"Don't even mention him — he infuriated me tonight."
Vanessa was still fuming, the humiliation from Rosewood sitting hot and fresh.
For years Cole had been exactly what she needed him to be — accommodating, predictable, always within reach. Tonight he had made her feel like a fool in front of a restaurant full of people, and the sting of it hadn't faded one bit.
Derek took a slow breath and steadied himself.
"Vanessa, you need to understand what's at stake right now. The Harrington Group is facing a serious crisis. We need the Ashford family's backing to get through it. That means Margaret and I cannot separate — not yet."
The color drained from Vanessa's face.
"Is that what you think happened tonight? That I deliberately sabotaged it?"
Her voice came out unsteady, something raw underneath it.
"Think about it. I know exactly how Cole Harmon has always felt about you. The man chased you for four years and did everything you asked. You walk in and confess to him, and he turns you down flat? That doesn't add up."
Derek's tone had gone flat and serious, the warmth entirely gone. His arrangement with Margaret was at a critical point. If Margaret found out about Vanessa's pregnancy now, everything would fall apart before it even got started. Everything the Harrington Group needed would be gone with it.
"You heartless man." Vanessa's voice broke. The tears came before she could stop them. "I was willing to go to Cole for you — to tie myself to someone I don't even want — and you still sit there and accuse me."
Derek shifted immediately, pulling the coldness back behind something softer.
"You're right. I shouldn't have said it like that. I wasn't thinking."
He reached across and handed her a tissue.
Vanessa took it and pressed it carefully to the corners of her eyes, steadying herself. When she spoke again her voice was controlled, the tears tucked away.
"I want to be your wife, Derek. That means I want the Harrington Group to survive. I have no interest in blowing up your arrangement with Margaret — none. So don't insult me by implying otherwise."
"You're right. You're absolutely right." He reached for her hand. "You are the one I love. The moment we're through this crisis and the Harrington Group is back on solid ground, I will marry you. I mean that."
Vanessa looked out the window.
"I hope you remember saying that."
A pause settled between them. Derek cleared his throat.
"Vanessa — about the baby. Maybe we should consider—"
"No." She cut him off before he could finish the sentence. "I'll handle it. It won't touch you."
She wasn't giving up that baby. Without it Derek would move on without a backward glance, and she knew it. She wasn't that foolish.
"But Cole already said no. What other option is there?"
Derek's frown deepened. He didn't like loose ends.
"Something was off about him tonight." Vanessa turned it over slowly, thinking out loud. "The way he looked at me — it wasn't like before. There was no softness in it. He was cold. Almost like he already knew something." She paused. "Do you think he found out I was pregnant before I even went to him?"
Derek dismissed it immediately.
"Impossible. We have been careful about everything. Margaret hasn't noticed a thing. There is no way Cole Harmon, of all people, figured something out that she didn't. Stop overthinking it."
"You're probably right."
Vanessa rubbed her temples. The evening had worn her completely down.
"Let me take you home."
Derek pulled back onto the road. After a few minutes of silence Vanessa spoke again, her voice quieter.
"Stay with me tonight. I feel terrible."
Derek's expression shifted into something that looked like regret but wasn't.
"I can't tonight. There's still work to deal with, and I have an early meeting tomorrow morning."
What he didn't say was that he was on his way to pick up Margaret. Tomorrow they were going to the Crestfield Antique Market together — her father's birthday was coming up, and as the man trying to marry into the Ashford family he needed to show up with something impressive. He had no intention of telling Vanessa any of this. That conversation wasn't one he had the energy for tonight.
"Then pull over," Vanessa said. "I'll get a cab."
Her voice had gone cold and flat.
"Vanessa, don't—"
"Pull over."
Derek's jaw tightened. Vanessa had always been careful to stay warm and easy to be around. This version of her he found genuinely irritating.
He pulled to the curb.
He opened his mouth to say something — to smooth it over, buy back the warmth — but Vanessa was already out of the car. The door closed behind her with a solid thud. She flagged down a passing cab without looking back, got in, and was gone.
Derek sat at the curb and watched the cab's taillights disappear around the corner.
The woman who had once made everything feel simple had turned into a headache he hadn't seen coming. He was going to need to figure out what to do about her.
---
Back at Elmwood Apartments, Cole was still at his desk.
His fingers hadn't stopped moving for more than three hours. By one in the morning he had five complete chapters drafted — just over ten thousand words — and he uploaded them to Starfall Reads feeling good about it.
He pushed back from the desk and stretched until his spine cracked.
He needed to be up early for the Antique Market, so he couldn't push further tonight. It didn't worry him — the storylines were all already there, fully formed, just waiting to be typed out. Ten thousand words a day, three to four hours of work. The math was manageable.
He shut down the computer, ran through a quick wash-up, and was asleep almost before he finished lying down.
He slept straight through without dreaming and woke at eight feeling more rested than he had in years. In his previous life, ten years of grinding stress had made real sleep feel like a fantasy. He had forgotten what it felt like to wake up without something heavy already sitting on his chest.
He grabbed his toiletries and opened the bedroom door.
His other roommate was in the entryway, bent forward changing her shoes — the one who worked at the bank downtown, who had still been out when he got home last night. Her name was Dana Mercer. She was wearing a light blue blouse tucked into a fitted skirt that showed off every curve without even trying.
Cole stood in the doorway and took a moment.
---