She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother Chapter 370: The Finance of Desire

"Come on in, then," Heena called out, her tone a touch frailer than she preferred.

Turning away to guide them inside, she felt Alex hesitate for a moment. He stayed back a step, letting his eyes roam over her form with deliberate, brazen curiosity.

From behind, he studied her silhouette, following the tight dip of her waist and the firm swell of her hips.

In her late forties, she still held her shape with a fierce determination evident in every contour. Briefly, he itched to stretch out and grip the material of her skirt in a bold, probing clasp.

Tisha spotted the blatant path of his gaze without hesitation.

Flashing a quiet, conspiratorial grin, she swung her hand up for a quick, teasing smack against the back of his head.

Alex showed no reaction; instead, he turned a lazy, playful grin on Tisha, his gaze sparkling with their mutual knowledge of his boldness.

Heena glanced over her shoulder right as the moment wrapped up.

Tisha's hand dropping from his head, while Alex's lips pulled into a leisurely, defiant smirk that screamed he was busted but utterly unapologetic.

The easy, tactile closeness between the professor and her student struck her like an unfamiliar dialect.

A peculiar, constricting feeling twisted in her chest.

A piercing realization hit her suddenly: the bond between these two went far beyond any teacher-student guidance.

And under that, softer yet insistent, a sliver of jealousy she never saw coming.

"Please," Heena stated, her voice snapping back to its sharp, scholarly command as she nodded at the leather chairs. "Have a seat."

She claimed her spot behind the massive mahogany desk, drawing solace from her established power.

Tisha eased into the leather seat, legs crossing with effortless poise that ignored the late night. Alex dropped into the chair next to her, reclining with a calm, commanding presence that shrank the room.

Heena caught herself eyeing the young man with rising, gut-level distrust.

She struggled to grasp why Tisha... the most reserved professor on staff... appeared so eerily at ease around him.

Her gaze drifted over his face unbidden, and for a disloyal instant, her breathing stuttered.

Objectively speaking, he was divine.

A sour, unwelcome idea crossed her thoughts: back in her twenties, she'd have ditched her dignity and records to pursue someone like him.

As the notion crested, she knew she'd stared too much.

Her eyes met his, trapped by deep, perceptive depths. Alex held steady, amusement flickering in his look.

Catching herself red-handed, Heena flushed hot across her face.

She yanked her stare away, fixing on Tisha with desperate, work-like focus that rang just a beat false.

"So," Heena started, fingers weaving together atop her desk pad to restore the space's formal weight. "What brings my dear Tisha here tonight?"

Behind her steady facade, icy dread knotted in her chest. She dreaded Tisha's next words... bracing for the bomb, for Sterling's name to wreck her poise.

"I’m just here to visit, my dear Heena," Tisha answered, her tone sliding into a polished, official cadence. Leaning ahead a bit, her face took on feigned worry. "I wrapped up my tasks, and I came to check on you."

Heena blinked, the ordinary comment failing to calm her jitters.

"With finals approaching and the department so stressed," Tisha went on, scanning Heena’s features with concealed, knife-edge intent.

"I bet the workload’s overwhelming you these days?"

Heena grabbed a loose pen, twirling it to steady her nerves.

"It’s... manageable. Typical term-end frenzy."

"Is it?" Tisha cocked her head, her grin stretching to hint at peril. "Good for you."

Tisha’s smile held firm, yet the room’s atmosphere thickened. She uncrossed her legs, inching forward with elbows on the desk’s rim.

"Actually, Heena... I’ve got a particular matter to raise with you," Tisha disclosed, eyes pinning Heena’s with unwavering sharpness.

Heena’s heart slammed wildly. Her pulse hammered, muffling the AC’s drone in her ears.

’Here it comes,’ she thought, clenching the pen until it creaked.

"Go ahead," Heena forced out, her throat squeezing shut.

"You know, as I’ve already introduced Alex here," Tisha waved toward him with an offhand, possessive gesture.

"He’s crafting some bold projects these days. Launching his own business, he soon saw his gap in advanced finance knowledge."

Heena blinked. No scandal struck. Rather than ruin, she faced... tutoring?

Relief crashed over her, nearly sickening. Tension fled her back, leaving her light-headed.

Not Sterling. Not the secrets, bistro, or deceit. Just a kid needing lessons.

"He was quite insistent," Tisha pressed on, her words laced with sly amusement. "He demanded the top expert here. I immediately thought of you."

Alex flashed a gradual, overwhelmingly assured smile, seizing control with a rich, rumbling tone that pulsed across the desk.

"Yes," Alex confirmed, locking eyes with Heena in a way that isolated her completely. "I’m building my company, and I’ve learned a business thrives on solid roots. I require an expert touch for the financial framework. After reviewing your courses, Professor, I knew only you would do."

Heena regarded him, her work face returning, though her pulse lingered from the fright. "You want... private consultation?"

"I want the best, Mrs. Sterling," Alex whispered, edging closer to pierce her boundaries. "But only if you’ll take me. "

"And I’m willing to do whatever ’extra-curricular’ work is necessary to get it."

Heena eyed Alex intently, probing to uncover the pull that drew even the "Ice Queen" into his sway.

Yet her desk’s burden... stacked with reviews and exam rosters... weighed down again.

"Tisha, though I value your faith..." Heena said, voice formal but fatigued. She eyed the paper heap, then Tisha with a worn grin. "I simply lack the time, even if willing."

"Don’t worry about the schedule, Heena,"

Tisha cut in smoothly, unyieldingly. "And forget overworking. I’ll handle your admin backlog myself."

Heena stiffened, pen paused in air. She scanned Tisha for humor, finding only steady determination.

Tisha pledged to shoulder tedious paperwork hours just to free Heena for this youth.

"You just have to say yes," Tisha urged, stare unflinching.

Heena’s doubt didn’t fade; it soured into sharper intrigue.

’How deep does her devotion run?’ she pondered. Beyond guidance. A stake. A offering.

Biting curiosity won out. She craved to witness the man earning such allegiance... and his moves alone with her.

"Well..." Heena conceded at last, a deliberate smile curving as she faced Alex. "If you’re both so set... I’d enjoy instructing a young man with such... targeted goals."

"Thank you, Professor," Alex replied. His thanks resonated low and deep, like intimate recognition of her yield.

Tisha reclined, predatory glee lighting her features. Step one complete. She glanced at Alex, then Heena, her sly spark now a fierce victorious blaze.