From His Ex-Wife to the World's Most Sought-After Restorer (Jade and Hudson) novel Chapter 269

The perfectly straight rows of white magnolias.

The new buds, the heavy blossoms.

It felt like a sign of new life.

Click.

Jade was so focused she didn't hear the door open.

She only realized she wasn't alone when she felt her hair being gathered up. She froze and looked back.

Bastian was there, a dry towel in his hands, gently drying her hair.

He didn't stop when she looked at him, his voice low and soothing.

"You'll get a headache if you leave it wet."

Jade snapped out of her daze and tried to stand. Bastian's hand rested gently on her shoulder, pinning her in place.

"Just a minute. It's almost done."

After the towel, he picked up a blow dryer. His fingers moved through her hair with practiced ease, drying it section by section.

Jade was stunned. Bastian... he was surprisingly good at this.

"This is actually the first time I've ever dried a woman's hair," Bastian said. "If I pull too hard, tell me."

Jade felt a strange, unnameable flutter in her chest.

She looked down, feeling the warmth of the dryer and his touch.

"I can do it myself."

"It's no trouble." Bastian spoke as if this were a daily ritual, as if they'd lived together for years.

The atmosphere was peaceful. Jade opened her mouth to ask about Joshua Boswell.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The phone interrupted her.

The question died in her throat. She checked the screen; it was one of her assistants at the studio.

She answered, and the girl excitedly told her about the explosion of new orders.

The studio had been surrounded by guards during the crisis, and the staff wanted to know if they could go back in to start the paperwork.

Bastian, who was listening in, spoke up.

"Those were my men. I pulled them back once the studio was locked down. It's clear now. They can go in."

Jade nodded, relaying the message. They agreed to reopen formally in two days.

But she was the owner. She couldn't just leave them to handle the surge alone. She needed to be there.

She hung up and looked at Bastian. He ran his fingers through her hair one last time, checking for dampness. He clicked the dryer off and met her eyes, a hand resting on the crown of her head.

"I know. I'll take you back."

The taste of copper filled his mouth.

Hudson wiped the blood from his lip, grabbed a heavy porcelain flower pot from the balcony, and hurled it.

He didn't care about the fallout.

That was his wife. His legal, wedded wife.

How dare anyone touch her? What right did they have?

Crash—

The sound of the pot shattering on the pavement made Jade jump and look up.

The window to her private quarters was wide open. Her favorite jasmine plant lay smashed on the sidewalk.

She wasn't a careless person; she knew she'd shut that window tight before the arrest.

Bastian, who had just finished adjusting her shawl, heard the crash too. He saw her frown and spoke softly.

"Maybe the wind caught it. I have some jasmine at my place that's even better. I'll send them over later."

"Don't worry about it. It was just a plant." Jade felt uneasy. She took a step back.

"You have that meeting. You should go. I'll be fine."

He'd already taken five calls from Anderson on the way over.