Miriam smiled and said, “Of course. There were a couple of hiccups, but we handled them just fine.”

Teresa nodded.

A lot of people showed up for the launch. All the clients Jonathan had brought in for her were there.

Teresa was honestly surprised–she hadn’t expected everyone to show up and support her like this.

Before long, Benny showed up too.

Someone recognized Benny as Clint’s son.

Benny greeted a few people he knew and then walked over to Teresa. He said, “Not bad at all. I was actually worried the launch might get pushed back, but I guess Jonathan and I were stressing for nothing.”

“You and Jonathan?” Teresa repeated, giving Benny a sharp look.

Benny realized he’d let something slip and quickly explained, “I kind of brought you up to him, just in passing.”

Teresa sneered, “Fine, just let him laugh at me if that’s what you want.”

“What do you mean?” Benny asked, confused. He watched as Teresa walked away and followed her back to her office.

Teresa handed back the card Benny had given her. She said, “I know the secret you told Mike about why he can’t come back.”

“Oh, that? I was just joking with your son,” Benny replied.

“Were you really just joking?” Teresa asked seriously.

Benny coughed lightly and sighed. Then he said, “Do you really think he could come back with his mom still around?”

But Teresa totally misunderstood. She said, “Well, good for him. Looks like he found a wife his mom approves of and gave her the perfect grandson.”

Benny was confused. But before he could ask, Teresa had already gone back to the event.

The launch went smoothly, and as people gradually started to leave, Teresa took advantage of a reporter’s question to finally clear things up about her and Jonathan–just as Irene had hoped.

She said, “As for Jonathan and me, the truth is, we’re divorced. We just couldn’t get along, no matter how hard we tried. I hope people stop speculating online, like saying his company is about to go bankrupt. You can tell whether his company is viable just by looking at its scale–no need for me to say more. In short, we’ve agreed to stay friends and raise the kids together.”

The crowd’s reactions were all over the place.

Benny had to leave early, so he missed what Teresa said. But Edward stuck around, recorded the whole thing, and sent the video straight to Jonathan.

Teresa had already gotten off the stage. She thought she might finally get a good night’s sleep.

On her way home, her phone started ringing. She was driving, so she declined the call. But the phone rang again. She put on her headphones and answered the phone.

Jonathan snapped, “You really couldn’t wait to clear things up and tell everyone you have nothing to do with me, could you?”

His voice came through a little muffled, as if he were at some noisy business event; even so, it was low, edged with complaint and anger.

Teresa shot back, “So you saw all the rumors? Then why didn’t you clear things up yourself? Would you be okay with people making wild guesses about you, saying you’re finished and your company’s stock is tanking?”

Jonathan retorted, “If I can’t handle a little gossip, then what kind of CEO would I be? But you–seriously, instead of staying home and getting some rest, all you do is run around. Do you even know your own limits?”

Teresa’s anger flared even more. She snapped, “Yeah, maybe I don’t know what I’m capable of, but I want to find out for myself. I’m not some nobody—I majored in design, and I made a lot of sacrifices for our marriage and the kids. Now I’m working my ass off to rebuild my confidence. I don’t want your mom criticizing me anymore, and I don’t want her looking down on me.”

Jonathan’s brow knit tightly as he immediately sensed something was off. He asked, “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m just wishing you all the best–congratulations on your new baby,” Teresa shot back, her voice thick with sarcasm.

Jonathan exclaimed, “What? Are you pregnant again?”