Jared blinked owlishly at me. I could nearly see the gears turning in his head, wondering what I was up to.
Leaning forward with a laugh, I said, “I am sure you have not told the lawyer the whole truth if you’re feeling so confident in them. But of course, who would willingly admit that they nearly killed their own child? I can easily dig out Summer’s old medical records from the time she underwent surgery at the hospital, as well as your criminal history. And I can safely assume that everyone else who is suffering because of having worked at the Crest family’s factories will be more than happy to be my witnesses in court and testify against the evil, selfish piece of trash you are!
“Don’t even get me started on custodial rights! If you’re really Summer’s father, let me ask you this. Why did you bring her to the chemical plant even knowing that it was polluted, and cause her to suffer from an incurable disease? She trusted you, but you left her in such a desperate, painful situation! According to Article 261 of the Criminal Law, I can sue you for negligence and throw you back in jail where you belong!”
For the first time in my life, I felt that I’d been right in choosing to become a lawyer.
I hadn’t considered my words properly nor gotten my thoughts in order before I went on that rant, but I’d successfully recited the correct article effortlessly and rendered Jared speechless.
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he had nothing to tell me.
What had I been so worried about? Someone like him had long since lost the right to be a father to any child; thinking that he could take Summer away from me was nothing more than a far-fetched daydream.
Exchanging a meaningful look with John, we both got up from our seats.
I’d barely taken a few steps before stopping in my tracks, giving Jared a sidelong glance. “You can’t always forget the past and start anew, Jared. You are so wrong to think that way; the truth is, you have to pay the price for your grave mistakes. This is my only and final warning to you—Summer is Macy’s daughter as well as mine. She has nothing to do with you, so don’t try and humiliate yourself any further. If I see you anywhere near her, I’ll make sure to bring down hell upon you.”
With that, I walked away and didn’t look back.
He didn’t follow us out; he had no reason to, nor did he have any need to. My attitude had been enough to make him come to his senses and realize that trying to claim custodial rights over Summer was a lost cause. If he dared piss me off, I would go to much further lengths to hide Summer away than just transferring her to another school.
While in the car, I snuck another look out the window at the café while John was busy buckling his seatbelt. “I have a weird gut feeling,” I told him, frowning. “call some of your best men from the company’s IT department over to the house.”
He silently considered the idea for a moment before taking out his phone and swiftly tapping the screen several times. After that, he started up the car engine and drove us home.
Half an hour later, we arrived at the Stanhope residence, where a group of five or six nerdy-looking boys wearing glasses and a similar style of checkered shirt were already waiting for us inside.
“Mr. Stanhope,” they politely greeted, bowing in John’s direction.
John made a simple sound of acknowledgment, turning to face me. “The nation’s highest-ranking graduates in the IT field this year are all here. Just tell them whatever you need from them. They might seem a little dense, but they’re good at what they do.”
I nodded, stepping forward and cutting to the chase. “Have you all brought your laptops?”
“Yes, Ms. Stanhope,” the guy in the corner called out loudly. His gaze was fixed on the floor, and I could tell he was nervous from how badly he was trembling.
The rest of them weren’t faring any better; some were clenching and unclenching their fists nervously, while some were hanging their heads. I gave John a questioning glance, as if to ask, “Are you sure these guys are the real deal?”
He only crossed his arms, proudly lifting his chin in the air as if anticipating my reaction.
His self-confidence left me with many suspicions, but I had no other choice except to trust him.
Clearing my throat and taking a deep breath, I announced, “I will send some information regarding the Crest family as well as the log in details and password to my personal account to each of your smartphones I want you all to spare no expense in investigating the Crests’ criminal history or finding out anything else that will give us an upper hand over them. Got it?”
“No problem, Ms. Stanhope!”
The loud bark startled me, and I turned towards the source of the voice to see the boy from earlier staring at me intensely. His attitude had changed completely from before, as if a switch had been flipped.
After holding his stare for a few seconds straight, he suddenly lowered his voice and ordered, “Let’s go!”
The rest of the boys instantly got moving, bowing before me before lining up and heading for the dining table where they had their laptops already turned on and ready to go.
In the blink of an eye, the room was filled with the furious, rapid clicking sounds of multiple keyboards.
Taking a step closer and leaning in, the once stiff boys were now all gazing intently at their screens, eyes slightly squinted as the tips of their fingers flew across the keyboard at inhuman speeds.
I nodded in satisfaction. I would have expected nothing less from John.
About ten minutes later, the guy closest to me ceased his actions and turned the laptop around to show me the screen. “It’s all done, Ms. Stanhope,” he explained matter-of-factly. “All of the Crest family’s finances have now been frozen. They will not be able to spend a single cent of it unless I remove the virus.”
“Good work.” I reached out and patted his shoulder in an act of encouragement.
The words had barely left my mouth when I heard someone yell, “Something’s wrong! There’s someone trying to rewrite our program, and they’re doing it rapidly! Mine is getting destroyed!”
Everyone else instantly snapped out of their dazes and got back to work on their laptops. Their anxious expressions made even John and I feel slightly nervous.
In the following fifteen minutes, I witnessed what I could only call “utter defeat”.
The group of initially enthusiastic technicians was slowly being taken down one by one. First, their laptops were being controlled remotely, and then their firewalls were getting taken down, and so forth. In the end, I saw the laptop nearest to me completely shut down by itself, unable to be rebooted no matter what its owner tried.
“That’s impossible. How can such a small company possess such powerful technology?”
As though dealt a heavy blow, the boys scratched their heads in defeat. It seemed like these rookies were no match for the technology the other party used to stop us.
The Crests had compensated a hefty sum because of the incident at the chemical plant. Their business was affected later on, so they couldn’t possibly have enough money to hire computer experts or solve this crisis in such a timely manner and even retaliate against us. Based on the Crest family’s connections, there weren’t many who could be behind this.
“It’s not your fault.” I grabbed my phone after some thought and went to the garden in the backyard before speed dialing Anthony.
He answered within a second.
“What is it?” As always, Anthony sounded calm and confident, as though everything was within his control.
“Are you the one protecting the Crest family?” There was a hint of hostility in my voice as well as a trace of anger, and I was sure he could tell over the phone. “You knew a long time ago that Jared was released from prison, didn’t you?”
Besides Anthony, I really couldn’t think of anyone else who would be willing to shield such a despicable family like the Crests or have so much power and influence in J City, not to mention how they countered the computer experts John recruited in J City without much efforts.
I was angry because Anthony obviously knew about the terrifying things Jared had done in the past, but had the audacity to hide his release from me. If I knew about it earlier, Summer wouldn’t have been tricked by him again and innocently placed her trust in him.
Silence drifted across the line before Anthony replied in a low voice, “Jared won’t hurt Summer.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
I haven’t even mentioned Jared posing as a teacher to approach Summer. How does he…
Panic instantly engulfed me.
“Were you involved in Jared becoming a teacher named Mr. Cress?”
I was dreading his answer and unsurprisingly, it didn’t come, but his silence was enough of an answer.
“You’ve gone too far, Anthony!” I lost my temper. When I thought about all the days I felt so troubled I could barely sleep or eat, my eyes stung with tears of betrayal. “You’re not the one who’s having a hard time. Who gave you the right to forgive that man in Summer’s place? Jared is a master of deception. If something happens to Summer this time, do you really think we’ll get so lucky again to find a suitable donor to cure her?”
“I won’t let any of this happen again.” Anthony reassured in a firm tone, “I’ve met with Jared. We’ve been friends for decades. I can tell when he’s lying, and he’s not. He’s a changed man now.”
“So? Before what happened to Summer, wasn’t he your best friend too? And then what happened, huh? Anthony, I never knew you were such a magnanimous and selfless man that you could even find it in yourself to forgive someone who crossed the limit!”
Anthony sighed in resignation and lowered his voice. “If that’s the case, I deserve to die a thousand times over as well.”
Words failed me all of a sudden and silence stretched between us through the phone.
In the end, Anthony was the one to break it.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply