Chapter 5

"Anything that's been dirtied..."

I looked straight at Hazel.

"I don't want that either."

Hazel froze.

Her hand was still gripping the zipper of Star Sea when the color slowly drained from her face.

A moment later, one of my men carried in a large cardboard box.

Inside were one hundred inspection stamps.

I gave a slight nod.

One of the men picked up a stamp, pressed it into the dark red ink, and brought it down against Hazel's calf.

Hazel screamed.

Another stamp followed.

Then another.

Her arms. Her neck. Her face.

Crimson marks appeared one after another across her skin.

At first, Hazel cursed me.

Then she cried.

Then she begged.

By the end, all that remained were broken sobs.

One hundred stamps.

Not one less.

When the final mark was pressed onto her skin, Hazel collapsed onto the floor, covered in ugly red lettering.

I calmly wiped my hands.

"I forgot to mention something, Miss Garcia."

I looked down at her.

"That ink is permanent. It won't come off easily."

A faint smile touched my lips.

"But relax. I was only joking with you."

I tilted my head.

"You're not angry, are you?"

Hazel was still sobbing when my men dragged her out.

Just then, the familiar sound of an engine came from outside the estate.

Andrew was back.

He walked into the room wearing the gentle smile he'd always used whenever he wanted to coax me out of a bad mood.

"Jade."

He lifted a velvet jewelry box.

"The auction ended, and I came straight back. Guess what I brought you."

He opened it.

Inside lay an exquisite emerald necklace.

Andrew stepped toward me and lifted the necklace from the box.

"You told me you liked this kind of setting."

His voice softened.

"The moment I saw it, I thought of you. Come here. Let me put it on."

He moved behind me and reached around my neck.

The moment he leaned closer, a familiar scent drifted toward me.

Sweet gardenia.

Hazel's perfume.

Nausea surged through me.

I shoved Andrew away.

Before he could react, hurried footsteps came from the hallway.

"Andrew!"

Hazel stumbled into the room and threw herself into his arms.

"Jade's insane! She had her men cover me in those disgusting stamps!"

She clung tightly to his shirt.

"Didn't you promise you'd protect me?"

Andrew's expression changed when he saw her.

His eyes swept over the red marks covering her skin, then turned toward me.

"Jade."

His voice dropped.

"When did you become so cruel?"

I said nothing.

"Hazel is young. You had your men do this to her. How is she supposed to show her face anywhere after this?"

His tone hardened.

"Do you really have to destroy her before you're satisfied?"

I stared at the way he held Hazel behind him.

For a moment, I remembered the Andrew I'd known years ago.

The young man who had stood before both our Families and sworn that one day he would build an empire powerful enough to deserve me.

He had promised that when he married Jade Davis, he would make certain no one in our world could ever humiliate me.

I forced down the ache in my chest.

"Then did you ever think about me?"

Andrew went still.

"If those marks on my face had never come off, what was I supposed to do?"

His lips parted.

For once, he had no answer.

Hazel saw his hesitation and immediately buried herself deeper in his arms.

"Andrew!"

Her voice broke into a hysterical cry.

"I'm pregnant with your child!"

My entire body went cold.

For a second, I couldn't move.

Then I saw it.

The flash of uncontrollable joy in Andrew's eyes.

He looked down at Hazel as if nothing else in the room mattered.

"Our child?"

His face lit up.

"You're pregnant?"

Hazel nodded through her tears.

Andrew immediately lifted her into his arms, holding her with a tenderness that made something inside me finally break.

"That's wonderful."

He looked almost overwhelmed with happiness.

"We're going to the hospital. Right now."

He carried her toward the door.

When he passed me, he didn't even slow down.

"Jade, calm yourself down."

His voice was cold now.

"And remember what it means to be the wife of the head of the Moretti Family."

He took another step.

Then stopped.

More than a dozen men in dark suits had entered the estate.

They weren't soldiers.

They were attorneys and financial advisers from the Davis Family.

They spread across the entrance, blocking Andrew's path.

The middle-aged man at the front stepped forward and placed a thick legal notice in Andrew's hands.

"Mr. Moretti."

Andrew frowned.

The attorney continued calmly.

"Under the terms of the marriage agreement you signed with Miss Davis, the Davis Family has formally suspended your access to all assets transferred to you through this marriage."

He opened the document.

"The shares in Moretti Shipping held through Davis-controlled trusts have been frozen."

Andrew's expression changed.

The attorney turned another page.

"Your access to the Davis banking network has also been suspended, along with the credit lines securing the Moretti Family's legitimate businesses."

The room fell silent.

He pushed the papers toward Andrew.

"Effective immediately."