Chapter 4 Danger on All Sides
Camellia: POV
I clutched my steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white as Ethan's panicked voice echoed through my car speakers.
"Cam, this is bad. Really bad. All our investors are pulling out. Every single one."
My mind was still reeling from the pregnancy tests and the encounter with Victoria Bloom at the clinic.
Now this?
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to compartmentalize.
Baby drama in one box.
Company crisis in another.
"I'm heading there now. Call everyone for an emergency meeting in thirty minutes."
"Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you all morning," Ethan's voice was strained with worry.
"Doctor's appointment," I said curtly. "I'll explain later."
I hung up and pressed my foot harder on the accelerator.
The sleek Tesla responded instantly, weaving through Silicon Valley traffic.
My brain was already calculating possibilities, running through scenarios like our predictive algorithms ran through data sets.
Quinn.
It had to be Quinn behind this.
Revenge for rejecting his advances that night at Skyline Club.
But did he really have this much influence?
Could one rejected man-child cause all our investors to simultaneously pull funding?
I parked haphazardly in my reserved spot at NexaCore headquarters and practically ran to the elevator, changing from casual clothes to the emergency blazer and heels I kept in my office.
War armor, I called it.
And this was definitely war.
The conference room was packed with anxious faces.
My core team—engineers, marketing, sales—all looked like they'd seen a ghost.
Ethan stood at the head of the table, tablet in hand, his usual calm completely shattered.
"Everyone's out," he confirmed as I entered. "Sinclair Ventures, Morningstar Capital, Apex Partners—all of them. Simultaneously."
"Show me the emails," I demanded, taking my place at the head of the table.
Ethan projected them onto the main screen.
Each withdrawal letter was different in wording but identical in timing—all sent within a two-hour window this morning.
"This isn't a coincidence," I muttered, scanning the timestamps.
My CFO, a former Wall Street analyst, nodded grimly. "The coordination suggests someone's pulling strings. Big strings."
I dismissed the team after outlining immediate cost-cutting measures and assigning emergency client retention tasks.
Only Ethan remained as I retreated to my private office.
I stood at my floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the sprawling tech campus below.
Silicon Valley—where dreams were made and shattered daily.
Today, mine were on the shattering side of that equation.
"I initially thought this was Quinn's retaliation," I said, more to myself than to Ethan.
He snorted. "Quinn doesn't have this kind of pull. He's a mid-level player at best."
I pulled up investment connection maps on my tablet, tracing ownership structures and board relationships between our former backers.
"Look at these crossover points," I said, marking several nodes. "Bloom Luxury Group subsidiaries appear as minority stakeholders in three of our major investors."
Ethan peered over my shoulder, his breath warm on my neck. "You think Richard Bloom is behind this?"
I frowned, remembering Richard's angry phone call about the pregnancy. "The timing would be...suspicious."
Ethan's face hardened at the mention of Richard's name. "I have some savings," he said abruptly. "Not much, but I could inject about fifty thousand to keep things afloat temporarily."
I looked up, startled by the offer.
This went well beyond professional loyalty.
"You don't need to do that, Ethan."
"It's just a stopgap measure," he insisted. "Until we figure this out."
I studied him carefully.
We'd worked together for years, but this level of personal sacrifice was unexpected.
"That call yesterday," Ethan hesitated. "Was that from Richard Bloom?"
I tensed. "How did you know?"
"I happened to see the caller ID. Your face changed when you saw the caller ID. And you've been...different since."
His eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't trust him, Cam. Everyone in Silicon Valley knows he's just a playboy who uses his family connections to get what he wants."
The venom in his voice surprised me.
Ethan was usually measured, analytical—never emotional like this.
"You sound like you have personal history with him," I probed gently.
Ethan's jaw tightened. "We crossed paths at Stanford. Let's just say I've seen firsthand the damage he can do."
I wanted to press further, but my phone buzzed with alerts from our automated security system.
Someone was attempting to access our development servers.
"We've got a breach attempt," I said, instantly refocusing. "They're going after our algorithm."
The pregnancy, Richard, Ethan's mysterious past with him—all would have to wait.
My company was under attack from all sides, and I needed to focus on saving what I'd built.
Richard: POV
I pushed the food around my plate, barely registering the exquisite taste of our family chef's signature roast duck.
The massive dining table at Bloom estate—three generations of antique mahogany that had seated presidents and royalty—felt suffocating tonight.
"Richard, you've barely touched your food," Mother noted, her gentle voice cutting through my haze of thoughts.
"Not hungry," I mumbled, taking a sip of water instead.
All I could think about was Camellia's voice on the phone.
Her flat declaration: "I'm pregnant."
And her equally flat solution: "I'll schedule a termination."
Grandfather William dominated the conversation as usual, discussing our family's latest acquisition—a boutique watch manufacturer in Switzerland.
"The craftsmanship is exceptional," he was saying. "Perfect addition to our portfolio."
I nodded automatically, my mind eight miles away, wondering what Camellia was doing right now.
Had she already "taken care of it" as she so clinically put it?
"Oh, by the way," my sister Victoria chimed in suddenly, "I ran into Camellia Frost at Memorial Hospital today."
My head snapped up so fast I nearly strained my neck.
"She seemed...different," Victoria continued casually. "I think she might be pregnant."
The clinking of silverware stopped.
All eyes turned to me.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Grandfather lowered his fork. "Camellia, pregnant? I wasn't aware she was seeing anyone."
Mother's gaze turned curious.
Father, usually buried in his phone during dinner, actually looked up.
"Whoever ends up with that girl will be a lucky man," Grandfather added, a strange glint in his eye. "She's built quite the impressive little company, despite her family's... complications."
I gripped my napkin under the table, knuckles white.
Pregnancy shouldn't be visible at eight weeks.
How did Victoria know?
"You saw Camellia?" I demanded, my voice coming out sharper than intended. "And you could tell she's pregnant? How?"
Victoria raised an eyebrow at my outburst. "Well, she was at the OB-GYN floor, for one thing. And she dropped her bag—papers spilled out. I caught a glimpse of some lab results."
The dinner table fell silent again.
I could feel everyone's eyes boring into me.
"Why are you so interested, Richard?" Victoria asked innocently. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this pregnancy, would you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped too quickly. "I can't stand that woman. I'd have to be out of my mind to get involved with her."
Mother frowned. "Richard, you've been acting strange for weeks. You're pale, you've lost weight, and now you're snapping at your sister."
"Speaking of strange behavior," Victoria added, twirling her wine glass, "weren't you at Skyline Club around two months ago? The night of the tech investment gala?"
My heart stopped. "I wasn't—I didn't see Camellia there."
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake.
Victoria's eyes lit up with triumph.
"I never said anything about seeing Camellia there," she said softly. "Interesting that your mind went straight to her."
Trapped.
I'd fucking trapped myself.
I shoved my chair back and stood up abruptly. "I'm done eating."
"He's never reacted like that before," After Richard left, his mother was saying, concern evident in her voice. "Something's happening with him and this Frost girl."
Victoria nodded. "He practically confirmed it with that outburst. We need to find out what's going on before Grandfather does something drastic."
"You think he'll try to force a marriage?" His mother sounded worried.
"You know how he feels about Camellia's technology. If Richard is involved with her pregnancy..." Victoria's voice faded as they turned the corner.
And he had no idea what they were plotting.