Chapter 80

Victoria shifted restlessly in the back seat before finally calling the first person she had contacted earlier.

This time, the phone rang for a long while before he answered.

His voice was still warm, but something about it had changed.

"Victoria, bad timing, I'm afraid. I asked around for you, but the order came directly from the task force handling the case. It's being treated pretty seriously, and people outside the investigation can't get anywhere near the core files."

He paused.

"I've actually got an urgent meeting starting now. Don't worry too much, all right? We'll talk when there's news."

The call ended.

Victoria stared at her phone.

A moment later, messages began arriving from several of the older acquaintances who had enthusiastically promised to help.

The wording varied, but the message was essentially the same.

The investigation was highly restricted.

Instructions had come down that no one outside the case was to make inquiries.

Whatever was behind this investigation, it carried serious weight.

Damn it.

How had Adrian gotten involved in something like this?

Who exactly had he hired?

Victoria called Michael.

"Even if there's nothing you can do about getting him released, at least find out why he was taken in."

"Of course, Ms. Sterling."

Michael glanced at his computer screen as he answered.

A security notice related to Derek Walsh's case was already open in front of him.

"Don't worry. I'll contact the appropriate people through the company's legal and compliance channels and see what I can find out. The moment I hear anything, I'll report back to you."

"Good. Do it quickly. I'll wait for your call."

"Of course."

Michael placed his phone on the desk without expression.

He didn't call anyone.

Instead, he calmly picked up his coffee, took a sip, and returned to the documents he had been reviewing.

The interview room was cold and sterile.

Adrian sat beneath harsh fluorescent lighting, his face pale under the unforgiving glare.

Across from him, a senior investigator rested his hands on the table.

"Do you understand why you were brought in?"

"I was told I'm suspected of involvement in unauthorized access to a protected government computer system."

Adrian looked up.

"But I swear I didn't do anything like that. I'm a mathematics student at Westbridge. My work is in pure and applied mathematics—mathematical modeling, theoretical research. I'm not a hacker. I wouldn't even know how to break into a government system."

"A misunderstanding?"

The investigator tapped his tablet several times, then turned the screen toward Adrian.

"You know Derek Walsh."

Adrian's eyes landed on the transaction records displayed there.

His temples throbbed.

He had expected this.

Instead of panicking, he let an embarrassed, almost self-mocking smile appear.

"I admit it. I paid Derek to trace a license plate."

He took a slow breath.

"But it was because of a personal relationship problem. I had no idea he was a hacker, and I certainly didn't know he would use illegal methods to get the information."

The investigator said nothing.

Adrian lowered his gaze.

"I had a girlfriend. Not long ago, she suddenly broke up with me one night without any warning. I was devastated, and I tried to get her back."

His voice grew quieter.

"Then the next morning, someone told me she'd returned to campus in a black Aston Martin. I was also told she looked... disheveled when she got out."

His fingers tightened slightly.

"I didn't know whether it was true. But I started wondering if she had already been seeing someone else before we broke up. I confronted her, she denied it, and the next day we argued in class. It even affected a competition I was involved in."

Adrian looked back at the investigator.

"The university can verify that."

He paused before continuing.

"I was angry and humiliated. I wanted to know who owned the car so I could understand what had actually happened."

His eyes reddened slightly.

"I asked around. Someone told me Derek was basically a very capable private investigator—that if you paid him, he could find someone's background, address, vehicle information, things like that."

Adrian gave a bitter laugh.

"I assumed he used public records, industry contacts, or people willing to talk. Maybe he paid someone at a parking garage to remember seeing the car. I didn't ask because I thought he was a legitimate private investigator."

He shook his head.

"If I had known he was going to hack into government traffic systems or try to access protected databases, I never would have contacted him."

His voice became firmer.

"I'm a top student at Westbridge. I have my entire future ahead of me. Why would I destroy my life just to find out who my ex-girlfriend might have been seeing?"

He looked directly at the investigator.

"Derek Walsh lied to me."

The investigators exchanged glances.

It was a convenient story.

Unfortunately, it also fit the evidence they currently had.

Derek's records proved that Adrian had paid him to trace the car. What they did not prove was that Adrian had ordered him to hack a government network—or even that Adrian knew how Derek intended to obtain the information.

They could see exactly what Adrian was doing.

He was separating the request from the method.

Derek was already in serious trouble and had every reason to drag his clients down with him. But even he had been unable to produce anything showing that Adrian had knowingly authorized an illegal intrusion.

There was, however, another problem.

Part of Adrian's deposit had been used to rent an overseas server that Derek relied on during the intrusion. Using a backdoor he had previously established, Derek had penetrated the outer defenses of the municipal traffic network, identified the relevant time window, and pulled surveillance footage from multiple intersections to reconstruct the vehicle's route.

That was not trivial.

But Adrian had an answer for that too.

As far as he knew, the money had simply been Derek's investigative fee. What Derek chose to spend it on had nothing to do with him.

And the intrusion itself had never penetrated the network's most protected systems.

Nearly two hours passed.

Through repeated questioning, Adrian refused to move from the same three points.

It had been an emotional dispute involving his ex-girlfriend.

He had known nothing about Derek's hacking methods.

He had believed he was hiring a private investigator.

For now, the investigators had evidence tying Adrian to Derek—and to the money that financed the search—but not enough to establish that Adrian had knowingly authorized the illegal intrusion.

After completing the required procedures, they released him pending further investigation, with strict instructions to remain available for additional questioning.

Elsewhere, Elena finally fought her way out of the traffic in the Ferrari and pulled into the garage at Richard's estate, sweaty and exhausted.

Only after the engine was off did she let out a long breath.

Full health restored.

Now came the important part.

She needed to figure out how to complain to her boyfriend.

Your daughter bullied me.

Your daughter's friend tried to burn my face off.

Should she run straight into Richard's arms and cry the second she saw him?

Wasn't that how women did it in all those palace dramas?

The problem was that the men in those shows were usually either idiots or pretending to be idiots.

Richard was neither.

Elena stared ahead for a moment.

"...Hmm."

Still thinking, she made her way into the house and eventually reached the dining room.

Richard came in from outside at almost the same time.

His tall figure appeared in the doorway. He casually handed his jacket to the butler before his dark eyes settled on Elena.

"Did you have fun?"

His voice was low.

Elena nodded automatically, her entire face lighting up.

"Yes! I love that car."

Then she froze.

Wait.

Wasn't she supposed to look miserable?

Her smile stiffened for a second.

There was absolutely nothing about her current expression that suggested she had spent the afternoon being cruelly bullied.

"Hmm?"

Richard caught the change immediately.

A trace of amusement appeared in his eyes.

"What is it?"

Elena glanced at him from beneath her lashes.

Richard still looked perfectly serious, but those dark eyes remained fixed on her.

"Well..."

She bit her lip.

"There's something I need to tell you."