Chapter 2

I could still hear Jasper's remarks replaying in my mind as I walked out of the company. I didn't even realize where I was driving to until I got to the cemetery. I would always visit my mother's grave and chat with her whenever I was at a loss. It was my mother, who, on her deathbed, had arranged my engagement with the Lambert family. She'd said, "You should never believe in love and be as naive as I was, Madison. You ought to know that men are all the same. You can let them be an asset to you, but never a liability." It was clear that she had learned that the hard way. She'd chosen to believe in "love" and turned her back on her family to marry my father, only for him to find a mistress once he struck it rich. Isabella, my father's illegitimate daughter, was only two years younger than I was. It was back when I was still in high school that my father's mistress had caused a huge commotion, demanding to be let into the Stone family with Isabella. My mother had always lived a prideful life. So, unable to bear the blow, she pleaded with my grandfather to arrange my engagement to the Lambert family. Then, she left me a final message before jumping to her death. There was a huge social gap between the Stone family and the Lambert family, as my father was considered a nouveau riche. It was thanks to my grandfather's relationship with the Lamberts that they took me in after my mother's death. It was also then when Jasper and I had attended the same schools. We'd always had a great relationship, but it wasn't until we became adults that Jasper began behaving like a typical wealthy heir—partying, drinking, and living a wild life. I always remembered my mother's warning—that "men are all the same"—in my mind, so I didn't care about what Jasper did. Instead, I was focused on securing the Lambert family's enterprise, their influence, and the power their family could grant me. I didn't care how many women Jasper had on the side, but I just couldn't accept him being with Isabella. In the first two years after I moved in with the Lamberts, Jasper learned about my tragic past and became even more furious than I was. He even vowed that he would settle the score for me if he ever encountered that mother-daughter duo. Yet, when he finally came across Isabella, his anger disappeared. Then, he got entangled in an intimate affair with her.