No wonder he''d left so early this morning. He was picking up Sandra for the event.


    Even when she had saved his life, he had never shown her such courtesy. It was true what they said: if you weren''t loved, you got nothing.


    On the bright side, Tess had calledst night to say the Rosenberg Group was no longer pursuing the matter, and the person who actually published the story had been fired from herpany.


    Hannah and Anna took the elevator up. They didn''t run into Sandra, but when they got to the conference hall, they found that the organizers had assigned all three of them seats together.


    As they approached, they saw a crowd gathered around their row.


    "Ms. Woods, I heard you joined the legal department at the Rosenberg Group! Congrattions!"


    "We look forward to working with you, Ms. Woods. Here''s my card."


    "How are you recovering, Ms. Woods? You shouldn''t be pushing yourself so soon. You should still be resting."


    The crowd was so thick they couldn''t get to their seats, and the fawning voices were starting to grate on Hannah''s nerves.


    "Excuse me," Anna called out, her voiceced with forced cheerfulness. "Those are our seats. Could you please make some room?"


    The crowd turned, but recognizing neither of them, the chattering paused for only a moment before resuming.


    Sandra, however, spotted them through the throng. "Hannah!" she called out warmly, standing up. "Everyone, please excuse us. My friend is here, and the symposium is about to start. We shouldn''t block the way."


    Hearing this, the crowd reluctantly dispersed, some even shooting annoyed nces at Hannah and Anna.


    "You two know each other?" Anna whispered, her eyes wide.


    Hannah nodded slightly. "We used to work at the same firm, but we weren''t close."


    Anna could smell a story and was about to press for details, but Hannah stopped her. "Let''s just sit down. We can talkter."


    "Right."


    Anna sat between them, but that didn''t deter Sandra. She leaned forward slightly, looking past Anna to Hannah."I just got out of the hospital when heard


    from Ma


    Jones that you''d resigned. Was it


    because of me?"


    Anna''s ears perked up.


    Hannahughed as if she''d heard the funniest joke. "You tter yourself, Ms.


    Woods. No one influences my career decisions but me."


    Sandra looked taken aback,


    awkwardly touching her temple. "Oh,


    I thought it was my fault that I''d


    caused you


    trouble When Mr. Jones


    told me, I was so shocked. I wanted


    to call and apologize, but I was


    afraid a phone call wouldn''t be


    sincere enough."


    Hannah just smiled faintly. Sandra pressed on. "My junior associate and I are both


    going to the Rosenberg Group."


    "Then congrattions on achieving your dream.”


    "I''m not trying to show off. I just feel like that position should have been yours. Hannah, if you want to join the Rosenberg Group too, I can put in a word with... Mr. Rosenberg Sandra caught herself using his formal title in public to avoid fueling any rumors.


    "The Keystone Group is just as good as the Rosenberg Group," Hannah said coolly. "Ms. Woods, I believe the session is starting."


    Sandra looked like she wanted to say more, but the host was already on stage, so she let it drop.


    The morning session ended, with another scheduled for the afternoon. For lunch, everyone was directed to a buffet in the hotel restaurant.


    Sandra, holding a te of food, found Hannah''s table.


    "May I sit here?" she asked, gesturing to the empty seat opposite Hannah.


    “No, that''s my colleague''s seat.” Just as Hannah spoke, Anna walked up.