Chapter 16: Eve of the Storm 第十六章:风暴前夕 English Version
Summer bled into a sweltering August, the kind where the city shimmered with heat and tempers frayed at the edges. WestTech was at its zenith: ErosAI had surpassed a billion downloads, partnerships with major streaming platforms turned virtual dates into cultural phenomena, and the stock split announcement sent shares soaring again. Simon West was officially a household name—the "Oracle of Desire," magazines called him, with features dissecting his intuition, his empire, his enigmatic personal life.
But beneath the triumph, Simon's golden gut began to whisper warnings.
It started small: delayed investor reports, unusual server traffic spikes, anonymous tips to journalists about "questionable data practices." Simon dismissed them as growing pains—every unicorn faced envy.
Then Nexus's remnants resurfaced.
Marcus Hale, ousted and humiliated, had quietly rebuilt under a new shell company: Apex Dynamics. Whispers reached Simon through back channels—Marcus was funding a rival app, one that promised "deeper compatibility" through controversial neuro-data integration. Illegal in most countries, but gray enough to exploit.
Simon's intuition flared: threat.
He brought it to the quartet during a rare quiet dinner at the penthouse—Nova, now a toddling one-year-old with Betty's warm eyes and Simon's dark hair, asleep in her nursery.
"We need to prepare," he said, sliding printouts across the table. "Apex is coming for us. Hard."
Lily scanned the docs, eyes narrowing. "Neuro-data? That's creepy as fuck. Invasive."
Chunmei leaned forward, marketing mind whirring. "They'll market it as 'true soul matching.' We need to counter—emphasize consent, privacy, humanity."
Betty, ever the strategist, pulled up financials on her tablet. "They're burning cash. Overleveraged. If we weather the initial storm…"
Simon nodded. "We fortify. Double down on security, transparency campaigns, user trust initiatives."
The women mobilized like a well-oiled machine.
Lily redesigned the app's privacy dashboard—beautiful, intuitive, impossible to ignore. Chunmei launched preemptive ads: "Love shouldn't read your mind. It should respect it." Betty secured alliances with regulators, positioning WestTech as the ethical leader.
At home, tension simmered.
Simon worked late nights again, intuition keeping him awake scanning threats. The women worried—Nova asking "Dada?" when he missed bedtimes.
One night, he snapped at Chunmei over a minor campaign tweak—words sharper than intended.
The room froze.
Chunmei's eyes flashed hurt before she excused herself to the terrace.
Guilt hit Simon like a truck.
He found her staring at the city lights, arms wrapped around herself.
"I'm sorry," he said, voice rough. "This threat… it's bringing back the old fears. Failing you all. Losing everything we've built."
She turned, eyes soft. "You're not failing. You're protecting. But don't shut us out again."
Lily and Betty joined, wrapping around them.
"We're in this," Lily said firmly. "All of it. The empire, the family, the fight."
They made love that night—urgent, reconnecting. Simon inside Chunmei while Lily and Betty kissed her, hands linked across bodies. Release came with tears—stress melting into love.
But the storm gathered.
Apex launched in September: "SoulSync"—sleek, seductive, promising matches based on subconscious brain patterns via wearable tech. Early reviews raved. Users defected. Stock dipped 15% in a week.
Media frenzy: "Is ErosAI obsolete?" "The end of WestTech's reign?"
Simon's intuition screamed: trap.
He called an emergency war room—quartet plus key execs.
"They're baiting us," he said. "SoulSync's tech is unproven, unsafe. Privacy nightmare."
Betty uncovered the dirt: Apex skirting regulations, data leaks already happening, funded by shady VCs with histories of fraud.
Chunmei's eyes lit. "We don't attack. We expose. Ethically."
Lily grinned. "And remind users why they loved us first."
The counteroffensive was masterful.
Chunmei's campaign: "Love Doesn't Need Your Brain Scan." Viral videos of real couples sharing why consent and fun mattered more than creepy tech.
Lily rolled out features reinforcing privacy—end-to-end encryption badges, fun "trust seals."
Betty leaked (anonymously) Apex's internal memos showing safety corners cut.
Simon went public—calm, confident interview on a major network: "We built ErosAI on respect. Some competitors forgot love isn't data mining."
Users returned in droves. SoulSync's leaks exploded into scandal—lawsuits, investigations.
Apex crumbled.
But on the eve of victory, the real storm warning came.
An anonymous email to Simon: "You think you've won? Watch your family."
Attached: photos—candid, invasive. Lily at the park with Nova. Betty leaving the OB. Chunmei at prenatal yoga. Simon picking up Nova from daycare.
Threats against their child. Their future children.
Simon's blood ran cold.
He showed the quartet immediately.
Silence. Then fury.
"We go nuclear," Lily said, voice steel.
Betty's eyes hardened. "Private security. Now."
Chunmei nodded. "And we trace this bastard."
Simon's intuition confirmed: Marcus. Desperate. Dangerous.
They fortified—security team hired, routines changed, legal restraining orders filed.
At home, fear lingered, but so did defiance.
That night, they held each other close—no sex, just comfort. Nova asleep in her crib, monitor glowing.
"We protect our family," Simon said, voice fierce. "No matter what."
Lily kissed his jaw. "Together."
Betty squeezed his hand. "Always."
Chunmei rested her head on his shoulder. "Unbreakable."
The storm was coming.
But they were ready.
Four against one desperate man.
And love—real, messy, fierce love—was their strongest weapon.
The eve of the storm wasn't fear.
It was resolve.