Technically they could just wait for the current semester to be over, then come out. It was only because of Cathy's departure that Bella is even teaching MC right now. And that other class mentioned in Episode 5 during the Spring semester that Bella will teach, MC can just not take it or see if another teacher offers it.
At the college where I taught, dating a student would get you fired. The only exception was for existing relationships, and they had to begin
before the student matriculated, and had to be disclosed at the time of matriculation. There’s a form for that. Handbook forbade you from teaching your significant other; or, if there’s absolutely no one else in your specialty to teach the class, another professor, usually your department head, would be given your rubric and grade them.
If Nora taught at my school, she couldn’t argue, “But it began before he took my class”—nope, he was a student when she met him on Swyper. Nor really could she say, “Well once I found out, I ended things”—nope, there’s a conflict of interest with an ex in your class, so either the ex goes or you do. (She wouldn’t be
fired; she’d just follow the above guidelines for your significant other, now your ex.)
Bella’s in the very same boat. And her solution is to hide it. Which means, once it’s found out, she is
so fired. It’s academic fraud. Same as when she covers up the MC’s cheating (if he cheats on the midterms). Colleges lose their accreditation over this shit, and no accreditation means no federal money nor student loans. So they don’t play around. Two professors, during my time there, got shitcanned for trying to bend the rules.
But that was the faculty handbook at
my school. B&R’s handbook can of course have whatever Dr. PinkCake chooses to put in it, but if you wanna be realistic it’ll be like my school.
Considering Stephen is covering up a full-on prostitution ring which he’s funding, I expect he could be convinced to look the other way… but Bella might be required to let him fuck her. Or he’ll fire her
and expel the MC. Wouldn’t want that, would we?