He Fired Me After Getting Funded—Too Bad I Was the Money

Chapter 4

I arrived at the hotel at 2:50 p.m. Promotional banners were already set up outside the event ballroom.

Ethan was giving an interview in front of the event backdrop with Vanessa's arm looped through his. They looked polished enough together.

A reporter asked, "Mr. Cole, we heard the company had a rough start. Is it true you carried it through the hardest period all by yourself?"

Ethan smiled, all modesty. "Starting a company's never easy. Back then I was sleeping three, four hours a night. I stayed on top of the code, the product, the pitch deck, all of it myself. Thankfully, I stuck it out."

Standing at the back of the crowd, I almost applauded.

'Wow. What a load of crap.'

Vanessa spotted me, and the smile on her face faded. She walked over.

"Miss Parker, you actually came."

"Did you invite me?"

She lowered her voice. "I'm telling you this for your own good. Don't make a scene. Everyone here is from the investment world. If you humiliate yourself here, no one will hire you afterward."

"Does your father know you threaten people like this?"

Her face darkened. "Natalie, I know you're upset. But Ethan chose me because I can help him get ahead. You stayed with him through the hard times. That doesn't mean you're entitled to share his success."

I nodded. "You should frame that line and hang it on a wall."

"What?"

"As a warning label. For hopeless romantics everywhere."

Ethan noticed me too and strode over, all traces of his smile gone.

"What are you doing here?"

"Watching you close the round."

"Natalie." His tone was a warning. "If you start making wild claims about the past, I won't go easy on you."

"What are you going to do?"

"Sue you."

"For what?"

"Leaking trade secrets and deliberately sabotaging our funding."

I laughed. "Then hurry up and file."

People nearby began looking over.

With the cameras on him, Ethan couldn't afford to lose his temper. He gritted his teeth. "What exactly do you want?"

"I told you this morning."

"It's impossible," he said immediately. "The founder list has already been submitted. It can't be changed. I can reimburse what you paid out, but you're not getting shares or credit."

I looked at him. "Ethan, do you know what you look like right now?"

He said nothing.

I answered for him. "Like somebody who copied off another kid's test, then complained the actual owner wrote her name too big across the top."

His face darkened.

Vanessa gave a cold laugh. "Miss Parker, words aren't evidence. You say you contributed so much. Where's your proof?"

I had just opened my mouth when the doors to the ballroom opened.

The event coordinator stepped out and announced, "Everyone, the funding announcement is about to begin."

Ethan immediately straightened his tie.

He lowered his voice. "Natalie, this is your last chance. Leave now, and I'll pretend none of this happened."

I looked at him. "And if I don't?"

He leaned closer until only I could hear him. "Then I'll have security drag you out. Who do you think people will believe: a crazy woman causing a scene after getting dumped by her boyfriend, or a founder about to close a major funding round?"

Before I could answer, a drawling voice came from behind me.

"I believe her."

Ethan froze.

Owen stepped out of the crowd. He wasn't wearing a tie, and his sleeves were rolled up to his forearms. Somehow, no one dared suggest he looked underdressed.

The fact that the entire Evermont team was following behind him probably had something to do with it.

The middle-aged man at the front greeted him with almost comical deference. "Mr. Hayes, Miss Parker, everything is ready."

The color drained slowly out of Ethan's face.

Vanessa went still too, her eyes ticking from me to Owen. "Miss… Parker?"

Owen stopped beside me and smiled. "So. Who are we dragging out?"