บททั้งหมดของ Her Alpha’s Kryptonite: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Jasmine’s POV Zea asked to see the burn mark as soon as I finished telling her what happened in the garage. She slid her bum to the edge of the couch so she could see properly and reached for the hem of my blouse. I stayed still and let her look because I already knew exactly what was there. She lifted the fabric slowly. Cool air hit the tender skin above my breastbone. I watched her face carefully. The burn mark was an ugly circular welt in the exact shape of the amulet’s face. Dark red at the edges. Seared into my skin like someone had pressed a hot coin there for too long. The center was raised and shiny. It throbbed with every heartbeat. The pain had settled into a deep, angry ache that radiated outward. Zea’s face went through several emotions in quick succession. Shock first. Then worry. Then something harder. Controlled urgency. That last one was more frightening than panic would have been. Her brown eyes stayed fixed on the mark. Her fingers hovered near it but didn’t touc

TristanThe boardroom smells like lemon polish and burnt coffee.I built my life in rooms that smelled like that, but tonight the scent felt thin. It was like my whole body was rejecting it completely.Jenkins clicked through slides with the steady rhythm of a metronome. “If we adjust the tariff allocation by three percent, we can...”His words blurred as I felt my veins burning me from the inside as the tremor ran through my body.“And with the projected market shift, we’ll see a fifteen percent increase in net revenue by Q3.” Jenkins said casually. He was clearly unaware of the whole situation. I smiled because I knew that smiles in this world brought calm and trust. The illusion that the man at the center had everything under control. But the smile did not reach my eyes.“Tristan, what do you think about reallocating the eastern tariffs to the logistics fund?” Jesse asked from across the table. “Do you think that relocating is going to be a good option or should we stick to our old

Jasmine’s POV The key turned and the door open on a screen that had already memorized, hating just how much I was going to need to explain. Glenn was sprawled on the couch in the living room like he had been invited. There were two takeout containers on the coffee table, a soda in his hand, and he looked a lot more comfortable than he should have in my home. “You know, you better have an explanation to why you chose not to answer my calls…” Zea froze when she noticed him at the doorway. She's counted him from head to toe in under fourseconds and raised an eyebrow. “Well, this is interesting. I didn't know that you had company.”Her eyes flickered to his hand, the way his jacket slung over his shoulder and to the small scar on his jaw. I knew what she was thinking. That man did not belong here. And yet he made it clear that he was claiming the territory that he shouldn't. Glenn, on the other hand, did not flinch. He simply watched the hallway with the particular patience of someo

Jasmine’s POV The memo left on my desk was the kind of paper that felt heavier than it should. I read it once, twice, and my hand curled slowly into fist around the corner until the paper crumbled under my knuckle. Mandatory. All senior staff and their families. The Word family landed like a stone. And I found myself doing the one thing I always did when I felt danger; I forced myself into work. It was a coal deficiency of someone who had learned to counter exits before she slept, but I knew that it was the only way for me to survive in this world. Marc. Six years old. Silver-blue eyes that were Tristan Winthrop’s eyes in miniature. I had kept them in separate compartments for months, work here, life there; Tristan there, Marc here; the ledger of my days balanced by omission. And this memo wanted me to bring both compartments into the same building for a week. I did not want to do that. I did not even know how I was going to manage it. My throat felt dry and I folded the memo

Jasmine’s POV The smell of sunscreen filled my moist is the second that we entered the resort. This had nothing to do with money. The atmosphere was like someone had bottled and sold something called relaxation. I noticed that the second we passed the gate, the way the air changed were people's shoulders loosened and the way staff moved with a choreography that made everything look effortless. And as much as I wanted to feel the relaxation, I couldn't help but feel tense. Marc’s hand was warm in mine. He was humming a tune he’d invented, the kind of small, steady sound that kept me tethered. He kept tugging me toward the building. His eyes were bright the way Childs were in a place filled with promises and adventure. I let him go. I had rehearsed the smile that I would give at the check in the board aunt who had been dragged along for the week. I had this crypt, I had the prompts, and I had the ridiculous polaroids in my back like a talisman. Because they were the one thing t