Five hundred million.
The number echoed in Victoria's head like a bell. Without that money, the company died in 11 weeks.
"Oh my God." Victoria stood so fast her chair rolled backward and hit the window. "Oh my God. Oh my God."
She grabbed her phone and found Darien's number in the deleted contacts folder. Her fingers were sweating so much she had to wipe them on her skirt before she could dial.
The phone rang once, twice, three times. Voicemail.
"Mr. Cole, this is Victoria Ashford. I believe there was a terrible misunderstanding this morning. I would love to reschedule our meeting at your earliest convenience. Please call me back."
She hung up and called again. Voicemail again.
"Jenny," Victoria said, her voice rising, "get Marcus in here now."
Marcus Brooks arrived three minutes later holding coffee and a folder of quarterly reports.
"What's the emergency?"
Victoria showed him the Forbes article. "The investor we were supposed to meet this morning, the one I had security throw out."
Marcus read. His face went from confused to shocked to horrified in about 10 seconds.
"Please tell me this is a joke."
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Marcus set down his coffee. Some of it sloshed over the rim onto the quarterly reports, but he did not seem to notice.
"Victoria, please tell me you didn't actually have Darien Cole removed from the hotel."
"I didn't know who he was. He showed up dressed like a college student."
"He's famous for that." Marcus's voice rose. "He literally wrote an op-ed about it in The Wall Street Journal. It's his whole thing. He doesn't wear suits. Everyone knows this."
Victoria sank into her chair. The leather squeaked. The sound made her flinch.
"Can we fix this?"
Marcus pulled out his phone and started scrolling. His jaw tightened.
"Cole Ventures was our only option. Victoria, we've been rejected by 23 other firms. Cole was interested because of our technology. He spent eight months researching us."
"Eight months?"
"Yes."
"So we apologize. We explain. We..."
"He invests based on character." Marcus looked up from his phone. "He says it in every interview. He doesn't care about pitch decks. He cares about leadership, about how people treat others."
The words landed like stones.
Victoria tried Darien's number again. Voicemail.
She opened her laptop and typed an email with shaking fingers.
Dear Mr. Cole,
I want to sincerely apologize for the confusion this morning. It was a hectic day and I failed to properly review my schedule. I would be honored to reschedule at your convenience. Our entire team is excited about the possibility of partnering with Cole Ventures.
Warmest regards,
Victoria Ashford
She hit send. The whoosh sound felt final.
Marcus was still scrolling his phone. "Oh no."
"What?"