Ruin My IPO? I'll Pull Your Funding

My phone suddenly rang. It was Yvette calling.

I put her on speaker phone, only to hear her high-pitched, frustrated voice coming through. "Where are you, Callum? The IPO event is about to end! Henry accidentally spilled champagne on his suit. You need to get back here right away and let Henry change into the bespoke suit you're wearing."

My hospital room was very quiet, with only a faint beeping audible. Yvette's screaming sounded particularly ridiculous in the empty room. "Did you hear what I said? Henry has an interview with the finance media later. He can't appear on screen in a dirty suit. I was the one who paid for your suit, and you need to bring it over right now!"

I stared at the bright light on the ceiling and replied in a hoarse voice, "I'm in the emergency room, Yvette. The doctor said my lower body is badly burnt, and was almost damaged permanently."

There was a second of silence, followed by Yvette clicking her tongue impatiently. "Are you done, Callum? Can you stop with your act? Why would you need to go to the emergency room when it's just some ointment? Are you trying to trick me into visiting you by acting all pitiful? I can tell you right now that it isn't working!"

Henry's voice could be heard in the background. "Forget about it, Yvette. If Callum isn't willing to loan me his suit, I'm fine with my dirty one. I just hope I won't end up embarrassing you…"

His little scheme of playing victim fueled Yvette's rage. "He won't refuse you his suit!" Yvette raised her voice. "Bring that suit over within 30 minutes, Callum! Otherwise, don't even dream of stepping through the office door again!"

I hung up right away and blocked her number. I closed my eyes to force myself to calm down. It still required some time for the funding to be stopped, and before that happened, I had to take back everything that belonged to me.

There was a copy of my core code and an emerald pendant that my mother left to me before she died. They were all kept in the safe at my office.

I tore off the IV tube from the back of my hand and forced myself to get out of bed despite the nurse trying her best to stop me. I hailed a cab and returned to the office.

The office was in a mess as the party for the IPO event had just ended. The employees gathered in different groups as they talked about the celebration. I avoided the crowd and headed straight to my personal office on the top floor. I was furious at what I saw when I pushed the door open. Someone had rummaged through my office table, leaving it in a mess.

Henry was seated in my office chair, acting like a boss with his feet on my redwood table. He was wearing the bespoke suit I had carefully put away because of its high value while playing carelessly with my emerald pendant.

"Well, look who it is. The man who declared our CEO's bankruptcy via cyberspace." Henry looked at me and laughed wildly instead of feeling guilty about what he did. "What are you doing here? Did you come back to the office to play with your simple app because the hospital has lousy Wifi?"

I stared at the emerald pendant in his hand, looking like my eyes could spout fire at any time. "Put it down." My tone was icy as I walked over to Henry.

Henry's lips curled as he waved the pendant under the lights. "What are you so mad about? Isn't this just an ordinary piece of stone?"