He disconnected and immediately dialed somebody else.
“Richard?” Mom said sharply. “What’s happening?”
He raised one hand while waiting for the new call to connect.
“Bill, it’s Richard Anderson. I just received a call that seems…”
He stopped.
“Yes. I’ll hold.”
Dad covered the phone.
“There’s some issue with our primary funding source.”
He tried to sound dismissive.
“I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.”
His face said otherwise.
Another phone call followed.
Then another.
With every conversation, the confidence seemed to drain further from him.
Soon Marcus’s phone began ringing.
Then Thomas’s.
The elegant family dinner dissolved into overlapping conversations, vibrating phones, hurried questions, and increasingly worried faces.
“I don’t understand,” Dad said into his phone. “We had a five-year commitment.”
He listened.
“Yes, I understand the clauses.”
Another pause.
“A major capital restructuring by whom?”
I continued eating.
The steak had gone slightly cold.
It was still good.
“Emma,” Mom said suddenly.
I looked up.
“This is serious. Your father is dealing with a crisis.”
“I can see that.”
Dad ended another call and stared at the screen.
“Our primary investor just withdrew one hundred eighty million dollars from our operations.”
The table went completely still.
“Hundred and eighty million?” Thomas said.
His voice sounded thinner than usual.
“That’s everything. The expansion, the current properties, operational capital…”
“I’m aware,” Dad snapped.
His phone rang again.
“It’s the board. I need to take this.”
He walked toward his study.
Marcus followed.
Then Thomas.
Mom remained at the table, frozen.
“This can’t be happening.”
Jennifer looked from one face to another.
“Who could even do that?”
I took another bite.
Victoria stared at me.
“Aren’t you concerned? This is our family business.”
“Is it?”
She frowned.
“I was told quite clearly tonight that it wasn’t my business.”
“This isn’t the time to be petty.”
Mom cut her off.
“Emma.”
Her voice had changed.
“Careful.”
She watched me.
“Do you know something about this?”
I dabbed my mouth with my napkin.
“What would I know?”
I looked at Victoria.
“I just make apps, remember? Apparently I work out of a coffee shop.”
Voices rose from Dad’s study.
My phone buzzed.
David again.
Anderson Holdings is in full crisis mode.
They’re looking for alternative funding. Everyone is calling me asking what happened.
Word is spreading fast.
I replied:
Let me know if they figure it out.
His answer appeared quickly.
They won’t.
He was right.
I had buried the ownership structure beneath seventeen layers of subsidiaries, holding companies, and private investment vehicles.
The only name Anderson Holdings knew was Pacific Northwest Ventures LLC.
Tracing the person controlling it would take time.
Dad returned from the study with Marcus and Thomas.
All three looked older.
“We need to find out who Pacific Northwest Ventures is,” Dad said immediately.
“They’re the entity that withdrew the funding. Does anyone recognize the name?”
Nobody answered.
“Marcus, get our attorneys working on it. Thomas, contact every investor relationship we have. Someone has to know who’s behind it.”
Dad ran a hand through his hair.
I had almost never seen him do that.
He was normally too controlled.
“Jennifer,” he said, “you worked in venture capital. Do you know Pacific Northwest Ventures?”
She was already searching on her phone.
“I can’t find anything useful. No public website. No listed portfolio. No executive profiles.”
She looked up.
“It’s practically a ghost.”
“Ghosts don’t have one hundred eighty million dollars,” Victoria said.
I cleared my throat.
“Actually, Pacific Northwest Ventures has considerably more than that.”
Every face turned toward me.
“What did you say?” Dad asked.
His voice had become very quiet.
“Pacific Northwest Ventures is one of the larger private investment firms in the region. They focus heavily on real estate, technology, and strategic acquisitions.”
I paused.
“Assets under management are somewhere around eight hundred million dollars.”
Marcus stared at me.
“How do you know that?”
“I read.”
“It’s not a firm I’ve ever heard of,” Dad said.
“That’s because they’re private. They deliberately keep a low public profile.”
I lifted my water.
“They prefer intermediaries and subsidiary companies.”
Then I used Dad’s own phrase.
“Very sophisticated operation.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
Thomas leaned forward.
“If you know that much about them, do you know why they would pull funding from us?”
“I couldn’t speculate.”
“You just told us their entire strategy.”
“I said I knew how they generally operate.”
Dad’s phone rang again.
He checked the caller.
The color drained from his face.
“Lawrence Hendricks.”
Mom looked startled.
“The Lawrence Hendricks?”
Dad answered and placed the call on speaker.
“Lawrence, thank you for returning my call.”
Richard, the voice from the speaker said. I heard about your situation.
Dad waited.
I’m calling as a courtesy. Hendricks Capital won’t be able to provide bridge financing at this time.
Dad straightened.
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