Ch. 2091..2095: My Wife Is A Hacker Chapter 2091-2095

Chapter 2091

“But I can’t just let this go.

Raine’s anger had subsided a little, but she was still fuming mad.

‘If it was a failure on my part, I would not have such a hard time accepting this. But losing to Nicole? Right in front of her face too? It’s a direct slap to my face,’ Raine thought.

“Alright, alright. We ought to bear this burden of humiliation but remember, it’s all for our future,” James continued through gritted teeth.

“Sooner or later, I’ll bring her down.’

“Let’s go home.” James dragged Raine into the car after he noticed she had finally calmed down, whereupon they left the place.

On the other hand, it did not take long for Nicole and Lulu to conclude their business meeting and get into the car.

“Nicole, I didn’t expect it would go so smoothly,” Lulu remarked, feeling very impressed by herself when she landed the project with Mr. Harmon.

It was also her very first project after joining Riddle Corporation. Therefore, it filled her with excitement just thinking about it.

“I told you not to worry,’ Nicole smiled. “But then, I must admit, your comebacks have gotten better.”

Nicole recalled Raine’s perplexed expression as she was rendered speechless and was intrigued by it.

In reply, Lulu flashed her a bashful smile and scratched her head. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve gotten training through my previous company?”

“I do.” Nicole nodded, finally understanding why June had persuaded Lulu to resign from her previous job.

“Nicole, do you know that it’s great that you’re finally back!?’ Lulu brought Nicole into a tight embrace in excitement. “I’ve gone through so much in the past five years, but ever since you came back, things have gotten much better.”

This did not simply mark the end to Lulu’s series of predicaments; in the end, she had also gotten a better job. With that, Lulu’s drive to do better at her job had been ignited. Now more than ever, she was determined to work harder to live up to Nicole’s expectations of her.

Back at the Riddle Corporation, both Nicole and Lulu went their separate ways. Lulu was determined to spend her time learning and picking up the ropes, which Nicole was more than happy to let her do.

Soon after, Nicole heard an unexpected knock on her door, and Steve suddenly came striding in with an anxious look on his face.

“Steve, what’s the matter?” Nicole asked as she looked at Steve in confusion.

Steve carefully studied Nicole from top to toe. ‘Oh thank

God. She doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.’

Then, he breathed a sigh of relief before saying, “Thank goodness you’re alright. I heard that you went out for a business meeting earlier and bumped into Raine and James.

I was worried for a moment there.”

“Steve, don’t worry about it. I’m fine, see?”

‘Raine isn’t even capable of laying a finger on me,’ Nicole thought.

“Then what happened earlier today? How did you bump into them?” Steve asked, feeling a little puzzled.

The corner of Nicole’s mouth twitched in glee. “Someone got a little too ambitious and couldn’t keep their greed under wraps.”

“Ambitious?” Steve was at loss. ‘Who was trying to be too ambitious? Raine?’

“Yeah. There’s something I have been keeping from you.”

Nicole then cautiously told Steve about everything that had happened when she returned to visit the Riddle mansion, including the undisputed decision of the family afterwards.

Steve nodded his head in agreement. “Well, Sean can technically do that.”

“Yeah, because of what Sean had said about us being heartless. But please, don’t make it too obvious that you know about this,” Nicole told Steve, who was a little dumbfounded.

‘If everyone were to act as if they’re oblivious to this situation, won’t it make things worse?’ Steve thought.

Steve gasped. “I think that’s why he wanted me to bring Sally home for dinner.”

“Not entirely.” Nicole said, feeling that it was for the sake of her sister-in-law.

“Let’s forget it. We can talk about this another time, but what did you mention earlier about Raine being ambitious?’ she asked in surprise.

“Could it be that she wants some of the inheritance? Could it?”

Chapter 2092

‘There were many people before her who wanted the inheritance too. It would be almost impossible for her to wait until it was her turn. Who was next in life after me?’

“She can’t but there could be someone who is willing to let her have it.1 An icy glint flashed in Nicole’s eyes. “James is not an easy person to deal with.”

Nicole was unfamiliar with James, but after the fiasco that had occurred earlier today, Nicole was certain that James was brilliant in scheming.

‘People from the less influential families are not favored by our family as they have no status nor power, but it’s a certainty that James harbors lofty ambitions. It’s just that he is much better at hiding it,’ Nicole thought.

“I really underestimated that fella.” Steve scoffed, having been swayed by Nicole’s words.

‘Now, with Raine’s brilliant mind and abilities, how could she possibly join the working team in the company and expect to inherit the Riddle Corporation? She’s known to be reluctant and powerless. However, with James’ involvement, this has become a serious problem,’ Steve pondered.

“For the time being, we can’t make any glaring moves, or we’ll have to deal with them a little more often than we want to.”

‘No matter how thoughtful and scheming they are, they have nothing to do with us as long as they don’t step into the headquarters.’

“Okay. I’ll assign some of my folks to get some intel.”

‘The idea is that everything will be fine as long as Raine and James stay in the other branch office without stepping foot into HQ,’ Steve thought.

Nicole nodded in agreement.

“Okay then, I’ll get going.” Steve turned around and walked off.

Nicole leaned back against her seat as contempt flashed across her eyes. ‘Dillon’s company is already filled with so many problems. They’re barely surviving and now, even with Raine in the team, I don’t think that she’ll have the skills to improve the situation of their branch,’ Nicole thought, before getting back to work.

Soon it was lunch time, Nicole was still deciding on what to have for lunch before her phone rang, derailing her train of thought.

It was a call from Lawrence.

“Leo.”

“You promised to buy me a meal sometime. Can you fulfill that promise now?” Lawrence said with a smile.

“Are you downstairs?” Nicole asked hesitantly.

She knew that Lawrence would not casually ask her to go out for lunch without an ulterior motive.

Smiling, she replied, “Okay, I’ll head down now.”

After hanging up, Nicole left her office and headed downstairs.

She had promised Lawrence a while ago that she would treat him to a meal. ‘I guess that it’s better to fulfill what I’ve promised him rather than to stay indebted.’

Soon Nicole arrived downstairs where she saw Lawrence, who was waiting for her.

“What do you want to have?” Nicole asked right off the bat, since she was just doing this to thank him.

“It’s up to you, you can decide,” Lawrence replied, hoping that Nicole could decide on something that would suit her taste buds more.

Then, Nicole glanced at the restaurant across the street and said, “Why not go there?”

“Yeah, sure.” Lawrence instinctively agreed.

Soon enough, the two of them arrived at the restaurant across the street and picked a spot that was quiet.

After they had ordered their food, Lawrence casually started, “Has it been busy for you recently?”

“It’s fine.’ Nicole responded politely.

“Nolan accepted some missions again yesterday,” Lawrence said, changing the topic upon noticing that Nicole was reluctant to talk about work.

Nicole nodded. “Nolan was a little bored so he accepted a small mission to pass time.”

Nicole knew that anything related to Nolan would not get past him. If her code name had any progress, Lawrence would know. From there, he would be able to monitor them and tell whether Nolan or Nicole had accepted the mission or not.

 

Chapter 2093

-“Yeah, he also called to chat with me for a bit.” Lawrence looked at Nicole with eyes beaming with hope as Nolan had given him some pep talk to work harder during the night prior.

Otherwise, someone else might just whisk her away.

Lawrence came to approach Nicole for that exact reason, as his masculine senses had informed him that it was a crisis. Before this, Nolan had contacted Lawrence to help him find occasions and circumstances in which he could set them both up. Nolan had been urging Lawrence to work hard to woo his mother, adding that he would not stand a chance if he did not.

Though Lawrence had attempted to gather some information from Nolan regarding his desperate desire to get him to pursue his mother, there was no success, as he could not discover anything. All he could tell was that something must have happened.

Nicole’s pupils shrank slightly; she understood that Nolan must have said something to Lawrence, prompting him to come over for a visit today.

“Leo, the kids have a thing with playful banters. There are certain things we don’t have to take seriously,” she explained.

Nicole had made that clear to Lawrence once before and ever since returning to San Joto. It was evident that something within Lawrence had changed a little.

“Pretty sure I can tell a truth and a lie apart,” he said.

‘Regardless of whether it was Nolan’s childish words or my own, my objective and goal is clear, especially what my heart wants. For five years, I have been silently giving her everything she wanted and how she wanted them. I gave her space, and I did not push into doing things she did not want to do. Never have I imagined that I would be on the verge of losing her because of an accident, and now,

we’re drifting further and further away from one another,’ he thought as he became uneasy with the knowledge that things were not heading the way he wanted them to be.

“Leo, I think you have to understand that, between the two of us, we’re just friends.” Nicole frowned, reminding him of their previous conversation.

Lawrence proceeded to interrupt her. “You also said that you weren’t going to come back here.”

“The world is evolving each day, and there are things that are beyond our control. Now that I’ve returned, I have to do what I should be doing,” she replied.

Initially, Nicole did not want to return to San Joto at all because she wanted to elude her enemies and keep her children safe.

Perhaps it was fate that brought me back here. It’s not something I can run from forever.’

“Yeah, there are things we can’t control but there are things we definitely can control,’ he helplessly argued.

It was uncertain as to whether it was Lawrence’s love for Nicole that had prompted him to work so hard to prevent her from returning to San Joto or it was because she had no recollection of San Joto. But to his dismay, their relationship had changed as they got more and more distant with one another, a situation which Lawrence was dying to fix.

“Leo.” A tinge of embarrassment flashed in her eyes at once.

She knew what Lawrence meant but she had not expected such determination from him, making her feel powerless.

Nicole knew that she had stated very clearly that the two of them could only be friends, a proposition to which Lawrence had respected. However, his perception on this had changed.

“Let’s eat,” Lawrence said as he stifled the mental breakdown within, not wanting to press on further as he was worried that Nicole would sever all communication with him.

Nicole paused for a moment before hesitating. Meanwhile, Lawrence had already dug in while helping her with her food.

“I can do it myself,” she said.

Lawrence quickly changed the subject of conversation. He avoided all mentions of the issue earlier and about Nolan entirely. From then on, he stuck to discussions about work matters. Nicole on the other hand was amenable to having discussions about the partnership fortheir business together.

‘I guess we can discuss this further in detail next time,’ Nicole thought.

After lunch was over, the awkwardness and friction between the two of them had completely disappeared, with both of them looking much more relaxed.

“I’ll send you back.” Lawrence got up and left the restaurant with Nicole.

Soon, the two of them arrived at the entrance of the Riddle Corporation. They went their separate ways as Nicole walked into the office and Lawrence got into his car.

“Mr. Royce,” Ian greeted, noting that Lawrence was looking a little pale.

“You don’t look too good. Did something happen?” Ian asked.

Chapter 2094

Lawrence shot a cold look at Ian. “How are things going with Holder Entertainment?”

“Everything’s good. The Johnston Group has not given a response afterwards. It seems like they’re admitting defeat and are letting us have the project,” Ian said gleefully.

“It was that easy?” Lawrence’s eyes squinted, not believing that it would be this easy.

‘Something is wrong here.’

“Yeah. We’ve been keeping an eye on Holder Entertainment for a while now. It wouldn’t be much of a problem,” Ian promised.

Lawrence nodded his head. “Okay. Keep a close eye on them.”

‘Jared is not an easy person to deal with. I know for sure I cannot afford to be unprepared when it comes to him. I can’t relax until we’ve secured our deal.’

Ian nodded his head in response. “Yes, Mr. Royce. You can leave it to me.”

Then, Lawrence leaned back against his seat and pondered,’ Today’s persuasion had made one thing clear. Though Nicole has not fully recovered her memories and there is little to no progress between Jared and Nicole, her heart has still been swayed.’

Lawrence felt restless as he stared out the car window, his eyes glinting as he went deep in thought.

At the office, Nicole issued a sigh of defeat and shook her head, not knowing that such a day in which she was faced with this sort of situation would come. Nicole had always taken Lawrence as her own friend. He had saved her life before and helped her get back onto her feet, but alas, she had done nothing to repay him for his good deeds.

Nicole sat down at her desk, as she bit her lip and opened a server that she never thought she would open again. Nicole was very well aware that the server was very dear to Lawrence.

‘I guess I can consider this as a repayment for all that he has done to help me for the past five years.’

Soon the sun began to set, with Nicole having spent her entire afternoon trying to decipher and crack the server, but to no avail. By then, she looked very annoyed and unkempt. She walked out of her office, unconsciously covering her eyes with her arm as if she was not used to the light from the outside, which blinded her for a brief moment.

Jared got out of his car and jogged over to her, and with a tone of concern, he asked, “What happened? Was work too demanding for you today?”

Nicole shook her head. “It was fine.”

Nicole did not tell anyone that she was in the midst of cracking the server, as it was something that was very dear to Lawrence. Not even Lana and Nolan knew, and Nicole

had no intentions of telling Jared either. Afterall, it was Lawrence’s secret, and she would just be returning a favor once she succeeded. Nicole genuinely thought that once the job had been completed, her ties with Lawrence would then end.

“Let’s go home.” Jared helped her into the car upon noticing that her complexion was poor.

After they had picked Nolan and Lana from the kindergarten, they all returned to the Riddle residence.

Jared then informed both the children that their mother was too tired from work and pleaded with the two of them to be quiet, to which they both cooperated really well. Nolan and Lana obediently went on to watch TV after they had reached home. In the meantime, Jared took Nicole back to their room.

Chapter 2095

Nicole was at a loss on how to respond and so, she said,” Don’t sweat it. I feel much better now.”

She was too focused on cracking the system during the evening and had forgotten to catch a break. However, she was all good now.

“You must rest, or I will make you,” Jared threatened, noticing that Nicole had no intentions of resting.

Nicole froze, smoothed her hair awkwardly, and averted her gaze. In all her shrewdness, Nicole did not ask Jared about the methods he would employ to make her rest. She could already feel that his answer would put her in an awkward position.

Helpless, Nicole did as she was told; she laid down and began to get some shuteye. This was the safest option for her. Seeing that Nicole had settled down, Jared nodded in satisfaction and pulled the blanket over her.

“Just stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

After Jared had left, Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Why do I feel so nervous when Jared comes near me?’

Staring at the ceiling, Nicole got lost in her thoughts.

When Jared arrived downstairs, Daniel and Gloria asked with concern, “How’s Nicole?”

“She’s a little tired from work. She’ll be fine after some rest,”

Jared briefly explained.

“Ah well, Nicole has always been self-sufficient,” Gloria said, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Don’t worry, Gloria. It’s just that Dillion has been up to no good recently. That’s why she was a little stressed out,” Jared reassured. “She’ll be fine soon.”

“What about Dillion?” Daniel furrowed his brows, his expression turning grim.

“Not much. He’s just interested in the inheritance and assets of the Riddle family,” Jared snorted coldly and walked toward the kitchen.

Jared knew about the meeting Nicole had with Mr. Harmon today. When he saw Nicole in a bad mood after work, he had figured that it was probably because of that.

Noting Jared’s reluctance to discuss the matter any further, Daniel and Gloria exchanged glances and stopped asking.

“Oh well,” Gloria sighed, feeling speechless and helpless in the face of Dillion and Damien’s actions.

“I’ll inform Sean to take better care of Nicole,” Daniel said, placing his hopes on Sean.

After all, in terms of skill and competence, Sean was miles ahead of everyone else.

“Don’t forget Steve. He’s in the company too. Let them take care of their sister,” Gloria added.

“Mom, Dad? Don’t worry too much. If Nicole didn’t possess the capabilities, how could she possibly secure the position of chairman? She’s just probably still not used to it,” Stanley said, having entered the room and overheard the conversation.

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t even care about your sister,” Gloria glared at Stanley with dismay written all over her face.

Hearing that, Stanley immediately felt aggrieved. “How can I not worry about her? With everything we’re capable of, Nicole will have no worries if she stays at home all day, doing nothing. But do you

think she would be happy with that?”

If they were worried about Nicole, the best way was to not let her work. However, they all understood that was not the life Nicole wanted. After all, Nicole had taken over the company without any reluctance, even though she had not regained her memories yet. It meant that, deep down, she was still the same Nicole as before.

Daniel and Gloria exchanged glances, feeling even more heartbroken for Nicole because they knew what Stanley said made sense. At that moment, Jared walked out of the kitchen with a tray of light but nutritious dishes. He then went upstairs, taking big steps along the way.

“I’m back,” Spencer, who entered the house, announced.

Then, when he saw Jared going upstairs, he curiously asked, “What’s wrong with Mr. Johnston? Why’d he take his dinner upstairs?”

“Nicole’s not feeling well,” Gloria explained the situation briefly.

Hearing that, Spencer expressed his concern. “Can she handle eating?”

“Mr. Johnston said she just needed some rest,” Stanley explained.