These people.
There were moments when bias hid behind professional language.
This was no longer one of them.
Jerome's eyes moved toward Darien.
Darien saw apology there.
Not cowardice.
Constraint.
“I'll leave,” Darien said.
Victoria looked almost disappointed that there would be no argument.
“There will be an escort.”
“That isn't necessary.”
“I want to make sure you actually exit the premises.”
Darien picked up his portfolio.
Klaus stared at Victoria.
“Victoria.”
“What?”
He shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Darien turned toward the doors.
Jerome walked beside him.
Matt followed several steps behind.
No one touched Darien.
That mattered to him.
So did the fact that half the lobby was watching.
Phones had appeared.
A woman near the coffee table held hers upright.
Darien kept his head high.
He did not look at the cameras.
As they reached the front doors, Jerome lowered his voice.
“Mr. Cole?”
Darien looked over.
“I am sorry.”
“You didn't do anything.”
“I didn't stop it either.”
Darien considered that.
“You asked for my name.”
Jerome nodded.
“Should've done more.”
“Maybe.”
The doors opened.
Cold San Francisco air touched Darien's face.
He stepped onto the sidewalk.
Jerome stayed under the awning.
Darien turned.
“You treated me like a person.”
Jerome's expression tightened.
“Shouldn't be a compliment.”
“No.”
Darien looked through the windows.
Victoria was already turning back toward the Germans.
“No,” he repeated. “It shouldn't.”
Then he walked away.
Inside the Four Seasons, Victoria smoothed one sleeve of her Chanel jacket as though Darien had somehow left dirt on it.
“I apologize,” she told Klaus and Peter. “You would not believe how often people try to get access to investors.”
Klaus stared at her.
“That seemed unnecessary.”
Victoria waved one hand.
“You have to be firm.”
Peter picked up his briefcase.
“We should go.”
Victoria frowned.
“But I thought we could continue the discussion about restructuring.”
“There is no discussion,” Klaus said.
“We told you last week.”
“Markets change.”
“Our decision did not.”
Victoria smiled tightly.
“You came here this morning.”
“Out of courtesy.”
Klaus looked toward the doors Darien had just walked through.
Then back at Victoria.
“Perhaps courtesy is more important than we realized.”
The two men left.
Victoria stood alone.
For a moment, she felt irritated.
Not ashamed.
Irritated.
She pulled out her phone and typed a message to Jenny.
That supposed investor who showed up at Four Seasons. Delete his contact record. I don't want him bothering us again.
Then Victoria returned to the office.
She had forgotten him by 10:00.
Darien had not forgotten her.
Three months earlier, Ashford Technologies had appeared salvageable.
The company had not been fraudulent.
That was what made the situation frustrating.
The product worked.
Ashford Technologies developed predictive infrastructure software used by hospitals, logistics firms, and municipal systems to anticipate equipment failures before they occurred. Its core platform could identify patterns in millions of data points and warn clients before refrigeration systems, power modules, transportation equipment, or industrial components failed.
The technology had value.
The business had problems.
Victoria had expanded too quickly.
She opened offices in Europe before domestic sales were stable.
She hired aggressively after a massive valuation increase.
She signed expensive long-term leases.
She acquired two smaller companies without fully integrating either one.
Worst of all, she spent as if the next funding round were guaranteed.
It wasn't.