me one?”

Leo blinked, his lips dipping into a frown as he glanced at me suspiciously. “Cake? Are you sure that’s healthy for the baby–”

“Leo,” I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest and that was all the reminder he needed.

“Of course, love,” Leo grabbed my hand hurriedly, pressing a kiss to my palm before he slid me over onto the couch and took off. “One cake platter coming right up!”

I smirked a bit, watching him grab his coat and take off in a rush. I, of course, knew that the cake platters were made on special order since they had quite a few flavors they don’t normally have in stock. That should keep him busy for an hour or two.

Just in time, too, I thought with relief as I noticed my Professor arrive. I took a moment to breathe, enjoying the tiny bit of freedom. It was the first time I’d been alone since the hospital and while it had been nice, I really was getting tired of Leo trying to sneak into the bathroom with me.

I turned on my camera, straightening myself as the class started with a roll call. It was a generally smaller class, filled with only ten other students. Professor Kramer, who taught the business class was an older man in his sixties with grey hair and a permanent scowl on his face.

“You should receive your first grade for this class- the quiz you all took last week back within the hour,” Professor Kramer scowled over the call, not even looking at the screen as he flipped through papers on his desk. “And as I expected, the curve is severely downgraded. The top score was only 42%. Absolutely pathetic. I didn’t realize I’d be teaching a bunch of morons.”

I frowned at the venom in his voice and it seemed none of my classmates took it well either. However, I still took the moment to log on to the site to view my grades. Sure enough, between the other classes marked as complete, all with A’s and A+, there was a new grade under Intro to Business.

My whole body turned cold as I saw the pathetic ‘F’ now labeled under the quiz. A pitiful 13%.

What the hell?

“All of you should take the opportunity to learn from this quiz so that this doesn’t happen again. These classes will only get harder and if you’re failing something this pathetically easy, then it means you won’t have a chance later down the line,” Professor Kramer said coldly and callously, uncaring for how utterly distraught my classmates looked. “Consider this your wake-up call. Do the work properly and you’ll succeed in this class.”

I stared blankly at the screen, feeling numb as the Professor went over the next key details. My notepaper was blank though I held my hand in my paper. I just couldn’t focus as my eyes traveled back to my grade. That damning letter staring back at me.

It was the first time I’d ever failed a grade since coming to LA. Even if it was just a quiz, barely worth even a small percent of my total grade, it was a bitter pill to swallow. I felt so lost and empty as I went through the class, barely taking anything in though I struggled and did my best to pay attention.

I just didn’t understand how I had failed so miserably.

“End of class. Everyone dismissed,” Professor Kramer said once the hour was up on the dot. As my classmates began to leave one by one, I stayed behind. One bad grade wasn’t the end of the world. I still had time to fix this.

“Professor!” I called out to him before leaving the video chat and his cold eyes swept across the camera towards me. I swallowed, feeling somehow like he was staring straight into my soul. His piercing eyes are like those of a hawk having spotted its prey from afar. “About the quiz this time–”

“No makeups or grade changes,” Professor Kramer said coldly, not even bothering to listen to me. “What you got is your final grade. End of story.” 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“I wasn’t asking you to change my grade, Professor,” I protested, frowning as I couldn’t help but feel like he was looking down on me somehow. I tried to shake the feeling off. I was determined to go forward. “I can’t see the details of the quiz on what I got wrong so I wanted to ask you directly what I need to focus on to improve. I read the textbook and did all the homework–”

“Ah, you’re the pregnant one.”

I stiffened, my eyes going wide as the Professor’s eyes swept across me like he was analyzing me then scoffed with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

“I don’t see how that has anything to do with —” I said calmly despite how my heart was pounding like a drum in my chest.

“You don’t?” Professor Kramer sneered. “You had the worst score in the class. You’ve missed two video classes in the past week due to your ‘pregnancy’. It shouldn’t be a surprise that you’ve absolutely failed this quiz considering your lack of priorities.”

His words felt like a punch straight to the gut and my temper flared up in response.

“I was in the hospital, sir! There was nothing I could do–”

“That just shows your lack of dedication to this class!” His sharp words cut through me and I fell silent, staring at him in disbelief as he sneered at me like I was nothing in his eyes. “I don’t even know why they let a pregnant woman, especially one who got knocked up before even getting married take my class. You obviously have no foresight and lack any skills necessary to succeed in this path. You should give up and focus on serving your future husband instead.”

The blatant disdain in his voice, the spiteful sexist comments...all of it was too much for me to handle.

“I...I...” I fumbled for words to respond with but I was too flustered, too furious, and bewildered to focus on anything except for the piercing glare he stared at me with.

“If you don’t plan to drop out of my class then we have nothing more to discuss. Don’t worry about disappointing me, because I have no expectations of you in the first place. Goodbye.”

The connection cut off abruptly, my screen turning dark as I stared emptily at where my Professor once was.

Underneath the outrage and anger, I couldn’t help but feel hurt. Betrayed almost by how I’d just been treated. Doubts crowded my mind as I wrapped my arms around my belly.

Maybe he was right, I thought helplessly. Maybe this really isn’t the right path for me after all.