Updated Mar 22, 2026 • ~2 min read
Chapter 22: Starting New Agency
MAREN
Ross-King Agency is thriving.
Three months since launch.
Twenty clients.
$30 million in contracts.
Fifteen employees.
We’re growing faster than expected.
And it’s exhausting.
I’m thirty-two weeks pregnant.
Running a startup.
Planning a wedding.
Sienna keeps telling me to slow down.
“You need rest. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’ll rest after Isla is born.”
“That’s not how babies work, Maren.”
But I can’t stop.
This agency is our future.
Our legacy.
For Isla.
I need it to succeed.
***
Emmett is a godsend.
Handles operations flawlessly.
Jasper focuses on strategy and big pitches.
Sienna runs creative.
I handle client relationships.
We’re a perfect team.
And clients love us.
“You’re not like other agencies. You actually collaborate.”
“You listen.”
“You innovate without the ego.”
Everything our old firms weren’t.
***
But I miss Conrad.
Three months of silence.
No calls. No texts. Nothing.
Valeria updates me occasionally.
“He’s struggling. Misses you. But too proud to admit it.”
I want to reach out.
But I’m angry too.
He chose the feud over me.
Over his grandniece.
And I can’t forgive that yet.
***
JASPER
The King Industries board reaches out.
Wants to meet.
“About what?”
Drake, still my friend despite everything, shrugs.
“They won’t say. But they’re… struggling.”
“Good.”
“Jasper—”
“They fired me for falling in love. Let them struggle.”
But curiosity wins.
I meet them.
Same conference room.
Same board members.
Looking humbled.
“Mr. King. Thank you for coming.”
“What do you want?”
“To apologize. We acted rashly. Emotionally. We shouldn’t have fired you.”
Too little, too late.
“And?”
“And we’d like you to consider returning. As CEO.”
I laugh.
Actually laugh.
“You’re joking.”
“We’re serious. King Industries needs you. Revenue is down. Clients are leaving. We need your vision.”
“My vision that you rejected? The one where I work with Maren Ross?”
Silence.
“We’re… open to collaboration. With Ross-King Agency.”
Interesting.
“I’m not interested.”
“Mr. King—”
“I have my own agency now. With the woman I love. We’re building something better than King Industries ever was. So no. I’m not coming back.”
I stand.
Leave.
And it feels amazing.
END OF CHAPTER 22
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