?Chapter 875:


    Hearing my plea, Alden chuckled softly, lowering his head until his lips nearly brushed my ear. His warm breath tickled my skin, sending an involuntary shiver racing down my spine.


    He deliberately drew out his words, his voice honeyced poison. “I haven’t asked you yet, what exactly are you sneaking around here for?” Panic surged through me like a tidal wave. “I just wanted to take a look at the mayor’s office, nothing more.”


    Even to my own ears, the excuse sounded as fragile as ss.


    Alden clearly didn’t believe me either. Heughed lightly, his breath caressing my ear. “Oh, you little liar.”


    My body trembled, caught between embarrassment and irritation. “Alden, stop being cheeky! Let go of me, or I won’t be polite!”


    Unfazed by my empty threat, he tightened his grip around my waist, challenging me with a roguish grin. “And what will you do if you’re not polite? Don’t forget, you’re the one sneaking into the mayor’s office building. If you get caught, the consequences…”


    He paused deliberately, his eyes gleaming with mischief as they locked with mine.


    I red back, heat rising to my cheeks—not from embarrassment but pure, unadulterated anger.


    Facing his roguish demeanor, I swallowed my fury and asked stiffly, “Why aren’t you with the mayor overseeing his treatment? What are you doing here?”


    Alden smirked, his long fingers brushing my cheek with feather-light precision. “I told you, I’ll keep an eye on you.”


    He tilted his head slightly, his smile reminiscent of a cat cornering its prey. “Now it’s my turn to ask. What are you really here for? Are you nning to steal something?”


    My heart performed a painful somersault in my chest. There was no way I could reveal my true intentions to him, so I stubbornly turned away, sealing my lips in defiant silence.


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    My refusal to speak didn’t anger Alden. Instead, he chuckled and leaned in closer, the distance between us shrinking to nothing. He whispered a threat, his voice low and dangerous as velvet-wrapped steel. “If you don’t tell me, don’t me me for being rude.”


    Frustrated and annoyed, I whirled back to face him, my voice rising despite our precarious hiding spot. “What do you want to do?”


    Alden raised an eyebrow, a sly look dancing in his eyes as he replied with a mischievous smile that spelled trouble, “Just want to engage in some adult fun.”


    My face burned hotter than a summer ze. “I have a husband! And I’m older than you! Don’t go too far!” The words tumbled out like desperate cards thrown on a losing table.


    Alden snorted softly, his gaze carrying a hint of disdain that cut through my protests. He lowered his voice to an intimate murmur that seemed to fill the tiny space between us. “I know you’re older. I don’t mind at all. As for that husband you mentioned…” His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “He’s not your husband at all, right?”


    Makenna’s POV:


    Alden and I were so close that not even the smallest sliver of space remained between us, yet his hands remained steady, resting securely around my waist—firm but respectful.


    Even so, an inexplicable heat rose between us, creeping up my skin and settling into an ufortable sense of awareness. A sudden wave of embarrassment washed over me, and I hated that I felt this way.


    To be fair, Alden was undeniably handsome. His finely sculpted features carried a natural elegance, and his eyes—deep and luminous—held the kind of untamed vitality that made him seem like he carried entire gxies within them. There was something youthful yet maic about him, a vibrancy uniquely his own.


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