She spent a year pretending her billionaire boss didn’t affect her—until she kissed his face on a Forbes poster and heard his real voice say, “Interesting feedback technique, Miss Summers.”

One year later.

The Grand Ballroom of the New York Stock Exchange was packed with hundreds of executives, investors, and news crews.

Tonight was the annual Business Leadership Awards, celebrating the top entrepreneurs of the year.

Emma Summers stood near the backstage curtain, wearing a sleek crimson silk suit. Her dark hair was styled in soft, confident waves over her shoulders.

Over the last twelve months, she had launched her own independent financial consulting firm—Summers Global Strategy. She hadn't taken a single dollar from Daniel. She hadn't used his contacts. She had worked twenty-hour days, secured her own clients, and built an empire from scratch.

Her firm had just been valued at two hundred million dollars.

"And now," the announcer's voice boomed over the loudspeakers, "the award for Breakout Business Leader of the Year goes to... Miss Emma Summers!"

The crowd erupted into thunderous applause.

Emma took a deep breath, stepped out onto the stage, and accepted the glass trophy. She looked out at the sea of faces, smiling brightly as the cameras flashed.

Then, her eyes landed on the front row.

Sitting in the center seat was Daniel Whitmore.

He was wearing a black tuxedo, looking as handsome and powerful as the day she had first met him. But he wasn't looking at the stage like a mogul. He was looking at her with pure, unadulterated devotion. He was clapping harder than anyone in the room.

After her speech, Emma walked out into the private garden terrace behind the hall to catch her breath in the crisp night air.

The heavy oak doors creaked open.

"Incredible speech, Miss Summers," a smooth, familiar baritone voice spoke from the shadows.

Emma turned. Her heart did the familiar, wild leap it always did. "Mr. Whitmore."

Daniel walked out into the moonlight. He stopped a foot away from her. He looked at her trophy, then at her face.

"I missed you," he said simply, no games, no corporate posture. Just the raw, naked truth. "Three hundred and sixty-five days of not seeing you every morning was hell."

"I missed you too," Emma admitted softly, tears shining in her eyes. "Every single day."

Daniel reached into his inner tuxedo pocket and pulled out a magazine. He handed it to her.

Emma looked down.

It was the newest issue of Forbes magazine.

On the cover wasn't just Daniel.

It was a photograph of the two of them—Emma standing front and center in her red suit, her posture powerful and confident, with Daniel standing slightly behind her, his hand resting proudly on her waist.

The headline read: THE POWER COUPLE OF WALL STREET: HOW EMMA SUMMERS AND DANIEL WHITMORE REWROTE THE RULES OF EMPIRE.

Emma stared at the cover, her lower lip trembling. "Daniel... how?"

"I bought forty percent of Forbes last month," Daniel said with a soft, mischievous grin. "Just so I could control the cover."

Emma laughed—a rich, happy sound that echoed through the quiet garden. "You bought a magazine company?"

"I told you a year ago," Daniel murmured, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her tight against his chest. "I hated that old poster. Because you weren't in it."

He looked down into her eyes, his hazel gaze burning with a love that had survived time, rumors, distance, and pride.

"You built your empire, Emma," Daniel whispered against her lips. "You proved to the world who you are. Now... come home to me."

"I never left," Emma whispered back.

Daniel leaned down and kissed her—a deep, passionate, eternal kiss under the stars of New York City.