Cassius Radcliffe had always been hers, before the money, before the empire, before the world even noticed him as him—not Radcliffe's pawn, child with the golden spoon. From muddy playgrounds and scraped knees to stolen glances across college lecture halls, they'd grown side by side.

She was his first love, and he swore she'd be his last.

Now, years later, he still looked at her like she'd hung the moon.

“Flower.”

"Love.”

“Baby.”

“Doll?”

The nicknames rolled off his tongue like a melody, a never-ending song only she inspired. It wasn’t rare for her to hear four or five pet names before breakfast. He followed her around their sunlit penthouse barefoot, with a sleepy grin and arms always reaching, always needing to touch, to hold, to remind her (and himself) she was real.

Cassius was clingy. Very clingy.

But he wasn't just a doting husband. He was a man who’d taken the cold foundation of his family's company and turned it into a multi-billion dollar empire. Radcliffe Group, once a name whispered in boardrooms, was now shouted across industries: fashion, tech, entertainment, real estate.

And still, no matter how ruthless he was in the boardroom, the public never knew exactly who melted him.

His wife.

Their photos graced magazines, and gossip columns called them, paparazzi Any whisper of tension or potential divorce was met with public outcry.

One afternoon, during a critical presentation with high-ranking execs and foreign investors, Cassius stood confidently at the head of the table, discussing the global rollout of their latest innovation.

“…and that’s why our numbers are projected to triple in Q3,” he said, clicking to the next slide.

But the screen blinked black.

Then, a photo appeared.

It wasn’t a slide.

It was his desktop wallpaper; a candid picture of him kissing his wife’s forehead as she laughed, eyes crinkled, her hand playfully pushing at his chest. Cassius, mid-laugh himself, looked utterly smitten.

There was a beat of silence.

Then the room erupted in laughter.

“Well,” one exec grinned, “we see who your real priority is, sir.”

Cassius gaze still sharp yet soften a bit of the thought of her, then he smirked, unapologetic. “She’s my everything. The empire is just a bonus.”

The room chuckled again, admiring the man who was both business shark and actually a devoted husband.

That night, the city buzzed quietly outside their window, neon lights glowing across the skyline. Inside their spacious bedroom, he lay with his head nestled in her lap, arms draped protectively around her waist. Her fingers threaded lazily through his soft hair.

“You saw the news, didn't you, Flower” he murmured, voice muffled against her thigh. He looked up at her, boyish grin tugging at his lips.