Chapter 62
Not long after we saw Hilary off, Cecilia ducked out early too, leavingand Wallis in a real
pickle.
“I doubt there'll be any pulling of funding.” | mused, thinking about Hogan as mentioned by Hilary. “If nothing
else, for Cecilia's sake, he'd likely steady the ship.”
Wallis wasn’t quite on board with my take. “Even if things do steady, so what? Today Cecilia's throwing us under
the bus in front of everyone: tomorrow she could be hijacking our hard work. If you ask me, we better have a
Plan B up our sleeves.”
What Wallis meant was we should start scouting for other investors.
But Frank seemed less than keen, so who else could we turn to?
“Simon's got sconnections. | was thinking of getting him to scope things out for us.”
I was a bit taken aback. “You're still in touch with him?”
Wallis looked a bit sheepish, “Well, you know, he’s got a certain knack for that sort of thing.”
Thinking about the project's prospects, | agreed, “Alright, let’s give it a shot then.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
For two straight days. Wallis was busy hobnobbing with Simon. Simon was once a big shot in the Oakridge City
scene, had a wide network, and even knew a bunch of international capitalists. He agreed to broker sdeals
for us.
Wallis and | were on tenterhooks, not daring to slack off for a second.
Just then, Zachary’s call cthrough. “Mrs. Zade, Mr. Zade’s asking for you and President Lott to hit up
Rainbow Capital, pronto.”
That was out of the blue.
| probed indirectly. “Did he mention what it's about?”
“He didn’t say, but judging by Mr. Zade’s expression.”
Wallis and | instantly felt a headache coming on.
It was a no-win situation; who knew what kind of gHogan was playing.
Half an hour later, we showed up at the CEO's office.
As we entered, Hogan was on the phone, rattling off at a clip and throwing around sjargon - | barely
followed.
But he didn’t sound too friendly.
Wallis and | exchanged a glance and patiently stood by.
Eventually, Hogan hung up and gave us a cursory glance before asking, “Do you two know why I've asked you
here?”
1/2
10.04
“Cut to the
chase, Mr. Zade,” | said, without beating around the bush.
Hogan twirled his pen, gave a slight raise of his eyebrow, and said, “I hear you've been courting. new investors?”
So the news had reached his ears.
“Heh, so you're already looking for a new cash cow while I'm still in the picture?” Hogan scoffed. “Ever consider
that if Rainbow Capital drops a project, who else would pick it up?”
Wallis and | had a sinking feeling.
And then we heard Hogan say, “If you lack the commitment, then maybe it's best we call it quits.”
Wallis and | were blindsided by Hogan's outburst.
And he knew we had been looking for other investors, so why the sudden fury?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Hogan gavea sidelong glance and quipped, “Times change.”
| was left speechless.
Money talks, after all.
Wallis, trying to smooth things over, chimed in, “Mr. Zade, you know we're just a small studio: we can’t hold a
candle to a big group like yours.”
“Speaking of your company’s ethos,” Hogan interrupted Wallis, ominously adding, “it seems to reflect the
character of its manager quite well.”
He glanced atbefore adding, “Specializing in backups, aren't you?”
His sarcasm cut deep, insinuating without directly accusing.
Moments later, Zachary ushered us out of the CEO's office.
We were shown the door.
Wallis was baffled, “Hogan doesn’t seem like the type to lose perspective. Why the sudden cold shoulder?”
| also felt Hogan was off his gtoday.
“Could it be someone's been whispering in his ear?”
Wallis mentioned Cecilia had been to her office that morning and had taken a long look at the project file on her
desk.