Dare to Love: 9. Exposure

Julian Blackwood had always believed he could manage consequences.

He had built an entire career on discretion, on measured words and controlled impulses. Even his lectures carried the polish of someone who understood that power wasn’t always about what was said, but what was withheld.

But with Amelia Reyes, nothing stayed contained for long.

The first spark between them had been private—a look, a silence that lasted too long, a choice neither of them should have made. Yet now, as autumn leaves littered the campus grounds, that spark had begun to unravel the carefully ordered seams of Julian’s life.

It started small. A colleague raised a brow when Amelia lingered in his office longer than a student usually did. The subtle pause in conversation when her name came up among the faculty. Whispers that didn’t have shape yet, but carried weight.

Julian noticed everything, and it put a strain on him he refused to show.

“Professor Blackwood?” Amelia’s voi