He releases a rush of air through his slightly parted lips, shuts his eyes, inhales deeply then opens them and turns to me. "I can't see how this concerns you?"

I lift a shoulder, putting on an indifference mask. "I'm curious."

He glowers at me and dives back to his food.

"So?" I probe.

"I'm not answering."

I roll my eyes as I swirl the red liquid in my glass. "It's only fair. You know every little detail of my personal life."

"So you're trying to get even?"

"I don't have anything better to do."

He huffs, grumbling something under his breath.

"I didn't catch that," I say and smile innocently at him.

"You're back to your usual self." He surveys me with a hard gaze.

I draw my brows together with confusion.

He waves his hand. "Your usual, annoying self who asks for way too many things."

I laugh. "But you like it when I annoy you," I point out. He freezes, his expression turning unreadable. So I add, "If you didn't, you probably would've gotten rid of me by now."

Spencer raises his eyebrows, feigning surprise. "Oh, so getting rid of was an option all along?" he leans back slightly, shifting on his spot. "Damn, I thought I'd have to build a fortress around my office and never step out of it unless I'd wanted to be hunted down by you."

I narrow my eyes and give him a fake tight-lipped smile which he happily returns. "It's called being headstrong if you weren't familiar with the term."

Pressing his lips into a thin line and nodding in an exaggerated manner he retorts, "Normal people call it being unreasonably stubborn."

"Whatever," I mumble and sip my wine. The drink is definitely starting to affect my mind. The little buzz helps me keep arguing with him without caring about the consequences, or maybe I'm just too tired to consider what can happen. "Well, you didn't answer, did you two date?"

He gets to his feet, picking up his plate and mine, and walks to the kitchen. While his back is facing me he answers, "We did."

I drum fingers on the countertop again as he loads the dishwasher.

"When?"

"Why?" he asks back and I shrug.

"Why not? I don't have anything better to do, and I'm trying to get to know you."

With a sharp inhale he straightens up and folds his arms in front of himself. "You shouldn't because at the end of the day I'm your professor."

"Well, I have over ten professors but none of them showed up in these past few days, so it's safe to say I can separate you from them. And can we not be student professor for one night? Please?"

His hands fall to his sides as he sighs, then rubs his eyes under the glasses. "Gracie, by pretending we can't change the reality." He pushes his hands into his pockets.

I rest my head to my palm while running my finger around the edge of the wine glass. "I know," I mumble. Avoiding his gaze, I go on, "It's just I'm tired... and I know you're probably going to tell me running from my problems isn't the solution, but I'm drained, and I need a break."

"And uncovering my personal life is your distraction?"

My head snaps to him, as he deliberately arches an eyebrow at me. "If you put it that way, you make me sound like the bad guy..." my voice trails down. I lift a shoulder and whisper, "But maybe?"

He sighs. "Why don't you do something else, there's TV, I can give you my laptop or you can read any book you want," he offers as he approaches me and stops across from me, on the other side of the kitchen island, planting his hands wide apart on the top.

"No, I don't want that. I want to communicate and you're the only person around."

He huffs a laugh. "Lucky me," he mutters sarcastically but it draws a smile to my face nevertheless.

I watch him expectantly. He blows air in a long exasperated exhale before finally speaking, "We knew each other from college... but about two years ago, I invested in the company she works, purely coincidental, and... we began seeing each other more often, it led to dating."

I sit up straighter. "For how long?" I inquire, leaning slightly over the countertop.

To my utmost surprise, even though he's slightly irritated, he replies, "Almost three years."

I gape at him. "When did you break up then?"

With a glare, he answers, "Around August."

My eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. "Wow," I breathe out, making him frown.

"What?"

I shake my head. "Who's the dumper?" I smirk and earn a glowering Spencer.

"We both decided to end things on good terms. No one dumped the other one."

"Bull," I mutter under my breath and he squints at me. "Come on, someone has to be the dumper, that's how it works."

"We both realized we're better as friends, rather than partners," he says back through greeted teeth.

"I see." I nod. "So she dumped you."

"What?" He backs away as if offended but I offer my sweetest smile and decide to elaborate.

"When a girl in a relationship says, you're better off as friends, in a lot of cases that's just a very nice way of rejecting the guy, sorry to break it to you pal, but that's how it is. And let me take a wild guess, you didn't give her attention, were only focused on your work, so you both ended up realizing you're not fit for each other, while in reality, Julia probably got sick of your indifference."

He stares at me blankly, then blinks multiple times, opens and closes his mouth a few times before settling with, "I honestly don't know how you come up with these stories and theories. And for the record, you're wrong."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I smile at him, earning a sharp glare.

Spencer runs his fingers through his hair and sighs.

Suddenly the events from earlier today replay in my head. I frown and tilt my head, gazing at him as the fight I had with William replays in my mind. But this time, the moment when Spencer showed up, and William looked him dead in the eyes and said his name stands out.

"What?" his question snaps me out of my thoughts.

I eye him suspiciously. Maybe his dad knows William, after all, he said he's rich too.

I shift on my spot, conflicted about whether I should voice out my question or not.

When have I ever won these battles of not asking the question?

"Actually I had a question."

He groans and I giggle.

But soon my giggles die and I gulp, studying his face and I gather my courage to begin, "Earlier today, at the... uh..." I fumble with words, saying funeral out loud turns out harder than I thought, but he nods for me to continue so I do. "The guy I was arguing with... not the one who got out of a Rolls Royce, the other one."

A mask falls over his face. The blankness is unnerving, making me uneasy. He even keeps his gaze cold. As if forcing himself to appear indifferent.

"William... he knows you."

"He doesn't." He asserts too quickly.

I squint at him, pressing my lips into a flat line. "I heard and saw him directly look at you and say Spencer, and I'm pretty sure you were the only Spencer in that group."

He gazes at me, and I fail to decipher what's going on in his head. "Maybe you misheard. I don't know him."

"I was standing right there."

Hesitantly he shrugs. "You could've made a mistake, especially in that mome-"

I cut him off, "No." My heartbeat quickens and a knot ties in my stomach. "How do you know him? Or how does he know you?"

He pulls himself to his full height. "Fine, how do you know him?"

"Seriously?" I back away, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, I'm serious."

I glower at him. "He's my mom's childhood friend... and recently offered a job to my dad."

Emotions flicker across his face rapidly. Annoyance, disbelief, and even exasperation. He takes off his glass and rubs his eyes.

After a beat, he questions, "Do you know his full name?"

Irritation flares up in me. I asked him a question why is he interrogating me instead? Though I hold my tongue and decide to answer in hopes of making him answer mine.

"Not really, everyone just calls him the William to set him apart from all the other Williams in the business industry. His name is like a brand for the majority of CEOs."

He scoffs, rolling his eyes and putting his glasses back on. My frown deepens. Spencer picks up the wine bottle and sips from it, surprising me once again, before setting it down and leaning to the kitchen island.

"His full name is William Gabriel Wright."

It takes me a moment to realize the keyword and for it to sink in. My eyes widen and I barely contain my gasp.

He watches me wryly and nods wearily. "He is my father."

If it was possible, my jaw would have hit the floor.

∞ ∞ ∞

Dun dun duuunnnn xD

Okay, did you guys see this coming? 👀

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment your thoughts and vote! Hehe

Thank you for reading (Aaaahhhh this book is sooo close to 5k! yes, I'm ultra happy, thank you for adding it to your reading lists and reading this story, believe me, it means the world to me and I'm really grateful (yes even from you silent readers =D)).

Next chapter will be up tomorrow (which I'm quite excited for, hehe, I think I'm spoiling the surprise, but I can't stop myself XD)

Stay safe (like fr, with all these crazy COVID variants and everything, be careful and stay safe), lots of love, happy reading! <33