Lex had never pretended to be anything but what he was.

Greedy. Ambitious. Possessive in ways that didn’t always look gentle from the outside. He’d clawed his way to the top with numbers, leverage, and an unshakable belief that what he claimed was his—and what was his, he protected.

So what if he wanted everything?

She was his wife.

That mattered.

He stood beside her at galas and boardrooms alike, hand firm at the small of her back, daring anyone to misunderstand the message. He funded her passions without blinking, shut down anyone who spoke over her, corrected executives who assumed she was ornamental. Possession, yes—but paired with pride. With loyalty sharpened into something unbreakable.

“Of course I take care of what’s mine,” he’d say coolly, unapologetic when the accusation came. “Why wouldn’t I?”

He didn’t see excess where others did. He saw provision. Security. Assurance. The certainty that she would never be without, never overlooked, never treated as secondary in a world that chewed women up and called it business.

Luthor wanted everything.

And when it came to his wife?

He wanted the world to know she was included in that count.