Chapter 18

Gideon pushed an infinity gold ring on her ring finger in the day of their wedding. Jewel raised the hand where the gold ring lies. As she stared at it, she noticed a small, glowing object where the two lines met. It's a white diamond.

She frowned, removed the ring, and put it back to the drawer of the study table. When she looked at her other hand, a small and simpler ring was there. She didn't know why Gideon wanted her to wear that ring when he himself didn't wear one.

Even though confused, Jewel put the simple ring on her middle finger and let it be. While lying on the bed, her mind wandered back to Gideon's face.

She didn't want anyone to discover her secret.

Hernandez is her present last name. She just asked the officer to let her use Hernandez for the forms but Mangubat in class. But the director didn't agree so she looked for Gideon during the enrollment and dragged him inside the director's office. Then she didn't know what the end of the conversation between the two was. Gideon did not tell her anything.

She used Mangubat and no one questioned so she just continued. Jewel was glad to hide her true civil status but when she found out that Gideon was her Professor, she was stunned.

The man's former work of being an army was far from being a professor. He didn't tell her anything about his current work. She had only know him for a month, and they had been married for only a few weeks.

A sigh escaped from her lips as she blinked her eyes. She couldn't sleep and it might be because of the girl's yelling during the varsity's practice game, when she went to court to watch Joseph's game out of courtesy.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She got up quickly and opened the knock. It was Hazel, wearing a hood and shades.

The girl smiled broadly. "We're going somewhere."

"Where?" She folded her arms and peeked into the hallway for a moment. "The curfew is near. Mrs. Catmon's rounds will start soon."

"It's not ten PM yet. Come on, Laine. It's boring to stay indoors."

"Fine." She turned around and took the hood off the hanging clip.

Hazel smiled. "Bring your phone too," she suggested.

Jewel stuffed the phone in her pocket before leaving and closing the door. "Let's go."

She was surprised when Hazel brought her towards the short cemented brigde that connected the girls and boys dormitory.

"Hazel I think it's not ---"

"Shhh ... The two are there on the rooftop of the boy's dorm." Hazel grinned.

"What?!"

"Lower your voice, Laine, or we might get caught."

She rolled her eyes. "Why in the boys' rooftop?"

Hazel opened the gate and led her into the boy's territory. "Isn't it exciting to do what's forbidden?"

"How did you open that gate?" she asked sharply and looked around the hallway of the boy's dormitory. Fortunately, all the doors were closed.

"We're not the only ones smuggling," Hazel replied.

"What?"

"Shhh..."

Jewel took a deep breath and gently patted her chest. Damn really. Mrs. Catmon will kill them when the dorm's mistress knows what they’re doing. Even though it's not good but since her friends were there so she had no choice but to follow Hazel.

"It's safer here," the girl whispered and headed straight for the stairs to climbed up.

She followed and they went straight up to the rooftop. She just breathed a sigh of relief when Hazel opened the rooftop door.

"Come on, Laine!" Hazel called and ran.

Jewel followed suit. The cold and salty air kissed her face. She stopped at the railroad where the other two girls -- Tiara and Gabbi --- were surveying the sea in the distance.

"So beautiful!" Tiara shouted.

She took a deep breath and wiped the sweat that had accumulated on her forehead. Her heart was still beating fast after she ran.

"Come on, let's take a picture!" Hazel suggested.

The three took pictures but she remained staring at the ocean. The water reflected the round moon in the sky and was sparkling because of the waves.

She remembered Gideon, the full moon, the beating of the waves on the sandy shore, and the beautiful voice that sang that night. Suddenly she wanted to hear Gideon's voice again. She shook her head and slightly patted her cheeks.

Her eyes traveled to the three Marine, Agriculture, and Fishery buildings just along the shore.

"Look, that Night Shift of Engineering," Tiara pointed out.

She turned her sight to the other side of the UDM. The Engineering building glowed in the dark and there were some students walking in the hallway.

“CpE,” Gabbi said. "Ah, no way. It looks Chemical, wearing lab gowns."

"Are you sure?" Tiara asked. "My vision is blurry. Besides, I can only see shadows."

"Laine," Hazel called suddenly.

She turned to her. "What?"

"Lend me your phone."

"Why?" she asked and took the phone out of her pocket, handing it out to the girl.

"Still reading eBooks?"

Jewel shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes. I prefer physical books though."

"Whatever." Hazel grinned jokingly. "I have a new recommendation. Read it."

"Sure. You save it in the library."

Gabbi suddenly chirped in. "Take a picture! We'll be back in the dorm. It's nine forty-five already."

They took a picture for a while before coming down.

"All right. Read that Laine, okay?" said Hazel.

She shrugged. "I said I'll read it."

Jewel was early that day so the Professor gave her a pat on the shoulder. Her blockmates were surprised and some were teasing her with Simoen who was quiet next to her. Her lips kept twitching and her face darkened.

She wanted to run towards the next subject but remembered Gideon was waiting there. A sigh escaped from her lips. She would rather suffer the teasing of blockmates than to face her husband.

She was afraid that someone will find out that she's somehow related to Gideon.

After class, she and her blockmates walked together towards Gideon's classroom. As usual, Jasmine pulled her to the front. But surprisingly, Simoen also sit beside her. She wanted to sit somewhere else but Gideon started the discussion.

And the longer she stayed in that room, the more her chest throbbed. She could feel Simoen's gaze on her. Gideon's occasional glance at her did not help either.

She clenched her fist. Her ass was itching to move out and because of it, she failed to focus on the lesson.

She was stunned when Gideon announced a quiz. Her limbs went cold. What would she answer when she didn't even know what her block was reporting. Her brows met and fingers toyed with the ballpen.

And as expected, she got a low score.

"4 out of 20?" Gideon stared at her in amazement. "Stay after class, Miss Mangubat."

Jewel leaned back and folded her arms. She could feel the gaze of her classmate and she rolled her eyes. Why? It wasn’t her fault. She was only distracted in class because of the two who kept staring at her way.

IT WAS PAST five o'clock when she knocked on the door of Gideon's classroom. A few more seconds passed before it opened. The fresh face of her husband came into view and invited her inside.

Fresh air caressed her face as she stepped in. Some windows were open and the rays of the setting sun penetrated them. Just now she also noticed there were plants in every corner of the room.

"What are we going to talk about? Is it about my score? Sorry for that. I'm going to do self study," she said.

Jewel stood in front of the desk and folded her arms. Her eyes stayed at him as he sat on the swivel chair behind the professor's desk. He played with the personalized pen.

"Who's Simoen Saavedra?"

She blinked. "Blockmate."

"Your ex?" Gideon looked up and their eyes met.

Jewel's lips twitch. "Hardly."

Gideon just smirked and brought out a picture from under the desk. "Looks like your parents don't know about this yet. Do you have any plans to increase the violation to go up for written reprimand?"

She looked at the picture and smirked. "I'm not stupid. It only happened once. And it was an accident."

Gideon nodded. "Given that it was an accident... But three footage of kissing is not an accident."

"Hey, according to the rules, any misconduct that discrediting and dishonoring the name of the University. I was just counseled because I accidentally kissed Simoen on the stage during an activity. But that three pictures were taken in private locations."

"Go on," Gideon whispered.

She turned her gaze away. "But he's the one who doesn't want to stop so that's why the admin took us to the office. And I'm grateful it's just a counsel and we're not being asked to do community service."

Gideon stared at her for a few minutes before he cleared his throat. "You may leave."

She blinked. "That's all?"

Gideon leaned back and crossed his arms. "I've got what I want to know. Or do you want to stay a little longer?" Gideon smiled at her. "This room is too spacious for the two of us."

Jewel's chest throbbed with his kind of smile. She immediately shook her head. "No. I just find it weird. Anyway, I'm leaving."

She walked quickly out of the room. But Gideon's warm gaze behind her did not escape her senses.

She left without even looking at her husband, taking several deep breaths to calm her strong heartbeat.