Chapter 13
“I’ll share a little secret with you. Whack-a-mole is my favorite game. No matter how down I feel, when I smack that mole, all my worries just disappear.”
“But then I can’t help but feel sorry for the moles. So, I’ve decided to make my own version of the game, and I’ll give the moles cute little hats to wear.”
As a little Cassie’s voice sounded in his mind, Marcus looked at the mole wearing a hat with an Xylo, and suddenly spoke up, ‘Cure.”
The shocked crowd’s eyes grew even wider.
Joe turned toward the computer screen, puzzled. ‘Can anyone really think this is cute? The animation looks so outdated. What’s so adorable about it?”
“Not cute?” Marcus raised an eyebrow at the people in front of him.
“Cute! Super cute!” they quickly agreed, nodding vigorously.
“Are all the systems being counter-intruded?” Marcus asked.
“We’re on it, but it’s a mess, the tech guy replied, sweat dripping down his forehead.
“Save that program and send it to me, Marcus ordered, breaking free from the “cute” mole. How could the hacker who attacked the Murphy family and spread those scandalous videos be linked to Cassie!”
Suddenly, he remembered that rainy night in the narrow alley on the bar street. He had heard a woman scream in the distance, and Cassie had clutched his arm anxiously, not to let him leave.
The warmth in his eyes froze instantly. Joe, go look into something.”
Cassie knew Marcus would dig into Julia’s matter. So she had already created two counter-intrusion programs. One contained the message Larry had found: [Those who do evil will perish] The other was tailored just for Marcus.
She didn’t want Marcus to see her as an enemy. After some thought, she crafted a lighthearted and slightly quirky response, hoping to avoid any tension between them.
Back in her room, she got two alerts confirming her counter-intrusion had worked. She quickly erased all traces of her activities and logged onto a heavily encrypted website-the go-to hub for hackers worldwide.
This time, Cassie wasn’t going to waste any of her talents. With the internet rapidly evolving, she needed to jump on this chance and help Murphy Group establish a solid foothold in the industry.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.
Murphy Group had barely scratched the surface of the Internet world, and the staff involved didn’t impress her much.
Besides, there were already traitors within Murphy Group, secretly linking up with outsiders. After Cassie’s parents’ sudden deaths, those traitors had dealt a devastating blow to the company.
So, she knew she had to act fast and put together a top-tier team of her own.
Cassie had always kept a low profile on this hacking site, hiding her real skills while barely avoiding being kicked out. But starting now, everything was about to change.
The site featured a leaderboard, and Cassie had always stuck at the bottom. To climb up, she needed to take on the more skilled hackers. If she won, she’d earn points to boost her rank. She rolled her neck, ready to make a move today.
Just then, Louisa knocked on the door. “Are you still napping, M. Murphy?”
off her
“Chestnut cake,mputer and opened the door. The sweet aroma of chestnut cake wafted in the air, and her eyes lit up.
Cassie shu
“Chestnut cake!” With a big grin, she eagerly took the cake from Louisa.
Louisa chuckled, “You really are a chestnut cake fanatic. It’s that good?”
Chestnut cake was Cassie’s absolute favorite treat. She hadn’t had any for three years since she was stuck in that asylum.
“Louisa, how did you know I wanted this?” Ca**c set the cake down and cuddled up to Louisa, her voice sweet. ‘Oh, Cassie. What were you doing in your past life to let go of Louisa? she thought.
“The chef in the kitchen knew you were feeling down, so they made this just for you,” Louisa explained. “Just try it. It smells amazing-better than any I’ve had.”
“Okay!” C**c took a bite of the chestnut cake, and it was just as delicious as it smelled. It tasted even better than she remembered. She figured it was just because she’d missed it for so long.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about. Watching as Cassie savored her cake, Louisa spoke up, her expression turning serious,
“Go ahead.” Cassie nodded.
“About that video with Ms. Cortez last night, I noticed something… Louisa’s brow furrowed. “The dress Ms. Cortez was wearing is the same one she had on when she took you out the other day, right?”
Cassie’s smile faded. Some things had changed since she was being transported back, but other patterns still felt familiar. Now, Louisa was starting to suspect Julia.
“I remember that dress well. She just bought it and said it was a high-end piece. I’ve never seen her wear it before, Louisa said.
Her face grew anxious. “Where did she take you that night? Did you not tell Mr. and Mrs. Murphy that Ms. Cortez took you
Our?”
“Louisa,” Cassie set the cake down and took Louisa’s hand gently. “You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ve got this,” Louisa looked at Cassie, her eyes wide. “I knew I was right. What’s going on?”
“Nothing for me, at least. Cassie paused, realizing she really needed Louisa’s help at home. So, she felt she could be honest. *Remember what you told me? Julia doesn’t have good intentions toward me. That night, she tried to cause trouble, but I got lucky and managed to avoid it.”
Louisa’s face went pale. “Oh my gosh. She really is sneaky. We need to tell Heston right now.”
“No,” Cassie tightened her grip on Louisa’s hand.
“You can’t protect her. Someone like her has no heart. If you let her slide this time, she’ll just come back to bite you, Louisa insisted
“I don’t have proof,” Cassie replied. “You’ve seen how Julia acts at home. I’ve been fooled by her completely before, and my mom treats her like family.
would believe me?
“If I just say she is a bad person trying to hurt me, especially since they see her as a victim right now, do you think they
Louisa fell silent. Julia was indeed good at putting on a show. If Louisa hadn’t stumbled upon some of her schemes, she might never have realized how backstabbing Julia was. “So what do we do now?” Louisa asked.
OK
“We don’t have to do anything,” Cassie smiled. “Everything stays the same. To deal with someone as cu**ng as Julia, we have to wait for the right moment and hit her hard. Otherwise, she might come back at us.”
“Got it.” Louisa nodded. “You’re right. We can’t act rashly
“And don’t try to talk to her or drop warnings. Just stay away from that,” Cassie advised earnestly.
Louisa had never really respected Julia and often made snarky comments about her in front of Cassie. Cassie worried that in this life, Julia would still target Louisa. Fortunately, Louisa was quick to catch on.
Cassie felt more and more that her tragic end in her past life was largely due to her inability to trust. It had left her isolated and helpless. In the end, panic had made her lose control of everything.
After Louisa left, Cassie settled back at her computer with the chestnut cake.
For the next two hours, the website was buzzing like crazy-a lower-ranked player suddenly started taking on the top ten players one by one. After easily beating the first six, this player shot up to fourth place.
This was something no hacker had ever seen before, and everyone logged on to watch the action unfold.
“Is this player à boy or a girl? Their moves are insane!”
The guy in seventh place got totally destroyed.”
that a cute little mole for their avatar? So adorable!”
“Wait, didn’t she hang out in the bottom two for over a year? Is this a hidden talent, or did she get some secret tips on leveling up?”
The public chat went wild over Cassie’s impressive actions.
Cassie finished the last bite of her chestnut cake and was just about to challenge the hacker in third place when she heard a nock at the door. “What’s up?” she called out.
“Ms. Murphy, the tutors have arrived. Mrs. Murphy would like you to go meet them, the se**ant replied from outside.
Cassie pursed her lips and let out a sarcastic laugh. Anne wouldn’t care if Cassie met the tutor or not. It was clear that Julia was using Anne as an excuse to get Cassie there.
She sneered silently, Those two are really in a rush. In my past life, it took Simon three full days to make his move. Now, they couldn’t even wait a day?”
Tl be right there; Cassie said. Then she typed: [That’s it for today, folks. I’ll pick this up tomorrow.] With that, she exited the buzzing chat of excited hackers and logged off the site.