Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 1010 : Going Down

*Leo*

Bianca looked tired. She was studying so hard and I knew her professor wasn’t treating her well.

I watched her pouring over her books and when she was in class, I stood in the hallway and listened to that jackass.

He wasn’t targeting her directly anymore but I could tell he wasn’t happy about having a pregnant woman in his class.

I promised her I wouldn’t interfere.

So, instead, I stayed up all night with her when she had a big test coming up.

“You know the material backward and forward at this point.” I snapped a heavy textbook closed and pulled Bianca back on the couch to cuddle with me.

“Yeah but, I could be more prepared.” She reached for the book.

I grabbed her arm. “Bianca, there’s such a thing as being too prepared. You have to rest your big brain before the test.”

She giggled and snuggled against my chest. “Okay, if you insist.”

I wrapped my arms around her until she was asleep.

Bianca had time to sleep before her test, but I didn’t have time to rest. Between helping her and working on the Snow problem...

I kissed her forehead and slid out from under her, carefully laying her on the couch. I found a blanket and placed it over her gently.

“Sleep well, my love.”

I went to the office and called Franky. “Okay, what’s the latest update?”

“Another bust lead,” Franky reported.

“Another?” I ran my hand down my face. “Franky, what is going on? Are they giving us the run around?”

“Maybe. Or maybe their operations are more sophisticated than we thought.”

“No. It can’t be. Not when it is so new. Follow every lead. Turn over every stone. I don’t care if we have to start hauling in their victims. We will find a way to get to them!”

Franky sighed. “Yeah. Darion has really stepped up. He’s putting feelers out in all the right places. But it is one wall after another. The Angels have really tightened things up.”

How? That kind of organization and sophistication took years to establish.

The Angels weren’t that sophisticated with Andre. How could a new, green leader step in and make it all happen so fast?

“We’ve tracked Snow to another new neighborhood. It’s not slowing down.”

“Alright. I’m coming in.”

“Are you sure, Leo? It’s five in the morning.”

I groaned. “Yeah. I need to handle this in person. Collect everything you have. I want to review it myself.”

I hung up and glanced out the crack in the office door.

Bianca was still sleeping soundly on the couch.

I wrote her a quick note about where I was and wished her luck on her test and put the note on the coffee table with her text books. I knew she’d do great!

All day, I reviewed the data that Franky and Darion gathered.

It was nauseating, like the Angels were leading us in circles.

Franky wasn’t lying when he said their investigations kept hitting walls.

“We can track the drug but not the dealers. That seems like part of their plan,” I pointed out. I splayed all the reports on my desk.

Franky nodded from across the room. “Yeah. It does seem like they’re only letting us find out what they want us to know.”

“Ah!” I pushed several reports off the desk. They fluttered to the floor. “This is a riddle. An overly organized, well curated riddle and we’re chasing our tails.”

“Get home, Leo. There’s nothing more you can do. Besides, you need to sleep.”

“Sleep? What’s that?” I smirked and ran my hand through my hair.

“Go. I can handle this for now.”

I nodded and packed up my things. As much as I wanted to stay on top of the Angels and Snow, I also wanted to know how Bianca’s test went.

When I get home, my head was pounding. Yeah, sleep was a good idea.

I turned off my car and headed inside. The house was silent.

Bianca should be home. But she didn’t greet me and she wasn’t in the living room, the kitchen, or the bathroom.

My stomach twisted into knots.

"Bianca?" I called out. My voice sounded a few octaves too high.

Silence answered me.

I moved through the house quickly, panic rising in my chest. Maybe she’s in the bedroom, maybe she’s just reading or resting. I opened the bedroom door and paused.

I couldn’t see Bianca but the covers on the bed were pulled over something lump-like.

My heart sank and I went to the side of the bed.

The lump rose and fell. It was breathing.

“Bianca?” I asked, setting my hand on the comforter.

The lump shuddered and I heard a small sniffle.

I pulled the covers back. My heart sank at the sight of her.

Her cheeks were tear stained, hair messy. She was dressed in fluffy pajamas and was curled up as much as possible with her big belly. She sniffled again.

I hated seeing her like this. I hated knowing that I can’t protect her from every hurt.

“What’s going on?” I asked, sitting slowly on the edge of the bed.

She grabbed the comforter and pulled it tight against her chin. Her eyes were red and puffy.

“Did something happen?”

She sniffled again and fresh tears rose in her eyes. “I... needed a little space.

My heart broke for her and I rubbed her back. "What’s going on, baby? Why are you hiding under the covers?

Slowly, she sat up and tucked the covers around her more. Like she was trying to cocoon herself.

"I failed the test," she said. "I’m not good enough."

My heart drops. "What? That’s impossible. You knew the material!"

"I should’ve studied more. I guess I’m not that smart..."

"No," I interrupted, my voice sharp. "You’re brilliant. You’ve worked harder than anyone I know. You can’t blame yourself for this."

She turned away from me and pulled her knees to her chest. "It is my fault. I wasn’t prepared. I’m just a failure. I’m failing at everything. I’m not good enough to do this."

Her words cut deep, deeper than anything I’d ever felt. I can’t stand seeing her like this. Not when she’s so capable, so strong.

I put my hand on her shoulder and pulled her against me.

She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder. Her body trembled slightly and I saw her lower lip quiver.

“You’re not a failure. I know how smart you are. Hell, you aced every practice test!”

She shakes her head. "You don’t understand. I can’t do this. I studied my butt off and it still wasn’t enough to prove Callahan wrong... I don’t want to quit, but I don’t know if I’m good at anything anymore. Maybe I was kidding myself."

“What are you saying? You want to quit school? You’re going to let that jerk run you off?” I asked.

Bianca shrugged.

"Listen to me," I said, my voice steady. "You’ve got this. Don’t let one test, one grade, define who you are. You’ve worked so hard. You’re smart, and you’re more capable than anyone I know. Don’t let him make you doubt yourself."

"Maybe you’re right, but it doesn’t feel like it right now,” she muttered.

“Come here.” I wrapped my arms around her and coaxed her to lie down with me.

She didn’t resist.

I tightened my grip on her and kissed the top of her head. “You’ll feel better after you get some sleep. And we can go over everything again tomorrow. You’ll see.”

She scoffed but didn’t argue. I rubbed her back and held her close. It took a while, but she finally fell asleep.

I promised not to interfere but something felt off to me.

Bianca studied her butt off for that test.

I helped her and I knew the material just as well as any professor. It wasn’t like I hadn’t studied the same thing.

She did amazing on all the practice tests. Sometimes she knew the material better than I did.

I could understand her failing if she was nervous or if that ass Callahan shook her up.

Sighing, I gently disengaged from her and found her laptop. She left the posted grade’s page open and I saw her failing mark on the screen.

No wonder she was so depressed.

I promised not to interfere, but It wasn’t like I was going to go after Callahan. I was just going to double check his work.

I found her test in the online portal and reviewed it myself.

She aced the multiple choice section. There was no disputing that. He marked all her answers correct.

But when it came to the open ended questions and the essay portion of the test, there were dozens of notations and remarks that all added up to the failing grade.

“What is this guy’s problem?” I whispered.

I reviewed his feedback and shook my head.

Her answers were solid, brilliant. Her essay was beautifully written, eloquent, and never deviated far from the topic. She provided all the pillars to uphold her perspective.

How had he failed her.

None of her answers were wrong or off topic.

I dug deeper into his review.

In one comment, he berated her for using the incorrect term. Only the term she used was correct. It wasn’t the only term, but they were interchangeable.

In another comment, he marked her down for her grammar.

Since when was he an English teacher?

Every single markdown was some stupid, nitpick that most professors would over look because it came down to personal preference or was outside the scope of a business class. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Yet this asshat decided to fail her for it?

What a fucking joke!

If I removed all his markdowns based on his personal feelings, she would have gotten an A.

He couldn’t bully her out of his class, so he was going to fabricate a failing grade? That was ridiculous, and a complete abuse of power.

Poor Bianca.

I glanced over my shoulder at her sleeping form.

Seeing the impact his prejudice had on her made my heart clench. She was starting to believe she wasn’t smart and wasn’t worthy.

Not on my watch!

I wasn’t going to let her feel like that and I wasn’t going to let Callahan ruin her education or her career.

There was no way I could let him get away with this.

She’d worked hard and she deserved better.

I warned him once that if he continued to discriminate against her, I’d go to the college ethics board.

Maybe I’d been too nice in my threats.

Callahan probably had enough tenure that a little threat like that wouldn’t deter him. But I had connections outside the college who took discrimination very seriously.

If the college wouldn’t do anything, maybe there was a legal route.

I smirked and pulled up a fresh webpage.

Bianca didn’t want me interfering, and I wouldn’t go to Callahan, not directly. But I wasn’t going to sit by and watch her lose her confidence.

Callahan was going down.