Chapter 210

Chapter 210
Stella:

Despite everything, I felt a laugh bubble up in my chest. Zoe must have heard it because her expression shifted again, some of the tension leaving her shoulders.

"Okay," she said slowly. "Let me see if I have this straight. You two have been secretly dating since Noah was nineteen. You've been hiding it from me, from his parents, from basically everyone except Emily—who found out by accident because apparently you couldn't keep quiet even on vacation."

She paused.

"And during all of this, Noah has been one of your students, which could have destroyed your career if anyone had found out?"

"That's... essentially accurate," I said, my voice smaller than I'd intended.

Zoe was quiet for a long moment, her gaze moving between Noah and me with an intensity that made me want to squirm.

Then, unexpectedly, her expression softened into something almost fond.

"You know what the crazy thing is?" she said. "I actually believe you. Both of you."

She shook her head slowly.

"I'm furious that you lied to me for four years. I'm terrified of what could have happened to Stella's career. But I've never seen either of you look at anyone the way you look at each other."

Noah's hand had somehow found its way across the breakfast bar to rest near mine, not quite touching but close enough that I could feel the warmth of his skin.

"We never meant to hurt you," he said quietly. "Keeping it secret was about protecting Stella, not about not trusting you."

"I know," Zoe said, though her voice still carried an edge. "But from now on, no more secrets. If you two are going to do this—and clearly you are—then I need to know what's happening. Especially if there's any risk to Stella's position."

"The risk should be minimal now," I said, falling back on professional analysis because it was safer than examining my emotions. "Noah graduated yesterday. The power dynamic that made this ethically problematic no longer exists."

"Ethically problematic," Zoe repeated with a slight smile. "Only you would phrase it like that."

She reached over and squeezed my hand.

"You're still my best friend, even when you're being an idiot about your love life. But Noah—"

She turned to her brother with renewed intensity.

"You hurt her, and I don't care how many footnoted timelines you can produce. Understood?"

"Understood," Noah said seriously, though I caught the flash of relief in his eyes. "Though for the record, I'm more afraid of Stella hurting me. She's terrifying when she's angry."

"I am sitting right here," I said, though I couldn't quite suppress my smile.

"See?" Noah gestured at me. "That expression right there. Absolutely terrifying."

Emily laughed, breaking the remaining tension in the room.

"Okay, now that we've established everyone's feelings and threats, can we actually eat? Because these omelets are getting cold and I'm starving."

We settled into breakfast with a strange new ease, the weight of secrecy finally lifted. Zoe peppered us with questions between bites—how we'd managed to hide it at family gatherings, what we'd told Noah's parents, whether we'd considered the long-term implications.

Each answer seemed to satisfy her a little more, her initial anger transforming into something closer to protective concern.

"So what happens now?" Zoe asked as Emily refilled our coffee cups. "With your parents, I mean. They still think Noah is David, right? The mysterious boyfriend from London?"

I winced at the reminder. "They met him once. During that weekend when my ankle was injured and they surprised me with a visit."

"And they loved him," Noah added with a grin that was equal parts mischief and pride. "Your mom said I had 'excellent taste in wine' and your dad spent twenty minutes talking to me about vintage guitars."

"They loved David," I corrected. "They have no idea David is actually you—my former student who's nine years younger than me and happens to be Zoe's little brother."

"Eight and a half years," Noah said automatically, earning himself a glare.

Zoe leaned back in her chair, her expression cycling between amusement and something more calculating.

"So when exactly are you planning to tell them the truth? Because maintaining a fake identity seems like it's going to get complicated fast."

"We haven't exactly worked out the details," I admitted, feeling the familiar anxiety creeping back into my chest. "With everything that happened yesterday—the graduation, the gossip app crisis, you finding out—we haven't had time to plan."

"Well, you'd better plan fast," Zoe said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through what looked like messages.

"Because according to this text from your mother that she cc'd me on—apparently we're all having dinner together tonight. Your parents want to 'properly celebrate' Noah's graduation and 'get to know David better.'"

She looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"So you have exactly seven hours to figure out how to tell them their daughter has been in a secret relationship with her student for four years."

The coffee turned sour in my stomach. "She cc'd you?"

"Your mom and I email about book club," Zoe said with a shrug. "She's been doing it for years. Usually I just delete them, but this one seemed relevant."

She set down her phone and fixed me with a look that was pure strategic assessment.

"So here's what I'm thinking. You have two options. One: come clean now, tell them everything, and deal with the fallout before dinner. Two: maintain the David cover story for one more week, get through dinner without incident, then tell them the truth afterward when everyone's had time to process Noah's graduation."

"Option two sounds like prolonging the inevitable disaster," Emily observed, though her tone suggested she found the whole situation entertaining.

"Option one sounds like facing the disaster immediately," I countered, my hands tightening around my coffee mug. "Neither option sounds particularly appealing."

Noah had been uncharacteristically quiet during this exchange, his gaze moving between me and Zoe with an expression I couldn't quite read.

Finally, he spoke. "There's a third option."

We all turned to look at him.