By the time Erin stepped into the elevator, Derek was already sitting in Alan's office upstairs, discussing their partnership.“Derek, I’ve already had the contract prepared. Give me a moment.”Alan had clearly come prepared to show his sincerity. He personally poured Derek a drink, then wasted no time placing the contract in front of him.“You’re too kind.”Derek took the contract and began reading.Within moments, his expression changed.He could hardly believe what he was seeing.Alan had actually prepared a contract like this for him?“This…”Derek frowned slightly, genuinely taken aback.It wasn’t because the contract was filled with hidden traps.Quite the opposite.Almost every term in it favored Derek.Without exception.In other words, the agreement was completely one-sided.Unless Derek’s company eventually made tens of millions in profit, Alan would practically be handing him money for free.“Derek, is something wrong?”“Are you not happy with the terms?”Seeing Derek frown

Derek’s expression changed.“Alan, what are you doing?”“I was wrong. Completely wrong!”Alan looked at him with genuine regret.“Mr. Moss, this contract can’t stand. Five million is nowhere near enough for someone like you.”He leaned forward eagerly.“Let’s renegotiate. How about I invest ten million instead?”Seeing the almost desperate look on Alan’s face, Derek didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.In the end, he nodded.Alan immediately lit up.“Excellent! Mr. Moss, thank you for giving me the opportunity to invest in you.”“I’ll have a new contract drawn up right away.”“And there’s one more thing.”“I’d like to invite you to attend Wellspring Corp’s investment conference today as my guest. I hope you’ll do me the honor.”Alan was so excited that his face had gone slightly red.He hadn’t expected to stumble onto someone like Derek.A chance encounter had already saved Wellspring from a potentially massive loss.If Derek hadn’t been here today, Benjamin would have torn into him

“His name is Derek Moss.” Erin’s voice was steady, almost defiant. “He’s not my assistant. He’s my husband.”The words landed like a stone in still water.Derek felt something cold shift in his chest... surprise, maybe, or the ghost of an old wound reopening.In five years of marriage, he could count on one hand the number of times Erin had claimed him publicly. Only when it suited her. Only when being a firefighter’s wife earned her sympathy at a charity gala, or credibility at a community board meeting.The moment the cameras turned off, she folded that identity away like a coat she was embarrassed to be seen wearing.She had never introduced him to her business world. Not once.They had fights about it. Several times.In the end, as always, he had backed down. For love, or for the hope that if he gave her enough space, she might eventually make room for him.Now here she was, standing in a room full of exactly those people, announcing him like a trophy she had finally decided to po

“If you can actually point out what’s wrong with our projects, I’ll slap myself a hundred times and admit I judged you completely wrong.”Mrs. Jones gave Derek a cold smile.“But if you can’t come up with anything solid—or you start talking nonsense—then don’t blame me for embarrassing you, even if you are Erin’s husband.”Derek looked at the three proposals laid out in front of him and gave a faint sneer.So there really were people eager to humiliate themselves.Fine.He’d give them what they wanted.He picked up the first proposal, glanced through it, and almost immediately tossed it back.“Yours looks impressive on the surface. Plenty of market research, plenty of risk analysis.”“But none of it changes the fact that the return doesn’t justify the risk.”“The projected ROI is too low, and the payback period is far longer than the industry average.”“A project that ties up this much capital for that little return isn’t worth considering.”The folder flew back and caught Mrs. Cage a

“I wonder if Mr. Moss is married.”“If he’s single, I’m definitely going to try my luck. A woman can build a career all she wants, but settling down with the right man wouldn’t be so bad either.”“Why not just ask him later? If I’d known someone like him would be here today, I would’ve spent another hour getting ready.”The female executives in the room were clearly even more excited than the men.And they weren’t exactly speaking quietly.Every word reached Erin.“Derek… Mr. Moss… single…”Her expression tightened.“He’s not single.”Erin stared at Derek on the stage, too stunned to put what she was feeling into words.Since when had Derek become Alan Wells’s business mentor?When had he developed this kind of business judgment?And why hadn’t she known any of it?“Derek… why did you hide all this from me?”A trace of hurt entered her eyes.Then she remembered everything Derek had said to her earlier.He had repeatedly told her to leave.He had warned her that she wouldn’t get fundin