Chapter 4My Cousin Stole My Face to Date a Professor

It was the first day back on campus.

My advisor called me out of the blue. “Olivia, Professor Hayes from the physics department needs to see you about something urgent. You should go to his office now.”

I hung up, completely baffled.

Ethan Hayes. The youngest, and by far the most attractive, professor in the entire physics department.

A candid photo of him, teaching in a crisp white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, had gone viral on TikTok, easily racking up hundreds of thousands of likes.

Someone of Professor Hayes’s stature… even if he needed an errand run, why would he ask for me?

With a knot of nerves in my stomach, I knocked on his office door.

I’d barely tapped the wood when the door swung open.

The first thing I saw was a perfectly tailored white shirt that hinted at the kind of lean, athletic build that a well-tailored shirt can’t quite hide. My eyes drifted up. The top few buttons were undone, revealing a pair of elegant collarbones and the subtle curve of his throat.

When I finally lifted my gaze to his face, I found myself locked in a pair of deep, dark eyes.

“Professor Hayes, you wanted to see me,” I said, my voice steady despite the frantic colony of prairie dogs screaming in my chest.

“Yes. Come in.” He stepped aside.

As I walked past him into the office, a faint, clean scent of sandalwood drifted by, nearly making me lose my footing.

Before I could even find a place to stand, he spoke.

“Why did you break up with me?”

I froze, turned, and scanned the empty room. No one else was there. I glanced at his ears. No earbuds.

“Sorry?” I asked, my face a mask of confusion.

He looked down at me, his gaze intense. “You said if I bought you the Switch, you wouldn’t break up with me.”

…I felt myself turn to stone.

“The… the Switch?”

“Yes.” He gave a slight nod. “If there’s something else you want, I can get it for you. As long as you don’t end things.”

“Professor, I think you might have the wrong person,” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Even though the clue of the gaming console was screamingly obvious, I refused to believe it. My image of the brilliant, untouchable Professor Hayes couldn’t possibly include getting catfished online.

Ethan stared at me for a second, then held out his phone, its screen lit up.

“I don’t think so.”

His lock screen was a picture of me.

Me, curled up on a sofa, happily sipping a strawberry macchiato boba.

…That was the boba my cousin brought over the day he came to visit. I remembered it now. He hadn’t started his photo-stealing campaign yet, so when he asked to take a picture, I didn’t think anything of it.

Looking back, that boba was probably bought by Professor Hayes.

Seeing me just standing there, stunned into silence, Ethan took a step closer. “Still want to deny it?”

His proximity brought back that intoxicating sandalwood scent.

I opened my mouth, then closed it. “Professor, you’re not going to believe this, but… I think you’ve been scammed by my sixteen-year-old cousin.”

He frowned slightly. “What?”

“The person you’ve been chatting and gaming with… that was my cousin, Liam.”

“You forget, we spoke on the phone. I remember your voice.”

“It was really him,” I insisted, quickly pulling out my own phone. “Look, this is my actual account.”

He glanced at my screen. “Whichever account you use, just add me back first.”

“Professor…” I tried to explain again, but my phone rang.

“Liv, I’ve got the files you wanted. Where are you?”

Speak of the devil. I excitedly told Liam my location and ordered him to get here immediately.

Ethan, looking completely unruffled, picked up a book and began to read.

I couldn’t help but stare.

He sat in the leather armchair, one long leg crossed over the other, his clean, elegant fingers tracing the edge of a page. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the angles of his face and making him look impossibly refined and coolly detached.

I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

How could a man like this, so composed and otherworldly, get catfished?

More specifically, how could he get catfished by my sixteen-year-old cousin and be tricked into buying him toys and snacks? Was his awareness of online scams really that low?

A ringing phone broke my train of thought.

“Liv, which building was it again? I’m lost.”

With a sigh, I ran downstairs to get him.

It took a while before I saw him waving a folder in the air. “Liv, over here!”

“Great.” I grabbed his sleeve and started dragging him toward the building.

“Whoa, where are we going? Are you treating me to dinner?” he asked, stumbling along beside me.

I gave him a sweet smile. “Nope. I’m taking you to meet your online boyfriend.”

His face went pale. He dug his heels in, refusing to move another inch. “Liv, you can’t be serious.”

I pushed the office door open. Liam was still plastered against the wall, so I gave him a swift kick in the rear. “Professor Hayes, my cousin is here. Punish him as you see fit. Don’t hold back.”

An awkward silence descended upon the room.

My cousin, in his school uniform and backpack, looking utterly pathetic, stood face to face with Ethan Hayes, in his white shirt and black trousers, his expression cold and unreadable.

Liam glanced at Ethan once, then quickly looked away, guiltily picking at his fingers.

“I thought you loved scamming people,” I whispered menacingly. “Go on. Introduce yourself.”

Under the pressure of my glare, he finally spoke, his voice cracking. “Hi… I’m your online girlfriend, Sweetest Strawberry.”

Ethan sat at his desk, his fingers tapping lightly on the surface. His eyes were impossible to read, but the oppressive aura of a disappointed teacher filled the air.

Liam didn’t dare look up. From behind, I could see his shoulders shaking.

He was probably crying.

I felt a pang of pity, but he totally deserved it.

After a long moment, Ethan turned his head to look at me. “Olivia. Your cousin deceived me emotionally. As an adult, don’t you think you should take some responsibility for his actions?”

“Yes.” I bowed my head, accepting the blame. “I’m so sorry, Professor Hayes. I’ll reimburse you for all your financial losses.”

“That won’t be necessary,” he said, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s just… I don’t have anyone to play games with now.”

“Huh?” I looked up, confused.

“I’m heartbroken by your cousin’s betrayal. Don’t you think you should take responsibility for that?”

I glanced at Liam, who was still trying to impersonate an ostrich. My mouth twitched. “My cousin… broke your heart?”

Ethan said, with complete seriousness, “Yes. I bought him boba, sent him gifts, played games with him. Even though it was online, I was very serious about it.”

“…”

Are you really? Because I don’t believe you.

But I didn’t dare say it.

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m emotionally wounded by your cousin’s deception and I need companionship. Since he has to study for his SATs, I suppose you’ll have to do.”

I was speechless.

A slow smile spread across his face, his eyes full of meaning. “From now on, I’ll be in your care, Olivia.”