Page 69 of Return on Love

Hear him out? Is he serious? Isn’t that what I did? Hear him, understand him, trust him. Look where it has led me. I dart out of the hotel lobby and hail a cab back to my apartment. But once I’m back in my stark, bland house, I can’t control my emotions anymore. A stream of tears flow down my cheeks. I’m not even sure why I’m crying. Is it because Priscilla hurt me again? Or because I’ve lost, utterly and miserably? Or because I know that not only could I not save Bernard, but I’m about to lose my job as well? Or is it because Ryan betrayed me? I was better off when I still hated him. That’s what he deserved.

I sit on my couch wallowing in my misery, sniveling and feeling like a moron. My phone rings. It’s Dad. Why is he calling me? It’s not my birthday, and that’s usually the only day he calls if Alex reminds him on time. I let it ring. There are a few more calls. From Ryan. I need to collect myself. I wash my face and brew myself some coffee.

I still have to do my work. I must try, with or without Ryan. Picking up my phone, I see there are several messages. One from Nora, asking how badly Greg’s review will impact the chances of funding. I’ll have to see the game for myself. I make a note.

“I’ll be in LA later this week. Let’s have lunch on Friday if you’re not busy. I have a flight back that evening, so lunch is all I can do.” That’s the message from Dad. Why does he want to meet me? He never, like never, meets me without Alex. Has he already heard of my misery? Has Priscilla somehow got to him too? Maybe he just wants to show his disappointment again. You know what? I’m done with all this now. I’m done with Dad’s disappointing looks and Ryan’s betrayal and Bob’s cheating and Weber’s…well, whatever it is, he’s done. And I need to teach that Priscilla a lesson.

There’s another message. This one from Ryan. “I’m meeting Priscilla at 4pm. Can we talk before that? Please.”

I hate this man’s guts. Meeting the woman who’s destroyed me emotionally and is now hell-bent on destroying my career, and he’s expecting me to talk to him. For what? To help him bring me to the ground. Some nerves he has. But I’ll show him. I’ll show them all that I don’t go down easy.

I switch off my phone. I need a break and decide to try my hand at the new game. A good game always lifts my spirits. Nora has sent me the link. I login as YodaPrincess and play the two levels against AI. I must say, it’s enjoyable. It’s immersive, the character designs are great, the storyline is interesting and execution is decent. I’d love to play more. As usual, I’ve made a short video of my play and post it with a raving, but true, review of the game. I hope it will counter part of Greg’s negativity. I hate Ryan, but I’m still a professional. And unlike him, I won’t lie because of personal vendetta.

I ping RamBam. I want to vent out my frustration. But he’s not online. There’s a message from him that he’d sent some days ago.

“She’s not engaged. I’m over the moon. I’m never letting her go now.”

I smile. At least some thing good is happening in someone’s life. I hope things work out between him and her.

I let out a sigh. It’s time to make my case. A screenshot of the email from Bernard to James suggesting he use the alternative email. The screenshot of the email with OTP on Priscilla’s email. The fact that Bernard never called James about going ahead with the app without legal approval. As I go through the details, I remember Richard King, the new investor in CashCross. I’ve seen him somewhere, but I just can’t remember where. Is he linked to Priscilla? A possibility opens up and I scan through Priscilla’s social media posts. I pause at a photo and enlarge it. There he is. Richard King was Priscilla’s long-time boyfriend through her grad school, till the time she started dating Bob. No wonder he seemed familiar, because I had obsessed over the woman after my breakup.

So, Priscilla’s ex-boyfriend invested in CashCross! And now, as a partner in our firm, she’s influencing funding for this same company. I need the terms of Richard King’s investment. I have a feeling it’s not straight-up equity. He doesn’t come from a money family. I switch on my phone. Some messages from Ryan pop up, but I choose to ignore them and call up Neil. He’s been working on the deal and would know the details.

“Hey Neil, I needed some help. Hope I’m not disturbing you on Sunday, but Weber told me I should ask you.”

“Weber? He said nothing to me. But, sure. Go ahead. What is it?”

“What are the terms of Richard King’s investment in CashCross?”

Neil doesn’t speak up immediately. “What?” he asks in a few moments.

“Look, I know they had a lot of debt. I need to create something similar for one of my clients.”

“MooreGames? Do they have so much debt?”

“Not MooreGames. Someone else. I can’t figure out how to structure it, man. You’re so good at this stuff. Help me out, here.” Pander to a man’s ego, and they’ll give you what you want.

“It’s simple, really. It’s a stop-gap thing. Mainly on paper. Our firm will buy out Richard King’s share, which will then repay the debt.”

“So the debt is still there? But it doesn’t show on the balance sheet. How?”

“There’s some fine print there. Post-dated cheques to the bank for repayment based on the agreed upon schedule. A certain amount was paid last week and some more on Friday and he’s sent his bank details, which show a good amount of money.”

“King? Where did he get the money?”

“Rich family? I don’t know. Look, Eva. Gotta go. I’ve mentioned everything in the presentation I handed over to Priscilla.”

“Hey, thanks, man.”

I open the presentation Priscilla has sent to the partners as soon as I disconnect the phone. Nothing about all this that Neil just mentioned. There’s no reason for Neil to lie, so obviously it’s Priscilla again. King paid off part of the loan on Friday. How did he raise money? Could that be the reason James was told to launch his app without legal protection? I call up James and tell him to send me the details of the people who raised money from his app before he took it off.

There are two people. R King and Richard K. Wow! So they tried to raise money through crowdsourcing from James’ company, knowing the lenders had no legal protection. But the transaction didn’t go through. Maybe the money Richard had in his bank account was the amount they’ve accused Bernard of siphoning off. Now, they’ll get the fund from our firm and Richard King, Priscilla’s boyfriend, will make some clean money off it, without doing any work. It’s totally messed up. I put this all on the slides. Ugh. That must be it. I should be a private investigator. I smile as I think of Poirot in the Agatha Christie novels I love. But while the logic seems to be there, the proof is lacking.

It’s already late evening. Ryan must’ve met Priscilla and cut a deal for himself. The traitor! It’s hard to believe he’d betray me like this. Betray Bernard too. I pick up my phone and see that he’s sent over ten messages.

Many of them are apologies and requests to call him back. Well, that’s not happening. The last one is interesting, though.

“I’ve got your back, whether or not you believe it.”

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