“And honestly, look at who you picked.”“Mike Mulligan? He’s just a pretty face. How could he possibly compare to Mr. Moss?”Mrs. Cage and Mrs. Jones shook their heads. Mrs. Sear looked positively scornful.“That Mike seems like he’s all show. Who knows if that business of his overseas is even as successful as he claims? He’s not in Mr. Moss’s league.”“Mrs. Moss, if I were you, I’d apologize right now. Forget your pride. Even if you have to put your career aside for a while, you need to save your marriage.”By the time they finished, Erin was shaking with anger.“Do you even hear yourselves?”She glared at them, her chest heaving.“I was trying to get him to come back to me! You were the ones standing there, egging me on. And now you’re blaming me?”She turned away, her eyes brimming with tears of anger and hurt. She couldn’t bear to look at them anymore.The three women flushed with embarrassment, but the thought of Derek kept them quiet. All they could do was hope he considered hi

“Yes. We’ve been married for five years.”Several of the wealthy, attractive women in the audience looked crestfallen. Even the confident woman beside Derek seemed to deflate.Had he been single, they would have been happy to compete with Erin. None of them thought they had any less to offer.But five years of marriage was different. The couple might even have children. How were they supposed to compete with that?Those businessmen looked equally disappointed. So much for finding themselves the perfect son-in-law.Sighs rose throughout the hall.Erin was the only exception.For a moment, she could only stare. Then delight spread across her face.She had won.Whatever his anger, Derek had just acknowledged her as his wife in front of everyone.He still loved her.Happiness surged through her. It had been so long since he had made her feel this way.“I knew it, Derek… You couldn’t just forget five years together.”Her eyes filled with tears as she started toward the stage, wanting nothi

“Derek, you really are one of the most modest people I’ve ever met. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”Alan sat across from him and poured him a cup of tea.Derek had nothing pressing to attend to, so he stayed to chat.“I was planning to sign the contract with you and get my company registered today. I didn’t expect the conference to cause such a stir.”He gave a wry smile.“At this rate, getting out of the building might be a challenge.”“That’s easy enough to arrange.”Alan waved away the concern.“Jensen can handle the registration for you. He’s very reliable with these things. And you can leave whenever you like.”He took out his access card and offered it to Derek.“This will get you straight down to the private underground garage. Take one of my cars from there. No one upstairs will even know you’ve left.”He smiled.“If they want to wait around, let them.”“That works.”Derek accepted the card without fuss.With someone to handle the registration, he turned to his n

“M-Mr. Harris? What are you doing down here?” Her head spun. The color drained from her face. Did Derek really know him? Could he actually get her fired? No. That wasn’t possible. Where would he have gotten a connection like that? She stood rooted to the spot, her face burning as she struggled to find something to say. “Mr. Harris, let me explain—” He cut her off before she could get another word out.The manager cut Iris off before she could explain.“Enough. You’re nowhere near your target this month, and I find you down here catching up with friends? How many times do we have to have this conversation?”Iris blinked.“Sorry?”“Save it for after work. Next time I catch you, we’re going to have a problem.”He glanced at Derek’s clothes.“God knows he’s not here to spend any money,” he muttered.Derek frowned.The man didn’t seem to recognize him. There was no sign that he knew anything about their phone call, either.Had he been speaking to someone else?“Understood. It won’t

Titan Corp.Derek read the name, then looked at Jensen.“Titan? You’re setting the bar pretty high.”“That was Alan’s idea.” Jensen smiled. “He calls you a sleeping giant. Says once you get back to work, this city won’t know what hit it. Give it a few years, and you’ll have a name for yourself across the country.”“You two have certainly thought this through.”“Alan won’t get an argument from me. I’ve seen what you can do.” Jensen’s smile softened. “You’re young, Derek. You’ve got plenty ahead of you.”Derek shook his head with a quiet laugh. “Let’s get the company off the ground before we start talking about the whole country.”He wasn’t particularly concerned about the name. What mattered was having something to work toward.For years, he had arranged his life around Erin, putting his own ambitions aside until there was barely anything left of them. He was done with that. He wanted work that challenged him, decisions that were his to make, and a future he could look forward to.Over