Pursuing Her (Sophie and Tristan)

Chapter 6 Who Did I Offend This Time

have nothing to do with you. If you love acting so much, why not become an actress?”Sophie headed upstairs without sparing the two one last look.Charmaine was infuriated. “Look at her attitude! Who does she think she is? She’s still not remorseful after what she did years ago!”Willow secretly scoffed to herself before coaxing, “Don’t be angry, Mom. You still have me. I won’t disappoint you.”“Yes! Thank goodness! You’ve never disappointed your mother. Willa, you know the Tanner family’s situation now. It’s even more imperative that you succeed.”As long as Willow married into a wealthy family, the Tanner family would have hope of reviving their fortunes.Sophie ignored the duo downstairs and whipped out her laptop once she was back in her room.She switched on the nondescript laptop, which started up faster than an Apple computer.It was booted up and ready to use in under three seconds.The interface did not look different from an average computer, either.Sophie sat on her bed and placed the laptop on her lap. She rapidly tapped out a string of code.“Aha!”She immediately had a measure of the Anglanduran hackers’ skills after a minute of work.“Idiots.” I can’t believe they’re messing with the Chanaean government. I need to teach them a harsh lesson before they think they can continue picking on us.Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Lines of code materialized on her laptop screen.An Anglanduran hacker had been hired to steal Chanaea’s confidential information on military defense. His employer asked, “How is it going? Did you get it?”“F*ck!” The hacker was about to access the information when someone blocked his hack and added an impenetrable firewall to the program.“What happened?”“We’re doomed.” Before the Anglanduran hacker could do a thing, his adversary had hacked into Anglandur’s firewall. His computer froze for ten whole seconds while he tried desperately to encrypt the firewall. Within that brief time frame, Anglandur’s confidential information had been stolen.“What on earth happened?”“The other party stole our confidential documents.”“What? Who did this? Didn’t you say you were unbeatable?”“It must be Phantom from Wings of Light. No one but that hacker can compete with me.”“I cannot stress how important those confidential documents are. You’d better think about how to explain this to the President!”The Anglanduran hacker swore, “Just you wait, Phantom!”Back at the Tanner residence, Sophie sent the information she stole to Butterfly. Then, she entered a few lines of code and removed all traces of her past activity before shutting down her laptop.Butterfly called her right after she switched off her laptop.“I knew you could do it! I just didn’t think you could even steal their confidential documents in such a short time. You’re really a legend; no one can achieve your heights or defeat you.”Sophie was already numb to such compliments, and she replied, “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”“All right. Payment goes to your usual card, right?”“Yup.”As usual, Sophie hung up without waiting for Butterfly’s reply.Her hack had dragged another unfortunate victim along with it. Charles stared at the black screen on his computer in shock as he muttered, “Damn it! My laptop was hacked too.”I wanted to catch Phantom in the act! Why did I get hacked instead?Felix failed to suppress his laughter as he teased, “Are you sure you’ve got the chops, Charles?”“This must be Phantom’s doing. No one else can perform such a hack.” There was truly no one else who could achieve that feat in such a short time and not leave a single trace behind.Tristan, who had been silent all the while, suddenly asked, “Do you have any leads?”“A little. I can confirm that Phantom is in Jipsdale.” That was the only useful piece of information he had gleaned.“What? Phantom is in Jipsdale?”Tristan added, “Find a way to get in touch with Wings of Light.” Wings of Light was a mysterious hacker organization. No one knew where the organization was based. They only knew that the hackers in the group were better than the next, and Phantom was the best of them all.He returned to the CEO’s office, determined to get through the pile of work he had not dealt with since arriving in Horington several days ago.After completing her assignment, Sophie played some phone games on her bed.Someone knocked on her door, and she got up to see who it was.“It’s your grandpa, Sophie.”She quickly opened the door and asked, “What’s up, Grandpa?”At the same time, she helped Josiah to walk into her room.He said, “Tell me what happened five years ago. You’re my granddaughter, and I want the people who harmed you to receive their deserved punishment.”“It’s fine, Grandpa. You don’t need to deal with this.” Josiah was old, and Sophie did not want him to worry over her. She added, “Just take care of your health. That’s enough for me.”Josiah replied, “I know you suffered a great deal when I wasn’t around five years ago. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. Now that I’m back, no one will bully you again. Focus on your studies and leave the rest to me. I have a debit card for you. Buy anything you need. Let me know if you need more money. Don’t mistreat yourself, all right?”Girls at Sophie’s age were busy prettifying themselves, yet Josiah was dismayed to discover the Tanners’ former princess with such a different personality than before.Despite her tough demeanor, Sophie’s throat choked up with emotion. It had been a long time since anyone had looked out for her.“Thank you, Grandpa.”She could not bring herself to reject her grandfather’s kindness.Sophie only arrived at school in the afternoon, and Butterfly called her incessantly again.She found a quiet corner and answered the call.Butterfly asked, “Did you offend anyone lately, Phantom?”“Who did I offend this time?”Others would find a way to ruffle her feathers even if she minded her own business. There was little she could do about it.“Do you know Lombard Group? They’re investigating your identity.” Nothing could evade the knowledge of Wings of Light.“Lombard Group?