Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Briar was sprawled out on the couch, legs folded up, laptop perched on her lap in a totally lazy posture.
She started up another game, and this time, her teammates were from Qathana.
Since it was a cross–server match, she needed blazing–fast internet just to keep up.
Not wanting any lag to mess up her gameplay, Briar shot a quick glance at Ashton, who was still buried in his work, then quietly installed a
program.
She set up her own custom firewall on the internal network, just to make sure everything ran smoothly.
Soon enough, the game kicked off, and the office filled with the sounds of intense gunfire.
Briar’s moves were smooth and decisive, and the match dragged on for nearly half an hour before they finally won.
Their team had barely taken any damage, cruising to victory with ease.
Briar was so wrapped up in the game that she didn’t even notice Ashton glancing over at her a few times.
It wasn’t until the game ended and the victory music played that Ashton spoke up. “Briar, your ice cream’s melting.”
Briar looked over at the coffee table where she’d left her big tub of ice cream. The edges were already starting to melt from the air.
She quickly set her laptop aside and grabbed the ice cream. “Oh, I forgot. I’ll finish it right away.”
Ashton watched her with a smile, his eyes drifting over her casually crossed legs. “Don’t eat it all at once–it’s too cold.”
Briar nodded enthusiastically. “Sure, I’ll just eat the melted part first.”
Briar was just brushing him off. She was addicted to cold treats–maybe it was all the stuff she’d been through over the years that made her temper so short.
The more annoyed she felt, the more she wanted something icy to chill herself out.
But ever since she’d come back to Dasmieca, she’d been keeping her temper on a tight leash, especially around Ashton.
She made a real effort to act like a totally normal person in front of him.
Ashton went back to his work, and Briar took the chance to finish off the whole tub of ice cream in record time.
By the time Ashton noticed, Briar had already wiped her mouth, and the empty ice cream tub and tissues had been tossed straight into the
trash.
Ashton felt speechless.
The whole thing was so childish that Ashton couldn’t hold back a chuckle. ‘She really is just a kid sometimes,‘ he thought:
Briar pretended not to notice the amusement in Ashton’s eyes and nonchalantly picked up her laptop again, ready to dive into another
battle.
But as her eyes landed on the screen, she saw that the firewall she’d just set up was fending off a barrage of five back–to–back virus attacks.
Briar’s gaze instantly turned cold, a vein pulsing at her temple.
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Chapter 109
‘Someone’s actually trying to hack into the Wade Group’s headquarters‘ internal network? she thought.
The firewall she’d just put in place wasn’t her signature All Purpose Wall just a quick patch.
These viruses were coming in strong, and if she didn’t step in fast, it was only a matter of time before they broke into the Wade Gouss
internal network.
She thought, ‘Should I help out?
‘Normally, I charge a fortune just to show up. But Ashton’s been good to me, and we’re friends, it’d be kinda cold to just ignore it, right?
‘Fine, I’ll just play the unsung hero for once.‘
She shot a quick glance at Ashton, saw that he was fully absorbed in his work again, then dropped her gaze and let her fingers fly across the
keyboard.
Just then, Jalen practically burst through the office door, breathless. “Mr. Wade, our company’s network is under a malicious attack…
He broke off mid–sentence as he suddenly realized there was someone else in the office.
Briar didn’t even bat an eye, acting like she hadn’t heard Jalen’s frantic outburst at all.
Ashton waved his hand, signaling for Jalen to continue. “It’s fine, Briar’s one of us.”
He’d even trusted Briar with his personal laptop. Since he was okay with that, nothing else would bother him.
Jalen nodded and went on, “Here’s the situation. The security team just reported that two minutes ago, our internal network was hit by an
unknown virus.
“The attack is aimed at the latest robotics technology in our R&D department, and the finance department has also been partially affected. I’ve already notified Xavion.”
Xavion was the head of network security for the Wade Group, but he was usually stationed over in Spoivania.
Whenever things got urgent, Ashton always had to step in personally.
Ashton nodded, already pulling up the system backend while Jalen was still talking.
As he watched lines of code race across the screen, his brow tightened. “Xavion’s all the way in Spoivania. By the time he even tracks down -the virus, it’ll be too late.”
Ashton could already tell that this was no ordinary hacker job.
Jalen looked worried. “So what do we do? The security team says this virus is really powerful–our firewall’s already halfway down.”
The Wade Group’s network security was the best in Dasmieca.
They even had a dedicated subsidiary for cybersecurity, and many major and minor companies throughout Dasmieca relied on them to protect their networks.
If the Wade Group’s headquarters got breached by some unknown virus and the news got out, it wouldn’t just cause a security incident at the headquarters.
It could also jeopardize the operations and trust of their other branches.
Jalen couldn’t believe someone would actually dare to target the Wade Group’s headquarters. Whoever was behind this had some serious
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Chapter 109
guts.
Ashton didn’t say a word. His fingers were already flying across the keyboard.
For a moment, the only sounds in the office were the sharp, rapid–fire tapping from his side and the crisp, rhythmic clicks from Briar
The speed of their keystrokes matched almost perfectly.
If Jalen had turned to glance at Briar just then, he would have noticed that the direction her fingers moved across the keyboard was astonishingly in sync with Ashton’s.
Ten quiet minutes ticked by, the only sound in the room the furious tapping of keys, until Ashton finally hit Enter one last time.
He looked up at Jalen. “It’s been blocked. Notify the security and R&D teams to have a meeting in the main conference room in ten minutes.
Jalen let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Understood, Mr. Wade.”
Once Jalen had left, Ashton glanced over at Briar, who was still tapping away at her keyboard, looking as cool and collected as ever.
He asked, “Briar, your connection didn’t lag just now, did it?”
Briar paused, shook her head, and answered with a straight face, “No idea, I was just chatting with a friend.”
If anyone had been paying close attention, they could’ve picked up on what she was really doing. Ashton was sharp.
He’d most likely already suspected something. But as long as Briar didn’t admit it, there wasn’t much he could do about her.
After all, she’d just saved Ashton a ton of trouble for free. If anything, he owed her one.
Ashton’s refined features gave nothing away–whether he believed her or not, his face stayed perfectly composed.
He nodded with his usual calm, not pushing the topic any further. “I’ve got a meeting to attend. If you get bored, feel free to explore the office. Here’s your access card.”
“Got it.” Briar took the card from him and watched as his tall, commanding figure strode away.
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