Chapter 1

The revolving doors spat us into the sidewalk where the camera flashes erupted like lightning strikes. My palm was dam against Jaime's knuckles. 

He wasn't moved by the chaos, instead he walked towards it with a practiced smile. He raised his free hand in a lazy, and the crowd surged forward. 

"Back! Stay back!" The security team formed a human wall, their black suits gleaming under the glow of the sunlight. 

Microphones thrust through the gaps like spears, their hungry faces alight as they tried to push through the guards. 

"Mr. King! How does it feel to close the biggest deal of your career?"

"Are you satisfied with the merger terms?"

Jaime leaned into the attention, and I watched the way his eyes sparked, how he answered each question with confidence and my heart skipped. 

Then came the question, the one that struck us like a blade. "Mr. King, how does it feel to have traded up your ex-wife for your new bride here?" 

The smile froze on Jaime's lips, his hand went rigid in mine. I felt my own breath catch, my chest tightened with each exhale. 

Although my face was a plan, uncracking mask, my heart drummed wildly. 

But the reporter wasn't finished. "And what about the whispers, Jaime? That your meteoric ride is really thanks to your wife's business connections? Her family's legacy is paving your golden path?"

The words hit like acid rain. My spine straightened, and my lips parted to give her a fitting response, but Jaime's thumb traced against the back of my palm. 

I looked up at him, the smile on his face has twisted to a sharper and more dangerous form. 

"I wasn't aware," he said, arching a brow, "that irrelevant questions fell within your job description." 

The other reporters shuffled, sensing the shift in air pressure. Jaime's free hand adjusted his cufflink with deliberate precision. 

"But since you're so interested in my wife, yes, I owe King's Industries to this brilliant woman beside me. Every success, every triumph," His gaze swept the crowd like a hawk before landing on the now pale reporter. 

"However, I'd suggest you limit your curiosity to her professional achievements. Anything else crosses a line you don't want to approach." 

The reporter's mouth opened and closed like a landed fish. 

I stared at him, the man who had just claimed me as his crown and shield in the same breath. 

I could never forget that night all those years ago, when my family decided they wanted nothing to do with because of my choice to marry him. 

The feeling that came with being abandoned by my own family left a gaping hole in my chest, but I never regretted the decision to choose Jaime. 

He was the only home I'd ever known. The only one who truly understood me. 

"Thank you," he said, turning to face me completely, his voice dropping to velvet. "For being the mother our children adore, the partner who makes every day worthwhile, and the woman who turned my dreams into our reality."

His lips found mine, and the entire crowd was forgotten. 

The questions contained to fly like arrows, but Jaime raised his hand, cutting through the chaos. 

"That's all for today." His fingers found mine again, and he gently tugged me as we walked toward the waiting car. 

Boggs, our mountain of a security chief, held the door of the black sedan open.

"Stay safe, Mr. and Mrs. King," his gravelly voice followed us into the vehicle. 

The door sealed shut, muffling the outside world to a distant hum. In the sudden quiet, I found myself drowning in the ocean of Jaime's eyes. 

It was those sapphire depths that had first captured me in a crowded gala five years ago.

"Did you mean it?" The words escaped before I could trap them, "what you said out there?" 

His warm palms cupped my face, and I sucked in a sharp breath. "Every single word," each syllable dropped between us like a vow. "You don't exist in anyone's shadow, my jewel. You are the light."

The knot of doubt that had been strangling my chest dissolved, and I melted into him, my arms circling his neck as his mouth found mine. 

This kiss was different, it was hungrier and desperate. Our tongues danced slowly, and the heaviness of our breaths mingled between us. 

His hands caressed the length of my back, drawing a soft moan from my throat that made him groan in response. 

The partition between us and the driver might as well have been made of paper for all the privacy it provided, but I was already shifting, ready to claim my place in his lap when-

"We've arrived home, sir." 

Jaime's chuckle vibrated against my lips, wicked and promising. "Later tonight, we finish this conversation properly."

I bit the corner of my lips and nodded, shifting away from him and dragging my skirt down. We climbed down from the car, the gravel crunching underneath our shoes. 

Before we could take three steps, chaos erupted from the front doors. 

"Mommy!" Sara's voice pierced the evening as six-year-old legs pumped across the marble steps. She launched forward like a tiny missy, messy golden curls bouncing around her.

Micheal followed at a more dignified twelve-year-old pace, his dark eyes like his father's hardened, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. 

They weren't mine by blood, these children were born from Jaime's first wife but five years of scraped knees kissed better, bedtime stories, and mama bear protection had woven them into my heart with threads stronger than DNA. 

Sara collided with my legs. "I missed you so much! The whole day felt like forever and ever!"

 Micheal hung back, his arms crossed, and his mouth set in a stubborn line. "You were gone longer than you said." The accusation came with a shrug, but I caught the tremor underneath. 

Jaime scooped Sara into the air, spinning her until she shrieked with laughter. "what about Daddy? Didn't miss me even a little bit?"

"I missed you infinity plus one!" Sara giggles echoed off the stone columns. 

I moved toward Micheal, and pulled him into a hug. He stiffened at first but I smiled. "Sorry we were so late, sweetheart."

My lips found the crown of his head, and he melted instantly. 

"Whatever." But his face pressed briefly into my shoulder. "not like I care anyway."

The smile that tugged at my lips was inevitable, I could never understand how two children from the same man were such perfect opposites. 

"So," I announced, clapping my hands together, "who's ready for my famous casserole recipe?"

"Casserole!" Sara launched herself from Jaime's arms, hitting the ground running toward the house. 

"Sara, don't run?" Micheal's exasperation followed her, "remember what the doctor said about your leg!" His feet were already moving, chasing after her with reluctance. 

Warmth spread through my chest as I watched them disappear through the mahogany doors. I turned to Jaime, but found him frozen and fixated on the phone in his hand.

"Jaime?"

His head snapped up, the phone disappearing into his pocket with practiced speed. 

I frowned. "Who was that?"

"Nobody important," he crossed the distance between us, wrapping his arm around me. "Come in, let's get inside before Sara demolishes the kitchen looking for ingredients."

I laughed alongside, but inside doubt snaked its way into my chest as I eyed the grin on his face. 

I knew Jaime, five years with him taught me a lot, and I was certain that the smile on his face was completely fake. 

He had seen something on his phone. Something he didn't want me to know about.