She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother Chapter 371: The Drivers Seat

Tisha glanced toward Alex, then returned her gaze to Heena, the playful glint in her eyes now shifted to a chilling, victorious fire.

"Speaking of which..." she started, her tone shifting to one of dramatic disbelief. "Where precisely is your husband right now, Heena?"

"Huh?" Heena tensed up, the mention striking her like a solid punch.

"Howard?" she uttered, her composed facade wavering briefly.

She turned back to Tisha, spotting that keen, sly grin, and a spark of real alarm ignited in her gaze. Her fingers gripped the desk's edge on instinct.

She failed to grasp Tisha's game or what that scoundrel was up to in the shadows.

'Did he truly skip going to her?'

Before she could spin a graceful falsehood or a dodging comment, Tisha leaned closer, her eyes sparkling with wicked amusement.

"Don't say he abandoned you here to handle all this paperwork by yourself," Tisha went on, her words laced with feigned pity.

She halted, allowing the statement to sink in, then shook her head with an over-the-top sigh.

"Honestly, Heena, if I were your husband, I wouldn't leave your side for a moment. Definitely not for some boring departmental issue."

Heena's mouth parted open... only a bit, enough to reveal she had no clue how to handle Tisha Wells praising her looks in front of a student.

The Ice Queen never handed out praise. Least of all this type.

Before Heena could muster a reply, her wayward side vision picked up Alex tilting his head. His eyes swept over her with a calm, evaluating steadiness... like Tisha had stated a fact and he was merely checking it out.

He offered no nod. He made no remark. He simply observed her shortly, completely, then shifted focus to the bookshelf nearby as though the issue was resolved to his liking.

Heena's cheeks flushed hot. She dropped her eyes to the desk, abruptly captivated by a paperclip she'd overlooked until now.

"He's... gone," she replied, the term emerging duller and emptier than planned. She cleared her throat, attempting to restore her typical scholarly firmness.

"He needed to handle... an urgent matter."

The fib was flimsy enough to see straight through, and judging by how Tisha's face eased... slightly, around the corners... Heena realized she'd convinced no one.

A moment of quiet followed. Soft. Nearly compassionate.

"Well then," Tisha declared, standing from her seat and swinging her bag onto her shoulder with a decisiveness implying the choice was set. "Join us. Alex is taking me home, and he can drop you off along the route. No point lingering here in the gloom for a guy who's obviously 'busy' somewhere else."

Heena parted her lips to refuse... the reaction instinctive, the courteous work denial she'd used countless times, yet Tisha interrupted before a sound escaped.

"Don't complicate it, Heena. It's late, your vehicle isn't around, and I won't let you wait for a taxi in a deserted lot." She cocked her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Plus, he's an excellent driver. I don't hand my safety to just anybody."

Tisha angled her head a touch, her gaze gleaming with that piercing insight as she eyed the youth next to her. "Right, Alex?"

Alex skipped the monologue. He rose, hands relaxed by his sides, and gave a straightforward nod.

"No bother at all, Mrs. Sterling."

Heena eyed Alex. He was on his feet already, hands loose at his sides, poised without pushing. He didn't bolster the suggestion. He didn't comfort or persuade. He merely waited, relaxed and patient, like any choice she made would suit him fine.

And curiously, that lack of insistence proved more convincing than any plea.

Heena peeked at the curriculum papers on her desk. The chilled tea. The vacant hallway past her office entrance where Sterling's steps had faded over an hour back, moving toward a woman now present before her, extending a lift home.

She grabbed her glasses. Folded them neatly. Slipped them into the case.

"Alright. I'll grab my bag," she murmured softly.

***

The hallway stood deserted, their steps resounding off the linoleum as the trio proceeded through the Finance area to the parking exit.

Heena strode in the middle... Tisha to her left, Alex lagging a step behind on her right... struggling to disregard the odd, charged sense of his nearness that intensified with each step.

The night breeze greeted them upon exiting the double doors. Crisp, fresh, bearing a subtle aroma of mown grass from the campus lawns.

Compared to the stuffy heat of her office, it resembled breaking the surface after submersion.

Heena inhaled deeply. Then her eyes caught on something in the staff parking area.

Sterling's black Audi. Parked firmly in its assigned space, bathed in the streetlamp's soft amber light over the hood.

She halted abruptly.

Tisha spotted the hesitation, traced Heena's stare, and inclined her head with gradual, intentional interest.

"Heena." Tisha's tone was soft yet direct. "Didn't you mention he headed home?"

The remark struck like fingers on a sore spot. Heena fixed on the vehicle, her jaw clenching, the untruth from moments ago dissolving in the lot's night air.

"I..." She trailed off. Nothing remained to add.

Tisha drew nearer, lowering her voice so only Heena might catch it... without bothering to shut out Alex.

"That guy's still lurking in this structure, Heena. And we both realize it's no work affair." She shook her head, a steely chill forming in her stare.

"I can't fathom how you tolerate it. Truly can't."

The statement ought to sting like criticism. It didn't. It rang like someone voicing the silent roar Heena had harbored in her mind for years.

Her features scorched... not from rage at Tisha, but from the exposed, flayed shame of exposure. Of lingering in a lot beside a woman aware of her spouse's nature, and a youth absorbing it live.

She couldn't face Alex. She couldn't pivot toward him, for she knew — with the profound instinct of someone who'd wrangled her disgrace for fifteen years — that his look would shatter something vital she couldn't risk now.

"Let's head out," Heena stated. Her tone held firm. Her hands did not.

They traversed the lot wordlessly. Heena's heels tapped the pavement with a sharp, robotic rhythm hiding the turmoil churning within her chest.

Next, she spotted the vehicle.

It surprised her. She wasn't sure what she'd anticipated... perhaps a battered student compact or a worn-out sedan with a damaged dash. Instead, it gleamed spotless, meticulously kept, and subtly luxurious without ostentation.

She noted it mentally, staying silent.

In front, Tisha and Alex paused by the driver's door, their postures signaling an ongoing spat.

"I'm driving," Tisha proclaimed, holding out her hand, palm upward.

"You drove last time," Alex replied evenly, unperturbed. "And you chose Garrison."

"Garrison has character."

"Garrison has potholes."

"Hand over the keys, Alex."

"Ask politely."

Tisha skipped politeness. She swiped the keys from his grasp with practiced quickness and directed him to the passenger seat with an unyielding glare.

Alex lifted both hands in playful defeat, a smile spreading that rendered him, for the first evening glimpse, like his true twenty-something self.

Then Tisha pivoted... and flung the keys to Heena.

They soared in a slow, shimmering arc. Heena snagged them instinctively, her grip tightening on the chilly metal prior to her mind catching up.

She stared at the keys. Then at Tisha.

"What — "

"You drive," Tisha instructed, heading to the passenger side. Her voice held the casual, absolute command of someone who'd just reshaped reality and anticipated adaptation.

"I don't — Tisha, this isn't mine. I can't simply —"

"You know these routes better than us, you haven't driven today, and honestly, I need to sit and rest my eyes briefly." Tisha swung open the passenger door and settled inside, placing her bag on her lap.

Across the car, Alex rested his forearms on the roof, peering at Heena atop it with a look of entertained acceptance.

"She won't drop this, Mrs. Sterling," he noted. "Believe me. I've attempted it."

Heena lingered in the lot, keys clutched, the chill metal digging into her skin.

Their heft seemed unusual... beyond mere alloy and plastic, carrying more. Allowance. A night already straying wildly from her routine where another twist barely counted.

She glanced back... final time... at Sterling's Audi, idle and vacant in its slot.

Then she approached the driver's side, slid the seat back, and fired up the motor.