Chapter 1

I fell asleep in Andrew Moretti's office at the Moretti family's headquarters.

When I woke up, I found several large words stamped across my cheek.

[MORETTI PORKHOUSE: GRADE A]

Hazel, Andrew's young secretary, stood beside the desk with an inspection stamp in her hand, smiling at me with open contempt.

"A spoiled little heiress like you should stay at the estate and look pretty," she said. "The Family has real business to handle. Stop coming here and getting in everyone's way."

I picked up the porcelain cup on the desk and smashed it against the floor.

Shards flew toward Hazel.

Before they could reach her, the office door burst open.

Andrew rushed in and pulled Hazel behind him, shielding her with his body.

He looked at me with a frown, barely concealing his irritation.

"Jade! Hazel's young. She was just messing around. Did you really have to take it this far?"

I didn't answer.

My eyes had already fallen to the open collar of his black shirt.

Just above his collarbone was a faint red mark.

A woman's lipstick.

Andrew hadn't returned to the Moretti estate for three nights.

He'd told me there was trouble with one of the Family's shipments and that he had to stay at headquarters.

Hazel peeked out from behind him and stuck out her tongue at me.

"Andrew knew I'd get bored staying here with him all night, so he had the guys make a whole set of stamps for me to play with."

She smiled sweetly, her eyes full of provocation.

"I was only joking with Mrs. Moretti."

Then she tilted her head innocently.

"She wouldn't really hold a little joke against me, would she?"

……

I didn't respond to Hazel.

My eyes remained fixed on the red mark on Andrew's collarbone, and for a moment, it felt as though all the blood in my body had turned cold.

I opened my mouth, but my throat was painfully dry.

"Andrew," I asked hoarsely. "What's that?"

He froze.

Following my gaze, he looked down at his collarbone, and his expression changed instantly.

Almost instinctively, he stepped toward me, lips parting as if to explain.

"I did it."

Hazel cut him off, her voice quick and almost playful.

Andrew stopped.

Hazel raised her chin with a little smile.

"Last time Andrew had a sit-down with the capos for four hours, I got bored waiting for him."

She waved the stamp in her hand.

"So I stamped him too. It was punishment for making me wait."

To my surprise, Andrew actually laughed.

He reached out and gave her head an indulgent pat.

"You still have the nerve to bring that up? You did it in front of every capo at the table. I nearly became a joke in my own Family."

The office went dead silent.

All I could hear was the ringing in my ears.

Andrew had always spoiled me.

There was only one thing he had never compromised on.

Family business.

When it came to Moretti affairs, Andrew was ruthless about discipline. No one interrupted a sit-down. No one entered without permission. Not even me.

Yet now, he was willing to break his own rules just to keep another woman entertained.

Bitterness rose from my chest into my throat.

Before I could speak, excited voices drifted in from the hallway.

"I heard Mrs. Moretti is here. I've always wanted to see what she looks like."

"Didn't you hear about the night Andrew proposed? He covered the entire Moretti estate in white roses and had her name lit across the harbor."

"I'm jealous. Ten years together, and everyone says Andrew still treats her like she's the only woman in New York. I have papers for the Don's office anyway. Maybe I'll finally get a look at her."

The voices drew closer.

A moment later, several young women appeared in the doorway and stopped when they realized it was wide open.

Then they saw me.

I'd spent nearly an hour getting ready before coming here.

Now none of it mattered.

All anyone could see were the humiliating words stamped across my face.

Their conversation stopped instantly.

The smiles remained frozen on their faces, but the excitement in their eyes vanished.

The entire room fell into a suffocating silence.

Then Hazel laughed softly.

Andrew frowned.

It seemed only then that he finally realized just how humiliating the stamp on my face was.

Almost instinctively, he moved in front of Hazel, shielding her from me.

"Hazel," he said quietly. "Apologize."

Hazel's eyes turned red at once.

Her voice rose, trembling with tears.