"I want the final word on the article, Ms Muhammad, or there will be no study, and you can join the other students in receiving an exam."

"Fine by me," I said as we glare at each other while out of my boundary, I see Alexander still watching, seemingly bemused. I angle myself towards him, completely dismissing Professor from our conversation.

"I've been in contact with Professor lee. If I act right away, She's promised to clear me for a program with her in my senior year."

"How's her schedule?" Alexander asks.

"Tight, but She would love to work with me. She'll squeeze us in. For now, we can focus on our studies while later we will continue this-"

"At least a courtesy copy," Professor hisses lowly, "before my colleges review the article, so I can know what to expect."

Slowly, I angle my body so that I'm once again facing Professor. "A courtesy copy," I repeat, holding his steady gaze. After a few seconds, I offer him a weary grin and nod. "I believe we can provide a courtesy copy, Professor so that you'll know what to expect."

He keeps his hypnotizing eyes on me, a slow smirk lifting at one corner of his mouth. I have to look away quickly when he looks at me that way.

"Then I believe we've worked out all the ground rules."

Once that meeting is done, we discuss a few logistics for the following day.

Alexander abruptly pulls out his mobile. "Shit, it's later than I thought. I've got to get going. I'm flying to London in a few hours."

He stands quickly and does up the last two buttons to his suit jacket.

"Wahaj, may I speak with you for a couple of minutes?"

"Of course, Alexander." I excuse myself and walk a few feet with him, to an area where we're still within Yilmaz's view, but not his hearing range since we closed the door of the conference room.

"You handled the Professor very well. He can be very...demanding."

"He's an arrogant prick, but yes, I'm sure I can handle him."

Alexander chuckles. "Have you spoken to Professor Lee ?"

"Yes, actually, I have."

He jerks his head back and snorts, quietly impressed yet at the same time; I can tell by his grin that he's not surprised. He knows me - at least, this part of me.

"Well, I'll be in London for a few days. Give me a call if you need anything."

"Thanks, Alexander. I will." He smiled.

Our relationship was never one based on romance. We've simply helped each other out in the past, in the office - and sometimes out of it. He knows my father pretty well, but other than that, he was simply a colleague —nothing more, nothing less.

Which is why his next words shock me.

"Do me a favour Dear? Don't fall in love with the Professor."

I'm too dumbfounded to respond straight away.

"Pardon?" I finally say, taking a few inches away from him.

Alexander snorts. "Wahaj, you know I don't like to interfere in your private lif-." I nod, as I was about to interrupt him when he continued.

"Wahaj, sweetheart, that was a pretty interesting exchange back there."

I cross my arms against my chest. "And?"

"And I see the way he looks at you. Now the Professor isn't known to be a saint," he chuckles, "but he's usually an asshole to most students and doesn't require extra time to spend with a mere freshman. As I said, you and I don't have the type of relationship where I believe I have any right to tell you with whom to fall in love with. I'm telling you this as a friend, Wahaj."

I quirk a brow. "What exactly are you telling me as a friend, Alexander?"

His eyes stray in the direction of Yilmaz, and when he brings them back to me, they're full of amusement.

"I'm telling you that the way he looks at you is way too intense, Wahaj, and I've known the Professor for a while. He usually reserves the intensity for the Hill. I worry that this would be more than just a student, professor relationship to him – and he has a fiancee. It will be hard for you to gain the respect of other professors and students if they find out that the only reason you got the scholarship and the professor admiration is that he used you."

I shake my head and snort lowly. "Alexander, I have no intention whatsoever of falling in love with the professor."

Alexander eyes me carefully for a few seconds. "That's good to know, Wahaj."

I've always been okay with it, but knowing that Yilmaz is just a few feet away, knowing that his eyes are probably on us right now, suddenly makes me feel dirty and as insane as it sounds, guilty as if I'm doing something wrong.

"We'll talk, Alexander."

Alexander nods and grinning, waves behind me to Yilmaz before leaving.

I walk back to the table with my chin held high - though I feel disgusted all of a sudden - and pick up my purse.

"Professor, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow-"

"Please sit down, Ms Muhammad," He called me with the name I wanted to call me with, then why do I feel sad all of a sudden. "I've ordered you another tea with two sugars and honey."

Yes, that's how I took it when I was pregnant, does he still remember?

"Thank you, but I need to get going." I turn on my heel to leave to Lila. "Wahaj, please...just sit down for two minutes."

His voice is quiet, so smooth, the way I remember it from so long ago. I close my eyes, and I swear I mean to walk away, but the next thing I know I'm sitting in front of him once more, looking into those sodding emerald eyes.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?" he repeats; then snorts. "I'm not the one who showed up out of the blue a week ago, stabbing you and taking your kidney away."

I grin wryly.

Despite the topic of conversation, he grins back, leaning forward, closer than he did before, so close I can feel his breath on my face when he speaks.

"Why don't you tell me why you took it, Wahaj? The embryo is already dead, so why do you need a kidney. So tell me, is it for you, your father?"

"Tell him! Tell him!" a little voice inside me commands. "Tell him that he's a father! Tell him that the embryo didn't die from his recklessness!"

When I gave birth to Lila and Layan, back when I was still stupidly hopeful, I imagined the moment when I'd tell the professor about them in so many ways. But it was never this way, never as a punishment, never as something that would destroy him.

After what my father and Mrs Chamberlain explained. I knew it would only be as a way to punish him.

I sit there grinning while all these destructive thoughts go through my mind. He moves in closer still, so close that I can see all the different shades of green in his eyes – the same hues that are in Lila's but different than Layan's.

"Why did you come back" he whispers with a cocky grin. "Do you think taking my kidney will destroy me, Wahaj? Do you think it will hurt me? Do you still believe I am the bad guy in all of this? Because you're wrong if that's what you think."

There's absolutely nothing of fear in him. He's not worried or anxious in any way. Meanwhile, I'm falling apart on the inside, wanting to tell him, but so freaking devastated that if nothing else, that would be the horror to him. The knowledge of our daughters' existence would wipe that smug grin off his face, and that knowledge breaks my heart and infuriates me all at once because Layan and Lila are not a punishment, They are a blessing.

I move in closer to him, only a handful of inches separating our faces. "You're so freaking cocky, aren't you?"

He snorts, inching closer still, his full lips just centimetres from mine. "Is that how you see me, Wahaj? Is that how you think I feel right now - cocky?"

"Of course. You covered your tracks well, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" he sneers.

"You kidnapped me, Married me, impregnated me, and made me lose the child, and you never got punished for any of this? You a-"

My phone, ringing interpreted me suddenly, but I didn't pick it up as I listened to the professor.

"You are clearly deranged aren't you, Am I the one who kidnapped us?" he hisses. "your father had messed up with you so bad, and you aren't my problem to deal with anymore," He explained further, "What I did was for you, and everything I did from that day forward was to guarantee you're well being. You aren't ready to hear the truth, and it is your fault," He finished.

I was about to leave the table when he stopped in the middle of his way when I picked my phone up, "Hey sweetheart," I started speaking.

"What is wrong ?" I spoke as I looked over to the professor who held me tightly.

"We haven't finished our conversation," He spoke, "I will tell you because you need to hear it," He declared.

"Sweetheart, I will speak with you in a second," I said before I hanged up, "What is wrong with you?" I shouted as I got back into my seat.

"Tell me, I will listen to you," I said as I waited for him to say what he was about to declare. "You are infertile, Wahaj."

I chuckled humorlessly, "Are you mad? I got pregnant."

He settled his gaze on me, "That research you helped produce with Alexander whose Idea was it," He asked out of nowhere after his accusation.

"It was my idea, what is this got to do with what you were saying" I was starting to lose my patience, "I don't have time to participate in one of your games," I declared.

I watch his lips as he speaks. "Because the research you wrote was a part of my research that I composed when your father kidnapped us, you weren't supposed to remember it"

I was confused. Why was he composing a research paper when my father kidnapped us and why did I remember the research, " You never asked me what happened in those days we were locked in ?" He asked rhetorically.

"You tried to kill my father, whatever game you are playing now, I won't be apart of it," I declared as I wanted to leave the conference room.

"Yes, Yes I did," He finally declared his evil doings and I stopped in my tracks, "W-why.. why would you do such an evil thing ?" I asked.

He glares at me, nostrils flaring, his smooth composure all but gone in the conference room, round this cosy little table.

"I never wanted to hurt you, I wanted you out," He revealed. "The Benzodiazepines, Statins, and Ecstasy Pills that I have given you were all to keep you out of this stupid conflict to make you forget not to murder the child even if there were going to be complications; I was going to save him."

He repeated the sentence he told me, "The stupid conflict was about the new market opening. Your father was contacting you years later and Mr Black sudden interest in you. Mrs Chamberlain was financing your education and your scholarship, your therapy, your life in her house. Kereme and you never having children even though you wanted to after a year and you getting impreginated after a day" He explained further.

"Mr Black wanted to kidnap you. I intruded his plan and joined hands with Diab; your father and married you." He stated facts already known to me, "The only true thing you said was that our marriage was a lie at first because I wanted to join Diab and start the work he was talking about in human manipulation,"

He looked almost apologetically, "I thought at first, it was because Mr Black wanted to kill you, and that is why he tried to kidnap you and why he wanted to kill you because you were his granddaughter from his deceased daughter."

I nodded.

He revealed, "No, Mr Black wanted you because he knew his deceased daughter had a germline editing to treat her from cancer as a young girl. Your father kidnapped her so he could get 438.000 dollars by gene manipulating further generation. For every gene, he helps manipulates he gets 30.000 dollars just like any scientist who manipulates genes in chicken and mouses but on a human, he would be getting 489.000 dollars on the child if he marketed it"

I can't move. I can't make a sound.

"Wahaj you are Infertile, you couldn't have kids so you couldn't help in germline editing that is why your father went into the black market and continued his deals. Your father developed the technology to produce a new market-based form of eugenics. The kid you were carrying wasn't yours. You aren't fertile. You are a mere surrogate. I gave you those pills so his plan won't work. My brother, Mr Black and I tried to kill your father so you would be free and you won't be tied up in all of this because if he succeeds in getting this out into the world he would not only destroy my career but also everyone's involved."

My mind is in chaos. When I open my mouth, I'm not even sure what I'm about to say, but then Professor leans away and sits casually in his seat. Though his eyes are darker and angrier than I've ever seen them, when he speaks, he's recovered all the coolness and composure in his voice.