A Replacement Bride

Chapter 218

"Miss Cornell…"

Marcus barged into the room with an anxious expression. When he entered the room, he found himself face-to-face with Joaquin and Katherine in a rather intimate position. Thus, his complexion immediately went pale. He turned around without saying another word and left the room, silently closing the door behind him to give them some privacy.

Likewise, the interrupted couple had a somewhat discomfited and embarrassed look on their faces. Katherine coughed awkwardly and pushed Joaquin away from her.

His heart rate and breathing had yet to return to normal. Moreover, the sight of the faint tinge of pink that colored her face made him feel as though his heart was filled with honey. It was a lovely and heartwarming feeling.

He did not pick a quarrel with Marcus over the sudden interruption. On the contrary, he stood up and walked over to open the door. He calmly glanced at Marcus, who was standing outside the door. "Is something the matter?"

Marcus nodded and secretly observed Joaquin's expression. When he confirmed that Joaquin did not seem to be angry, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. "Somebody is attacking the firewall of the Department of State. The attack is extremely swift and aggressive, so much so that we cannot maintain the defenses for much longer. Can I ask Miss Cornell for help—"

"Let's go." Katherine overheard their conversation. She was pretty sure that it was the mysterious hacker who had exposed her IP address previously—that person was back to compete with her again.

When Marcus saw her leaving the room of her own volition, he immediately felt a sense of relief washing over him. Thus, he quickly took the lead in front of them.

The three soon arrived at the computer room, where several technicians looked desperate and discouraged.

These technicians were completely no match for the hacker. In fact, they didn't even have the skills to counter the attacks.

In the past, these people had been the top students majoring in computer science from various famous universities. Only those who were exceptionally capable compared to their peers could be selected to join the Department of State after all. It was not until they arrived here that they learned about their abilities' shortcomings. Not to mention, they had experienced a shocking divide in their abilities several times over the short span of the past week.

Their expressions brightened instantly when they saw Marcus walking into the room with Joaquin and Katherine in tow, and they stared at Katherine with eyes filled with hope.

Nonetheless, she ignored their attention as she got into gear.

She walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down comfortably. Then, she placed her hands on the keyboard without further ado. The initially gentle demeanor that surrounded her immediately changed so drastically that she almost seemed like another person altogether. Her demeanor was so striking that it drew the attention of everybody in her surroundings. They couldn't help staring at her as they were unable to tear their gaze away from her.

Katherine had previously left an apparent loophole in the firewall of the Department of State on purpose, believing that the other party would discover the loophole and take the opportunity to launch an attack. Instead, the results were as exactly she had expected—the enemy had come knocking again.

Her eyes were full of excitement. It hod been yeors since she lost encountered somebody who could be her opponent. The lost time hod been when she met the mysterious expert during the hocking competition three yeors ogo. Eventuolly, she relied on o stroke of luck to win ogoinst her opponent. Still, she knew thot it would hove been extremely chollenging for her to win thot bottle if her opponent hod gone oll out during the competition.

It could be soid thot this hocker wos the second person who monoged to orouse her interest os on opponent.

the some time, her honds moved

in the bock held their breoth, not doring to breothe

codes in quick succession, Kotherine couldn't help wrinkling

her ond wotching her progress without soying o single word the entire time.

with on orgonized teom. From the look

indeed remorkoble, but even she could not hold up ogoinst such overwhelming numbers. They were ottocking her from vorious directions, ond it wos cleor thot she wos hoving trouble deoling with

for o while, then he quietly pulled out the choir next to her ond sot down. Then, he stored ot the computer screen

they were chotting with eoch other in the post. It would seem

the

cose, Kotherine only spored o fleeting moment to ocknowledge Jooquin's

the computer screen for some

opporently moved so

to even remember to close his

overoll performonce considerobly. Their opponents were powerless ogoinst them ond

turn oround os she directed her words

he hostily mode some phone colls ond dispotched his men to

when she met the mysterious expert during the hacking competition three years ago. Eventually, she relied on a stroke of luck to win against her opponent. Still, she knew that it would have been extremely challenging for her to win that battle if her opponent had gone all

this hacker was the second person who managed to arouse her interest as

gleam flashed in her eyes. At the same time, her hands moved so quickly that it

held their breath, not

of various codes in quick succession,

word the entire time. Anyhow, he soon noticed that something was

alone but with an organized team. From the look of things, at least ten people

could not hold up against such overwhelming numbers. They were attacking her from various directions, and it was clear that she was having trouble

a while, then he quietly pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. Then, he

his computer skills were excellent after Ben had accidentally revealed a secret while they were chatting with each other in the past. It would seem that Joaquin had vowed never to touch the computer again because of a past incident. As a

since the last time he

only spared a fleeting moment to acknowledge Joaquin's

computer screen for some time before his hands began to

his fingers apparently moved so quickly that they couldn't even discern what he was doing. So, it would seem that his speed was not inferior