CHAPTER 77: FIRST KISS

Alexia’s POV

"Alex! Alex! Alex!"

Lucy’s voice echoed through the hallway, making heads turn. You’d think I had just won the damn lottery with the way she was shouting. This girl had no chill.

I groaned, sinking further into my seat in the lecture hall, hoping she’d lower her voice. Nope. Instead, she marched right up to me, waving her phone around like a madwoman.

"Have you seen this?!" she practically shoved the screen in my face.

I blinked at the headline, my stomach twisting as I read the words out loud.

"Aiden Blackwood’s Scandal: Leaving Wife Behind for Another Woman?"

Beneath it was the picture of him carrying Liz out of the event, while I stood alone like some abandoned, forgotten wife. The comment section was insane.

"Damn, girl, the internet loves you today," Lucy said, scrolling through. "Look at this—’Poor Alexia, married to a man who still loves his ex’—oof. And this one—’He didn’t even care how she felt, just walked off with another woman in his arms’.*"

I clenched my jaw. Of course, this had to happen.

"So...?" Lucy dragged out the word, plopping into the chair next to me. "Are you going to milk this for sympathy or what? Because, honestly, if you cry once, I guarantee a whole fanbase will form to drag him through hell."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "I don’t need the internet to fight my battles, Lucy."

"No, but they will anyway," she smirked.

And she wasn’t wrong.

I scrolled further and saw people actually defending me. Saying I deserved better. That Aiden was probably using me as a placeholder.

It stung. Not because I wanted a perfect marriage with Aiden—please, I was not that delusional—but because I hated looking pitiful.

"So, what’s the plan?" Lucy nudged me.

I exhaled. "I don’t know. But I’m definitely not letting Aiden walk around thinking he gets to decide everything while I play the role of the silent, obedient wife."

Lucy grinned. "Now that’s what I like to hear. Time to remind that man who he married."

Okay, so maybe this whole marriage thing was a farce, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t pretend to be affected. Just a little bit.

The internet was already eating up the drama, and if there was one thing I knew—it was that public perception mattered. Aiden had built this perfect, put-together image, and right now, it was cracking.

So why not use it to my advantage?

"You’re smiling," Lucy pointed out, raising a brow.

"Am I?" I asked innocently, locking my phone and slipping it into my bag.

"Oh, you definitely are. So? What’s the plan? Are we staging a tragic, ’heartbroken wife’ moment, or are you going full-on revenge mode?"

Just as I was about to answer Lucy, the hallway suddenly filled with murmurs and gasps. Yep, I didn’t even have to turn around to know who had just walked in.

Aiden.

My hunk of a husband.

Of course, he had to show up now.

I straightened my posture, squared my shoulders, and did what any mad wife would do—I folded my arms, huffed dramatically, and looked away, pretending to be deeply offended by his mere presence.

Lucy, bless her soul, was already biting her lip to hold back her laughter.

Aiden, however, had other plans.

Before I could react, he stepped in front of me, his tall frame crowding my space, forcing me to look at him. His fingers found my chin, tilting it up. My breath hitched.

Then he kissed me.

Not a simple peck. Not a quick, ’let’s get this over with’ kind of kiss.

No.

This was a jaw-dropping, toe-curling, world-tilting kind of kiss.

His other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush against him, deepening the kiss until my knees felt weak and my brain—my very logical brain—completely short-circuited.

What was I mad about again?

Oh, right.

I was supposed to be angry!

But my traitorous body? It had a different

idea.

Aiden finally pulled away, his lips still a breath away from mine, and smirked.

"Still mad, princess?" he murmured low enough for only me to hear.

Damn him.

I blinked, trying to gather my scattered thoughts, but Lucy’s overexcited squeal in the background wasn’t helping. Nor were the dozens of students now watching, whispering, and, oh yeah—recording.

Crap.

I had just become the moment—but not in the way I originally planned.

"I told you when I kiss you, you would know," Aiden murmured against my ear, his voice dripping with amusement.

His breath tickled my skin, sending a shiver down my spine. My head was still spinning from the first kiss, and now he wanted me to play along?

"Now play along," he added, like this was some sort of game.

Thank God my sanity returned just in time. I tilted my head slightly, flashing him the sweetest smile I could muster. Two can play this game.

"I get the bed if I help clear your name," I countered, my voice dripping with fake innocence.

Aiden groaned, low and deep, before pressing his forehead against mine. I smirked. Oh, this was too easy.

"Or..." I whispered, leaning in just enough to tease, "I can always make it more messy."

His grip on my waist tightened slightly, his jaw clenching.

"One week," he negotiated.

"Three months," I countered, still smiling sweetly.

"Three weeks," he shot back, his patience thinning.

I rolled my eyes. "Two months," I whispered-yelled, narrowing my eyes at him.

"One month. My last offer," he said, his tone final.

His gaze flickered to my lips again, and before I could even process another thought, his lips were back on mine.

What the hell is wrong with this guy?!

I thought the first kiss was enough for the crowd—hell, I thought it was enough for my entire damn life—but no, Aiden had other plans.

This time, the kiss was different.

Gentler. Pessuasive. Dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with physical strength and everything to do with how my heart pounded against my ribs.

I was lost.

My fingers curled into his jacket on instinct, gripping the fabric like it was the only thing keeping me grounded.

Somewhere in the distance, I vaguely registered the sound of cameras clicking, the gasps from the students watching, Lucy probably having a literal meltdown in the background. But none of it mattered.

"Guess one month it is," Aiden murmured against my lips.

I think I nodded.

Hell, my mind was so jumbled I could’ve agreed to anything.

When my sanity finally returned, I realized what had just happened.

Oh, shit.

"You tricked me!" I gasped, pushing against his chest.

Aiden just laughed, the smug bastard.

Before I could even process what had just happened, Aiden grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward a less crowded corner of the hallway. His grip was firm but not rough, his expression unreadable.

"Where’s your phone?" he asked.

I pulled it out of my bag and handed it to him. He took it, scrolled quickly, then pulled up a social media site, going straight to the comment section before shoving the phone back into my hands.

The comments were brutal.

People were still tearing him apart, calling him a cheating bastard, an uncaring husband, some even speculating that Liz was his real love and I was just the cover-up wife.

I frowned.

Sure, Aiden was an arrogant, bossy control freak, but he wasn’t that guy. The comments made it seem like he just abandoned me like trash, which wasn’t entirely true.

That’s when the idea hit me.

I should help Liz. If I made it look like I was the one who told Aiden to assist her, then it would smooth things over. It would stop people from making connections that weren’t there.

I glanced up at Aiden, whose eyes were fixed on me, waiting. "You’ll be alright," he said, like he could see the wheels turning in my head.

"If I do this," I mused, tilting my head, "I get to drink some wine."

He groaned, rubbing a hand over his face before nodding. "Fine."

A triumphant smile spread across my face as I quickly typed out my response and hit post.

"Please stop bashing my husband. He just did what I told him to. After Liz fainted, I panicked and told my husband to assist her and that I was going to be alright. So please, he didn’t leave me—I told him to go. After all, Liz is my husband’s friend, which makes her mine."

I turned my phone around, showing Aiden the post.

He smirked. "Not bad."

I watched as the comments quickly started shifting, people retracting their previous statements, some apologizing, others praising me for being such a mature and understanding wife.

If only they knew.

"Your classes are already over. Ten minutes to go," Aiden said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. Then, much to my surprise, he wrapped an arm around mine. "Come with me to my office, then we can go home and get you that wine."

He tugged me toward the exit, and I blinked up at him in confusion.

Was it just me, or had Aiden’s attitude done a complete 180?

Mr. Grumpy, Controlling Husband had suddenly transformed into Mr. Good Husband™.

What the hell was going on?