Holy crap!
The CEO himself was greeting her?
The IndieVibe receptionist shot up, heart pounding.
That was close.
This Zoey Parker looked like a college kid, all lollipops and attitude.
But the big boss was practically bowing?
Who is this girl?
The receptionist grinned, sweating, thankful she hadn't mouthed off.
Then, Zoey made it weirder.
Victor Lang approached, all smiles, but Zoey didn't budge.
Lollipop in mouth, she stared him down for a solid five seconds, letting the silence get awkward.
Finally, she stood, waving lazily. "Victor, no need for the red carpet. Let's talk in your office."
The receptionist's jaw dropped.
She's straight-up schooling him?!
What kind of clout is this?
As Zoey, Chloe Quinn, and Victor vanished down the hall, the receptionist grabbed her phone, opening Slack.
"Yo, team, you there? Big news!" she whispered. "Some badass just rolled into IndieVibe. Young, but she's got Victor acting like her intern!"
"Who is this chick?"
…
"Take a seat, Ms. Parker," Victor said in his San Francisco office, signaling Secretary Carter to grab coffee.
"Your visit's a surprise. I'd have rolled out the welcome mat if I'd known."
Zoey's scowl had Victor's brain in overdrive, CPU smoking.
No question—this was Mr. Parker's daughter, CEO of WindyPeak Games.
The indie upstart that had crushed it with Cat Leo and Who's the Daddy, stealing the small-game spotlight.
But why was she here, guns blazing?
They'd topped sales charts twice. She should be sending thank-you notes, not storming his office.
"Ms. Parker, is there a misunderstanding?" Victor asked, cautious.
"Misunderstanding?" Zoey yanked the lollipop from her mouth, Seattle drawl sharp. "You think I flew from Portland, over 600 miles, for a misunderstanding?"
"No, no!" Victor waved his hands, forcing a grin. "I mean… what's up?"
Please, lady, what did I do?
He was clueless, sweating under her glare.
To Zoey, he was playing dumb.
You rig my game's rank and act innocent?
"Fine," she said, nodding sharply three times. "You're a busy CEO, too big for a small fry like WindyPeak. I get it."
Before Victor could protest, Chloe handed Zoey a stack of papers.
Zoey slapped them on his desk, arms crossed.
"You keep preaching 'fair and just' for this Indie Game Fest," she said. "So why was Vampire Survivor stuck on page nine 130 times out of 168 refreshes?"
"You swore it's all transparent," she continued. "So why, with half of Twitch streaming our game and crazy buzz on Reddit and GameRant, are we 428th in votes?"
"Explain that."
Victor froze, speechless.
Zoey smirked, leaning back.
"Victor, why even bother with this fest?" she said. "Just handpick your winners and email 'em. Dragging my little studio through this rigged mess? That's low."
Crunch. She snapped her lollipop in half, slamming the desk.
"Why don't I call Mr. Parker and have Parker Capital back me up?"
Victor nearly choked, sweat beading.
Parker Capital?!
This wasn't some trust-fund kid flexing.
Zoey wasn't playing by rich-kid rules—she was throwing haymakers.
"No, no, please!" Victor stammered, face red. "Calm down, let me see the data…"
He'd never been dressed down like this, especially not by a twenty-something.
A CEO, one of IndieVibe's top dogs, schooled like an intern!
Worse, as he flipped through Chloe's data, his stomach sank.
The numbers didn't lie—Vampire Survivor was buried in the random lists.
The 428th ranking? No hard proof, but it reeked of tampering.
Victor's face went from red to white, rage bubbling.
Marketing department. Damn it.
Marcus Chen's crew, no doubt.
Victor knew Marcus had been pulling shady stunts for years.
He'd held off auditing him, planning to ease into reforms.
But he'd warned them—no tricks this time.
Marcus, the smug vet, clearly thought Victor's "fairness" talk was hot air, ignoring him to rig the fest.
Marcus, you idiot, Victor thought, hands shaking.
He'd assumed Victor would bend to IndieVibe's old-school corruption.
But now?
Zoey Parker wasn't just some indie CEO—she was a Parker.
Even if Victor wanted to let Marcus slide, Zoey wouldn't.
You've screwed us both.
Victor took a deep breath, setting the papers down.
"Ms. Parker, I'm sorry," he said, voice steady. "This is my failure in oversight. I'll own it."
"But I promise you," he added, "I'm committed to a fair fest. The random list and vote issues? I'll have answers in three days. You have my word."