Love’s Cruel Stroke Novel - Season 1 Episode 45

Muttering to herself as she walked, Rachel carried the ingredients into the villa. “This is my grandmother’s house.”

“Your grandmother treats you so well.” Asher clicked his tongue. “But no matter what, this house still belongs to your grandmother; it’s not under your name. How about this? You marry me, and I’ll give you a villa by the sea. It will be yours and yours only.”

Rachel gave him a kick. “Asher, if you keep spouting nonsense, you can get out right now!”

“Ow! Rae, stop that! It hurts!” Asher held Olivia as he dodged the subsequent attacks. “I’m sorry, alright? I won’t tease you anymore.” He ran to the living room and sat on the floor, accompanying Olivia in her game of blocks.

Casper gave his sister a look, then habitually turned on his laptop to sign in to his personal account. However, he frowned suddenly, a cold look emerging in his warm eyes.

Someone was attempting to crack the CCTV footage he encrypted, and half of the 108 passwords were already cracked.

He swiftly pulled up the program interface, and he was in battle mode within a second. Every time the unknown hacker cracked a password, he would add another key protection. With all the encryption stacking on top of each other, he had piled on hundreds of keys on this single footage. However, the hacker didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of giving up…

“What are you doing, Casper?” Asher suddenly leaned in to look.

When he realized the situation, he suddenly laughed. “I can’t believe there exists a pro hacker who can fight head-to-head with you, Casper. How interesting.”

This child had expressed an incredible talent for hacking when he was three, and now when he had just had his fourth birthday, he was already one of the top hackers in the entire world.

If Rachel hadn’t prohibited Casper from earning illegal money with his hacking techniques, Casper would probably be a millionaire right now. Asher always felt that if Casper got serious, he would definitely be the number one hacker in the whole world.

But now, Casper seemed to have encountered a worthy rival. Asher stared at his screen for a while, then brought over another computer, engaging in battle mode almost instantly.

The two encrypted the footage synchronously, doubling their speed and leaving the unknown hacker far behind…

On the other end of the computer, Dmitri swiftly clicked away on the keyboard, his hands moving so fast that one could only catch their afterimage.

Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, slowly dripping onto the keyboard. He had been a hacker for more than a year, but he had never encountered such a strong opponent before…

This CCTV footage depicted his mother ambushing Rachel in the graveyard. The video had been uploaded to the public for days, and it had been shared so many times he had to delete it.

Dmitri inhaled deeply, increasing the speed of his hands. However, he couldn’t fight two opponents alone. Soon, every screen he had cracked before was enforced with S-class keys…

Just then, Jordan opened the door and walked in. The lights in the study were off, so only the blue light of the computer screen was bouncing off Dmitri’s face, enhancing the visibility of the beads of sweat on his forehead.

“What are you doing, Dmitri?” Jordan stood about a yard away from him and said coldly, “Didn’t I tell you not to accomplish anything by hacking ever again?”

Dmitri pursed his pale lips and said slowly, “I have to do this for Mom’s reputation.”

He didn’t pause in his actions as he speeded up instead. However, no amount of speeding up could help because the opponent was catching up too fast, and he didn’t even have time to breathe.

Step by step, Jordan walked closer until he finally saw the video clearly. It was a CCTV footage uploaded a few days ago, where Shirley carried out an ambush in the graveyard, only to be held in a chokehold by Rachel in retaliation.

Even though the video’s popularity was decreasing, as long as it still existed, Shirley could never clear her name.

No matter how evil Shirley was, she was still Dimitri’s mother. At this moment, Jordan tensed his jaw before he walked over and grabbed Dmitri by the collar.

“Daddy, let go of me!” Dmitri began to struggle. “I swear this is my last time hacking—”

Jordan pushed him away and took a seat in front of the computer himself. Dmitri thought that Jordan would turn off the computer, but instead, he watched as Jordan’s fingers descended upon the keyboard and began releasing a series of commands.

Outsiders only knew Jordan as a business prodigy, but Dmitri was the only one who knew that his father was a true master hacker.

When he was three, he had chanced upon his father fighting illegal foreign hackers on the computer. This was how he himself had opened his eyes to this particular talent. Hence, with his father on the case, he could consider the job done.

Half an hour later…

“Damn! Is the other person even human?” Asher smacked a fist on the computer. “They f*cking countered me!”

Casper bit his thin and pink lip, then said in a light voice, “Someone took over on that side. The one who took over is the real master hacker. I can’t beat him.”

He had been roaming in the hacker world for a year, but he had never met these two before. The first one was more or less on the same level as him, but the second one was so skilled that he would need 10 of himself to fight back.

He had lost this round.

At that moment, Rachel laid out the dishes and looked over at them. “Asher, what crimes are you getting my son up to again?”

Asher quickly stashed the two laptops under a gap in the couch, saying calmly, “Rae, I was just asking Casper what I should do so that he would call me Daddy for once.”

“Maybe in your next life,” Rachel said indifferently.

“Rae, you’re so cold blooded.” Asher put a hand over his heart, exaggerating, “I’ve been pursuing you for four years, and even a stone heart would be burning right now. How could you be so nonchalant? Oh, woe is me…”

Rachel was speechless. What a drama king.

Casper pulled a chair and sat down, saying calmly, “Mr. Asher, come and eat. If you dawdle any longer, Olive will finish all the food.”

Startled, Asher hurriedly took his place at the dining table because he had witnessed Olivia’s appetite before; she ate even more than he did. If he got there too slowly, he would only have soup to drink.

After a while, the meal ended in jovial laughter.

However, Asher still held the blanket on the couch, reluctant to leave. “I don’t have a house in Seaview City, so I can only stay for the night.”

Rachel landed a kick on his leg. “I’ll give you money to book a hotel room.”

“No can do. I’m very particular about cleanliness, and I’ll develop rashes if I sleep on a hotel bed.” Asher held Olivia as he sobbed, “Olive, Mr. Asher loves you so much, but your mommy wants to chase Mr. Asher out to sleep on the streets. Mr. Asher will freeze to death in the cold night. Olive, please help Mr. Asher.”

It took everything Rachel had not to roll her eyes as she said, “Do you want me to throw you out?”

Just then, Olivia ran with her stubby legs over to the guest room on the first floor, then proceeded to open the door.

Then, she raised her big watery eyes to look at Rachel.

Rachel understood what Olivia meant; she wanted Asher to stay.

Save for Rachel herself and Casper, the third person Olivia trusted was none other than Asher.

Probably because Asher was the only adult male in the little girl’s life, she would instinctively trust and depend on him.

Rachel pursed her lips and said, “I’ll give you three days tops. You’ll have to get out after three days.”

Asher took Olivia in his arms and held her high. “Hahaha! Awesome! Olive, you’re my lucky star…”