Chapter 1

Andrew Stone was the richest man in the world, and he was known for being obsessed with his work. Emily Jamison had been married to him for five years now. It was impossible to count how many times he'd neglected her in the name of work. The first time he did was on her birthday. She'd gone through the trouble of planning a celebration and reserving a restaurant for them. But in the end, he went abroad for a business acquisition, disregarding the fact that she'd waited all day and night for him. The second time was after her car accident. When she was on the brink of death, she needed a family member to sign her hospital consent form. She used the last bit of her strength to text him, but she only ended up receiving an indifferent reply. "I'm in the middle of an important meeting. Deal with it yourself." The third time was when her father was dying. He'd held on to his final breath, wanting to see Andrew one last time, but Andrew never came. He was too busy with a signing ceremony for a multi-billion-dollar contract. Emily had held her father's gradually cooling hand as she listened to the constant ringing of the call going unanswered, her heart turning completely numb. After experiencing this time and time again, she finally realized that in Andrew's heart, nothing and no one could ever compare to his business empire. Emily told herself this was the price of a marriage of convenience, arranged by her family. He'd said from the start that he wouldn't love her. But at least, this meant he wouldn't love anyone else either. However, after she'd almost fully grown accustomed to the crushing despair of a loveless marriage, a shocking piece of news exploded among their social circle. Andrew Stone, the man said to be a zealous workaholic and uninterested in women, did in fact keep a young woman by his side, and he doted on her most outrageously! Rumor had it that he'd abandoned the contract signing of a multi-billion-dollar project just to take her skiing. That he'd canceled every meeting for an entire week just to nurse her sick kitten with her. That he'd even let her doodle all over his valuable contracts. Once, he'd supposedly halted the meeting with one of the company's longest business partners just because she said it was boring. When Emily first heard of it, she thought it had to be nonsense. How could any of it be impossible? This was Andrew they were talking about, the man who valued his time above all else and was rational even to the point of cruelty! Driven by something she couldn't explain, Emily used every connection and resource at her disposal to look into that young woman rumored to be Andrew's mistress. Unfortunately, Andrew was extremely protective of her. Even after spending a ton of money and effort, all Emily managed to get was a blurry side profile of the young woman. She looked young and delicate as Andrew held her closely in his arms. It was a gentle, protective move that Emily had never been on the receiving end of throughout their five-year marriage. That very afternoon, after receiving the photo, Emily left the house in a daze. As she stepped onto the sidewalk, a black Rolls-Royce seemed to swerve out of control and came barreling at her. She didn't even get to have a good look at the driver before the impact sent her body flying, and she slammed heavily onto the ground. The pain engulfed her, and all went black. When she woke again, it was to the harsh sting of hospital disinfectant. What came into view was the look of pure professionalism on the face of Andrew's chief secretary, Tyler Moore. "You're awake, Mrs. Stone," Tyler said flatly. "Mr. Stone asked me to deliver a message from him. Do not try looking into people you shouldn't, otherwise, it won't just be an 'accident' next time." Emily's eyes flew wide open. The pain in her heart nearly made her stop breathing. It was him? He did this? Just because she'd found a single photo of that young woman, he'd gone so far as to orchestrate a car crash just to threaten her! The overwhelming sense of shock and pain drowned her like a tidal wave. Andrew, the man she'd loved for years—the one she thought only cared for his work—had turned out to be capable of something so cruel and insane, all for another woman. Though she didn't want to believe it, she was forced to anyway. … Emily thought she'd never be able to know what that young woman really looked like. However, a week later, she received the most unexpected call from the police station. "Is this a family member of Mr. Stone? Someone has filed a police report accusing Mr. Stone of… solicitation. We need to trouble you to come down to the police station." Emily's mind went blank. Solicitation? Andrew? Almost mechanically, she rushed to the police station and immediately saw a young woman, Lucy Evans, all dolled up. She was sitting cross-legged on a chair, her pretty face scrunched up in displeasure. "Why haven't you guys told him to come down here? Didn't you hear me? I want him charged with solicitation! Are you too scared to arrest him just because he's the richest man in the world?" The surrounding officers exchanged awkward looks as they sweated profusely and tried to explain, "Miss, could there be some kind of misunderstanding? Mr. Stone—" "What misunderstanding?" Lucy snapped as she stomped her feet in anger. "If you won't arrest him, I'll just go to another police station and file my report there!" The moment she finished speaking, the sharp screech of skidding tires could be heard outside. A black sedan had come to a hurried stop, and moments later, Andrew strode in wearing a perfectly tailored black suit. His handsome face and commanding presence instantly silenced everyone in the station lobby. As soon as he came in, he spotted Emily and frowned. "What are you doing here?" he questioned icily. Throat constricted, Emily responded hoarsely, "The police… called me." Andrew's expression turned even colder as he instructed imposingly, "You're not needed here anymore. Go back." And without sparing her another glance, he walked straight toward Lucy. What happened next made Emily feel her blood stop flowing. Andrew, that proud, untouchable man, actually crouched down in front of Lucy and looked up at her. There was a tenderness in his voice that Emily had never heard before as he said to Lucy in a placating tone, "Who upset you this time, babe? Hm?" Lucy's eyes reddened. Pouting, she adamantly declared, "You did! You didn't reply to my message within three seconds, so I got mad and called the police to report you for solicitation!" Everyone around them gasped at her outrageous reasoning, but Andrew didn't even get mad. Instead, he chuckled softly and stroked Lucy's face. His tone was unbelievably tolerant and indulgent as he said, "Yes, of course. It's all my fault. Since you reported me for solicitation so that the police will arrest me, I'll spend a few days in jail to make it up to you, okay?" He even stretched out his hands toward the nearest officer, gesturing for them to cuff him. The poor officer blanched in fear. Ian Hall, Andrew's assistant, hurriedly tried to explain, "You've misunderstood Mr. Stone, Ms. Evans! Mr. Stone got into an accident this morning. He injured his arm and was in the hospital the whole time. His phone died, so he couldn't reply to your message in time. Please don't be angry with him!" Upon hearing that, Lucy grew anxious. She grabbed Andrew's arm, and sure enough, she saw the white bandage peeking out from under his sleeve. She burst into tears as she cried, "You're injured? Why didn't you tell me sooner!" Andrew gently wiped her tears away and said, "I promised to reply to your messages at once, no matter what happens. Since I failed to do it, it means I'd failed to keep my promise and deserve to be punished." Lucy wailed even harder as she threw herself into his arms. "Why are you always so good to me…" He held her close, his voice so gentle it could melt the coldest of hearts. "Because I love you, of course. Now tell me, babe. How do you want to punish me?" She laughed, and her eyes flickered briefly before she pointed at the floor and declared, "I want to ride you like a pony, right here, right now!" Ian's expression stiffened. He was just about to try and convince Lucy otherwise, but Andrew held his hand up to stop him. Looking at Lucy affectionately, Andrew asked, "Must it be here?" "That's right! I want to do it right here!" "Okay," he readily replied. Right there, in front of everyone, Andrew got on all fours and said gently, "Get on, then." Lucy giggled and climbed onto his back with ease, like a spoiled princess. Andrew Stone, the king of the business world who dominated the global financial headlines and held the world's economy in his hands, was willingly crawling around the police station while carrying his princess on his back. There wasn't the slightest shred of impatience on his face, only his abundant adoration for her. The entire police station had gone quiet. No one dared to make a sound. Only Emily stood there with her hands clamped around her mouth as her tears poured down her face. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed for a second that Andrew, the heartless workaholic, was capable of such an act!