Chapter 13
By addressing Andrew as Mr. Stone, Emily instantly highlighted the infinite distance between them.
She offered an apologetic smile to the men around her, saying, “Please excuse me for a moment.”
The men nodded knowingly, their eyes flicking toward Andrew with a hint of scrutiny and barely concealed mockery.
Andrew’s temper flared at the way she treated him as though he were a complete stranger. He was just about to speak when Emily subconsciously rubbed her shoulders, feeling cold in the heavily air–conditioned ballroom.
The young CEO of the tech company beside her noticed it immediately. He draped his suit jacket over her shoulders as if it were the most natural thing to do and said gently, “Don’t catch a cold.”
Briefly startled, Emily broke into a smile and said softly, “Thank you.”
Their effortless interaction and the look of warm concern in the man’s eyes all felt like a stab in the heart to Andrew.
A surge of uncontrollable anger and jealousy overwhelmed his reason. His fists clenched, the veins along his arms bulging, and he almost blew his top right then and there.
After that night, Andrew realized he couldn’t stay calm about it at all.
Emily’s composed, indifferent expression, her eyes that no longer lingered on him, and the image of that man draping his jacket over her shoulders all kept replaying in his head, as if he’d been cursed.
He couldn’t accept Emily’s complete disregard of him and her attitude that made it seem like he no longer mattered to her.
Driven by a strong sense of refusal to accept this situation and a possessive streak that mystified even him, he began coming up with all sorts of excuses to get close to her.
Using a product collaboration worth a ton of money as bait, he specifically requested that Emily’s studio be in charge of design. He even stipulated that she had to be personally involved in every step of the project.
He showed up in person at the meeting to kickstart the project. As he sat at the head of the conference table, he seemed incapable of tearing his eyes away from Emily.
She wore a professional business suit, her expression focused as she gave a clear explanation of her design concepts and proposals. When challenged, she responded calmly but assuredly with
precise reasoning backed up by evidence and explanations.
Her professionalism, composure, and confidence were unlike anything he had ever seen. He’d deliberately picked on minor details to garner her attention, even going so far as to make it seem
Chapter 13
like he was being difficult on purpose.
However, through it all, Emily maintained absolute professionalism. She treated him as nothing more than an important client that needed to be tended to with careful courtesy, being even more distant yet polite with him than she was with all other clients.
It was as if Andrew were punching the air, which only made him feel even more frustrated and furious.
At some point, Lucy somehow managed to find Emily’s studio. She came barging right in to cause a scene, accusing Emily of seducing Andrew and being a fly that couldn’t be shaken off. She even tried to tear the studio apart.
Fortunately, the studio’s security team managed to subdue her in time before informing Emily and Andrew about the situation.
When Andrew arrived, he saw the disheveled Lucy still screaming her head off while Emily stood on the side with an icy expression.
“Kindly keep your woman in check, Mr. Stone,” Emily said, her voice freezing cold. “This is a workplace, not a stage for her to put on her best impression of a madwoman. If this happens again, I’ll let the police handle matters instead.”
After taking in Emily’s cold gaze, Andrew looked at the hysterical Lucy. Hit with a surge of anger and mortification, he yelled, “That’s enough, Lucy! Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough yet? Shut up and leave at once!”
Lucy was shocked to hear him yell at her. Then, like a lit firecracker, she exploded again,
shrieking, “You yelled at me! Did you just yell at me because of her? Andrew! Have you forgotten who-”
“Do you think that just because you-”
In his panic, the words tumbled out of his mouth, but just as he was about to stop her from
bringing up how she’d saved his life, he faltered halfway through his sentence, coming to an abrupt stop.
