The Study Contract

It all started with that one proposal, a deal-turned-bait pulling him into something dark, yet irresistible and inescapable. ____ Ryan Kane is mixed-race, poor, and worst still, in a university where everything screams "silver and gold". He thinks his scholarship and education are his only way to a future better than his present. But this guy's grades aren't helping matters as he keeps juggling between lectures, attendance, and part-time jobs. The lower his grades get, the closer he is to withdrawing, going back to his deadbeat of a father, and having a life with nothing. Well, he absolutely doesn't want a reality like that, and to avert that, his only option was getting a tutor. Ryan’s desperate enough to ask Adrian Val. On campus and to everyone, Adrian is the perfect, well-behaved, brilliant heir to a top conglomerate family. While in private, he is a possessive, manipulative jerk who does a lot of unimaginable things. When Ryan proposes tutoring to him, Adrian offers that he pay with his body instead. To him, Ryan can't afford his time and knowledge with just his measly bucks. Ryan says yes to the offer, and along the line, he falls heavily for Adrian. But even when Adrian rejects his confession and treats him like a toy way worse than before, Ryan doesn't leave. He wants the tutoring, the intimacy, the sex, his persistent feelings for Adrian, and the tiny hope that Adrian's heart may steer towards him. It gets even messier when Adrian’s friend Liam enters the picture. Liam is calm, kind, and actually cares about Ryan, but he holds back his feelings to keep the peace. Then there is also Chase, a rich troublemaker who openly flirts with Ryan. Trapped in a dirty cycle of sex, love, and heartbreak, everything Ryan had and held dear to him came tumbling gradually. And by the time he realizes the depth of it, it is too late. Too late to even hold onto anything. Only to be caught between three powerful men who all want a piece of him for different reasons. ____ Years later, the campus gates are closed and Ryan has built a life for himself away from the shadows of Westhill. But his new career brings him face to face with the man that once broke him... Graduation was only a temporary escape This story contains #slowburn #toxic #drama #psychological #heavy and detailed smut scenes #red flag top #trauma #obsession