John went to observe the seat closely and noticed it was smeared with a colorless and odorless super glue. How did this get here? John was baffled.
After Evan was done changing and came out of his break room, John gave him a curious look. “How did this get here, Mr. Seet?”
Evan looked at him sharply, his gaze oppressive. Even without saying a word, John could feel the air crushing him, suffocating him. Cold sweat started drenching him, and he realized he asked a redundant question. If Evan knew why it was there, he wouldn’t have sat on it in the first place.
John could imagine how awkward Evan must look like earlier. “I’ll look into this right away, Mr. Seet.”
“I want the report before five.”
John looked at the time. I don’t have much time to work with. “Yes sir.” And then he scurried out like a nervous rat.
But before he could get out, Evan stopped him. John could feel his heart racing, but he still turned back to Evan. The latter was looking at the documents on the table intently as he flipped through them. When he got to the fourth page, Evan hurled the documents at him. “And look into these too!”
The papers flew everywhere, making a mess out of the floor. John went to pick them up and looked through them. Something’s on these papers. Oh, they’re comic characters. They seemed to be looking down on something with their unnaturally huge eyes. What’s this? they’re making a sexy duck-lip pose?
Then he saw another shocking drawing. Wait a minute! This is Mr. Seet! But he’s drawn all bruised and crying! Oh god, who did this? A shiver ran down his spine, and John didn’t look at the papers anymore. After picking all of them up, he escaped the room.
Oh no. If I can’t get to the bottom of this, Mr. Seet’s gonna kill me! Which idiot pulled this prank? They just have to make my life hard, don’t they?
Back at Evan’s office. When he was about to drink from his glass, he was reminded of denatonium benzoate’s taste, and he smashed his glass against the ground.
The company’s network got hacked, my office is infiltrated, and they left prank after prank here. Evan could feel his pride being challenged, and his face fell. No matter who the prankster was, he would teach them a lesson once they were found out.
It took John a while, but finally, he came back with the results fifteen minutes before five. He was already wheezing, but he managed to convey the report.
“She did all these?”
“Yes. It’s the little girl you brought here. She told the receptionist you ordered the coffee and wanted me to take it to you. The camera caught her entering your office, and after she left the company, she’s hiding in this place.”
John sent the footage to Evan’s computer. It showed the girl hiding in the parking lot’s corner while removing her makeup. When she was done, the girl left like she owned the place
Wait, she looks exactly like Nicole. Nicole had two daughters who looked exactly like her. One of them was chubby, but this prankster was the skinny one.
Evan recalled back to the first time he found Nicole in Parkland Garden. Her daughter had looked up at him angrily like he killed her family. “I’m not scared of him, mom!” she declared.
Now that he thought of it, Evan postulated that Nicole must have sent her daughter to sabotage him after her failed attempt last time.
That woman is evil! How could she teach her children to be a saboteur?! Kyle could have turned out this way if she’s raising him!
“Mr. Seet, this girl looks familiar, doesn’t she?”
“Where’s Nicole right now?”
“She’s at Windy Place.”
Evan stormed out, and John followed him. When they arrived at Windy Place, Evan parked his car outside so that he and John could go inside discreetly.
He wanted to see who was the father of Nicole’s mischievous daughter.
“Mr. Seet, she lives in number seven zero three of the sixth area. It’s right in front of us.” They came up to her doorstep and John went to knock on it, but after a long while, nobody answers the door. “I think nobody’s home, Mr. Seet.”
“Nobody’s home?” Did she go into hiding out of guilt? He whipped out his phone and called Nicole. There were many occasions where he wanted to delete the number, but he didn’t.
At the same time, Nicole was currently in the process of packing up. She had a complex expression when she saw Evan calling her. If it’s not because of him, Sylvia and Sylphiette wouldn’t have done that to me.
If it weren’t because she was worried her kids would be dragged into this, she wouldn’t have moved so quickly. If it weren’t because she paid hundreds of thousands to him, she wouldn’t have to live in this ramshackle building. Damn you, Evan! You did this to me!
Anything related to him was bound to be a disaster, so she decided to stay far away from him. In a fit of rage, Nicole ended the call, but it didn’t quell her anger. “Piss off, you idiot!” She then proceeded to block his number.
She hung up on me? The audacity of that woman! Nobody hangs up on me! Evan tried to call her again, but this time, he realized she had blocked his number. I knew it. She’s behind this! Evan clenched his fists.
“I thought I asked you to keep an eye on her.”
“I did, but when they determined that she isn’t the hacker, the team is disbanded.”
Evan gave him a sharp look, and John’s heart sank. “This wench is a cunning one. Find out where she is right now!”
“Yes, Mr. Seet!”
“I want you to do this yourself, and keep an eye on her!”
“Yes, understood!” John continued to follow him carefully. It wasn’t until Evan had gone away did he let out the sigh he had been holding in. This is no time to relax. He quickly looked up on Nicole, but it proved to be hard. In the end, he had to use his connections, and even then, it took him until midnight before he went back with news.
When he found out Nicole had moved to the slums, John drove to her place the next morning. What he saw next shocked him. How did Ms. Lane fall so far from grace? This is no place for a human to stay. I mean look at it, the unit’s dilapidated, the walls are discolored and flaky. Hmm, now that I think about it, I guess it’s all thanks to Mr. Seet.
After Zane’s bankruptcy, his family went haywire. Ever since then, they had been badgering Nicole, who had become the scapegoat thanks to Evan.
When John was about to get out of the car, he saw someone familiar coming outside. Why is he here? Mr. Seet specifically forbade Kyle from coming into contact with Ms. Lane. She must have taken him out in secret!
After seeing Kyle playing with two young girls near the slums, John got out of the car and went toward Nicole’s place.
Nicole was surprised to hear someone knocking on her door. I just moved here yesterday, and I already have guests?
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, John.”
Her heart sank at the mention of that name. They found me so soon? She had just blocked his number a day ago, so Nicole was sure Evan would come for her.
Should I open the door? But he’s already here, so he won’t leave until I do. Nicole took a deep breath and mustered her courage before opening the door.
“Hello, Ms. Lane.”
Upon noticing that John came alone, Nicole looked around, confused. Where’s that jerk?
“I’m here alone, Ms. Lane.”
Nicole heaved a sigh of relief. It’s good that Evan’s not here. John’s easier to handle alone. “Do you need anything?”
“Let’s go inside, Ms. Lane. This is no place to talk.”
Nicole hesitated, but she let him in eventually.
John observed her house closely. It looked like a ramshackle house on the outside, and the inside wasn’t any better. The place was dull, stuffy, and uncomfortable. Everything seemed patched together overnight. No wonder this is the slums. If Mr. Seet found out that Kyle is here, he’d be heartbroken.
“Ms. Lane, I saw Kyle playing with your daughter outside. Does Mr. Seet know he comes to your place?”
Nicole had her guard up at the mention of Kyle. When she was packing her things to move a day before, Nicole realized Kyle and Juan had been swapped. The boy that was currently with her was the real Kyle. Will John tell Evan about this?
Juan’s living in Evan’s Hillside Villa now. If John told him Kyle’s here, Evan would get suspicious and look into this.
If that happens, Juan’s existence would be exposed. He’s going to take Juan away from me then. No! Juan’s my precious son. I can’t let John tell Evan about this no matter what.
“Mr. Lin, I remember you said you’d help me the best you can previously.”
John knew he said that before, but Nicole had asked him to bomb Evan’s office that time. Does she expect me to say yes? Why is she mentioning this? Does she want something?
“Mr. Lin, don’t tell Evan that Kyle’s here. That’ll be a big help for me.” Nicole looked at him with pleading eyes. This was crucial to her, and failure was unacceptable.
John sighed. With how things stood now, Evan would have killed Nicole if he could. If he found out Kyle was here, things would turn from bad to worse for Nicole.
“A word of advice for you, Ms. Lane. You’ll never win against Mr. Seet. Why don’t I take Kyle back to the villa and pretend this never happened? You don’t have to complicate things.”
Nicole was grateful for John’s help. This wasn’t a bad way either. He could send Kyle back to the villa, while she would call Juan and ask him to come back in secret.
John thought her silence meant that she was objecting to his idea, so he persuaded, “You should know Mr. Seet’s temper more than anyone, so don’t be stubborn. Getting on his bad side gets you nothing.”
“Okay then. We’ll go with your plan.”
John heaved a sigh of relief after she agreed to his plan, then he told her the reason for his visit. After she listened to it, Nicole was shaken to the core.
Nina went to Seet Group and pranked Evan? And he suspects her of being the hacker behind the network’s failure?
“Don’t blame Mr. Seet for this, Ms. Lane. During the hack back then, the IP address showed your house address, and that’s why he suspected you.”
The heck? That wasn’t me! Wait, I didn’t do it this time either! It was Juan back then, and now… Her gut told her Juan was also behind this.
Juan was researching even more powerful hacking skills these days. The continuous hacking and retreating from Seet Group’s network resembled the skill Juan was practicing. Realization dawned on Nicole on why Evan called her earlier. Nina and Juan are really bold.
“Mr. Lin, Nina is but a young child, so she can be rash sometimes. Please tell Evan not to hold it against her.”
“I don’t think that’s gonna work. Mr. Seet will definitely come for you, so you’d better get ready to explain then.”
Nicole’s face paled at that. If he comes, I’m doomed.
How should I weasel my way out then? When she looked around her pigsty and thought of the problems she had to face, Nicole thought she was really down on her luck.
“Ms. Lane, It’s time for me to send Kyle back to the villa.”
Although Nicole was reluctant to part with Kyle, she had no choice. “Kyle’s downstairs. I’ll go with you.”
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.