How To Lose Your Billionaire Alpha Husband In 365 Days (Or Less)!-Chapter 53: By Blood, Name and Law...

JASMINE’S POV

"You know you are supposed to be in your office while I handle mine."

"You telling me what to do is not in the contract," Aiden said, stepping into the elevator with me like he belonged there.

I glared at him as the doors slid shut. "I’m serious, Aiden."

"So am I," he said, pressing the button for the executive floor. "You’re not walking into a den of boardroom vipers by yourself after what you just went through."

I folded my arms. "I don’t have a meeting today, and I’m not made of glass."

"No," he said, eyes narrowing slightly. "You’re made of fire. Which means you’re also a damn good target for people who play with matches."

That shut me up for half a second.

The elevator dinged open. I stepped out first, my heels clicking against the polished floor, and instantly felt every pair of eyes in the hallway shift to me.

Whispers. Glances. Tension.

But not one person dared say a thing.

Aiden followed right behind me like a shadow in a designer suit. Calm. Confident. Controlled.

"Your presence is very distracting," I muttered as we walked.

"Then you shouldn’t have married me," he said without missing a beat.

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t fight the smirk tugging at my lips. "Technically, I married you to save your face and fix my mess."

"Semantics." He leaned closer. "You’re still wearing my ring."

I held up my left hand and wiggled the finger. "That doesn’t mean I want you babysitting me at work."

"It’s not babysitting. It’s... strategic hovering."

"You’re annoying."

"And you love it."

I turned sharply to face him as we reached my office door. "You are the most stubborn man I’ve ever met."

"And yet," he said, lowering his voice, "you didn’t kick me out of your bed last night."

Heat crept up my neck. "That was different."

He raised an eyebrow. "Was it?"

I pushed the door open, stepping into the familiar space of my office, relieved to see it untouched since my last time here. My assistant Lisa wasn’t at her desk, probably giving me breathing room.

I dropped my bag on the couch and turned back to find Aiden standing just inside the door, his eyes scanning the room like he was measuring threats.

"You don’t need to act like this place is going to explode," I said.

"It almost did," he replied evenly. "Six hundred jobs, Jasmine. A forged signature. Someone wants you out."

I sighed, suddenly tired. "I know."

He walked closer. "Then stop pushing me away like you’re in this alone."

"I’m not pushing you away." I looked up at him. "I just don’t want to rely on you like some damsel."

"Good," he said, stopping just in front of me. "Because you’re not."

I blinked.

"You’re a Luna," he continued in a quieter voice. "Even before the ritual, even before the wolf inside you wakes up, you carry that presence. That weight. But it doesn’t mean you have to carry everything by yourself."

I stared at him for a moment.

There it was again, that unshakable, maddening certainty he had when it came to me. As if even the parts I was still trying to accept were already obvious truths in his mind.

"I didn’t ask for this," I whispered.

"I know."

"But I’m going to fight for it. For my company. For my name."

He nodded slowly. "And I’m going to stand right beside you while you do."

Something tightened in my chest.

Not the pain from the scar. Not the residual ache from the tether. Something deeper. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

A flicker of warmth, of wanting.

Of being seen.

I exhaled slowly. "You weren’t this charming when we first met."

"That’s because you looked like you’d punch anyone who smiled at you."

"Still might."

His smile deepened. "That’s the spirit."

The room went quiet... too quiet.

I realised just how close he was now. Just how his scent wrapped around me—cedar, musk, and something uniquely his. My eyes dropped to his mouth without permission, then back up to his eyes.

He noticed.

And didn’t look away.

"Aiden..."

"You know what I’m about to do," he said, voice barely above a whisper.

I didn’t answer.

Because I did.

His hand came up slowly, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek. His thumb lingered along my jaw, then slid beneath my chin, tilting my face toward his.

The space between us was thin.

And then it was gone.

He kissed me, slow and deep, like he had all the time in the world to explore this moment and never planned to let it go. His other hand settled on my waist, grounding me as the warmth of his lips melted into mine.

I responded before I could think; my hands curling into his shirt, my mouth parting to meet his.

It wasn’t fireworks.

It was gravity.

The kind that pulls stars together before they collapse into something permanent.

His mouth moved against mine like he’d been waiting for this and wasn’t in any rush to let it go.

Just the heat of his hands on my waist, the slow tug of his fingers pressing me closer, like space itself offended him. Like I didn’t belong a single inch away from him.

My hands clenched the front of his shirt tighter as I leaned in, letting myself fall.

For one terrifying, beautiful moment, the world went quiet.

No boardrooms. No scandals. No cursed bloodlines. Just him.

Just us.

Aiden shifted slightly, and I felt his hand trail up my back, the other cradling my jaw. His thumb brushed my cheekbone, feather-light, and then he tilted his head, deepening the kiss.

Gods.

I wasn’t prepared for this.

For the fire. For the softness. For the way I melted so easily into him, like his touch was something I’d been missing since before I even knew it.

My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my teeth.

He pulled back an inch, breath brushing against my lips. "Still want me to leave?" he murmured.

I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a shallow breath.

He smiled faintly, then leaned in again, slower this time; his mouth brushing mine in a more promising way than questioning. And I answered, closing the distance.

Another kiss.

And another.

Like we were trying to say everything we hadn’t dared to say out loud.

Eventually, I had to break away just to breathe, forehead resting against his chest, fingers still curled in his shirt like I might fall without him.

Aiden rested his chin lightly on the top of my head.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

"That was—"

"Necessary," he finished.

I cleared my throat, trying to step back, but his hand stayed firm on my waist. "We’re at work."

"Exactly." His smirk returned. "Married couple. Public appearances. Just fulfilling the contract."

I laughed, leaning my forehead against his chest. "You’re insufferable."

"And yet, you keep kissing me."

I groaned. "This is going to complicate things."

"No," he said, his hand brushing down my spine. "This is going to make things very, very real."

I finally peeled myself off of him with a reluctant breath and stepped back, smoothing down my blouse like that would somehow fix the chaos happening inside my chest.

"I’ve got work to do," I said, mostly to myself.

Aiden didn’t protest; he just gave me that look again, the one that said he was still watching, still aware of every shift in my mood.

I sat down behind my desk, pulled my laptop in front of me, and tried to focus.

Emails.

Meeting schedules.

Legal updates.

It was all there, waiting like a pile of unanswered questions and half-healed wounds. I opened a file and tried to concentrate, reading the same paragraph three times before realising I hadn’t absorbed a word of it.

From across the room, I heard the faint tap of Aiden’s fingers on his phone screen. I looked up.

He was leaned casually against the window frame, suit jacket undone, sleeves rolled to the elbow, watching me over the top of his phone with a knowing look.

I glared. "What?"

"You keep staring at me," he said without looking up from his screen this time.

"I’m trying to work."

"You’re trying to work," he repeated with a faint smirk. "But mostly, you’re wondering if kissing me again would be a distraction or a reward."

I narrowed my eyes. "Don’t flatter yourself."

"I don’t need to," he replied smoothly. "Your blush does it for me."

I opened my mouth to fire back, something sarcastic, maybe a well-aimed pen, when his phone rang.

Aiden glanced at the screen. His posture shifted. A little straighter. Sharper.

He answered immediately. "Kai?"

I didn’t catch what the voice on the other end was saying, but the change in Aiden’s face told me everything. His relaxed expression vanished, replaced with something far more serious.

He looked up at me. "You might want to hear this."

He walked toward my desk and tapped his screen to put the call on speaker.

"Go ahead, Kai," he said. "Repeat what you just told me."

Kaiden’s voice crackled through the speaker, low and direct. "Heart Enterprises never belonged to Vale Heart. The company was founded and solely owned by Graham Heart, Jasmine’s father. Vale was just placed as interim head when Graham died.

"According to the founding documents and sealed inheritance files... the company has always belonged to Jasmine."

I froze.

"Wait—what?"

"Your father made sure of it," Kaiden said. "He left legal provisions. Vale was just a placeholder. You were meant to take over as soon as you turned twenty-five. But Vale didn’t hand over... and I’m sure he’s unaware the USB drive contains this info."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

"So everything I’ve been through, the accusations, the struggle to rise to the top, to impress him..."

"...none of it was necessary," Kaiden finished. "Heart Enterprises has always been yours, Luna. By blood. By name. By law."