Ch. 21..25: My Wife Is A Hacker Chapter 21-25

Chapter 21

The Woods family was a group of individuals whom the people in San Joto would stay away from, as messing with them was inviting trouble. Norah saw this and said boldly, “Grandpa… I didn’t mean it. She had just arrived at school and did not know who Austin was.”

It sounded like she was defending Nicole, but it actually was to say that Nicole was the one who first used violence.

Nicole was not too happy. Just when she was about to rebut, Daniel spoke. “Dad, Nicole is not to blame. I have looked into the ins and outs of the matter. Austin openly tried to grab Nicole. Do we still have to put up with that?”

Seeing the righteous indignation of Daniel and Nicole, Karen said sarcastically, “Daniel, Austin is Mr. Woods Sr.’s grandson. We are in trouble by offending him. I heard Snow say that Austin threatened to get Nicole expelled from the school.” Karen threw a bombshell.

“Expulsion?” Mr. Riddle Sr. frowned immediately. It was only last night that Mr. Ellison invited Nicole into the school, and he would expel her because she had offended Austin?

“What do you think? Austin’s dad was a school trustee, and the students who offended Austin before did not seem to have a good ending.” Karen was kicking Nicole when she was down, as if Nicole’s expulsion was a foregone conclusion. Norah immediately looked at Nicole expectantly.

“If that is the case, no one can help you, Nicole.”

“I am not asking anyone for help.” Nicole frowned. Karen thought Nicole was unrepentant and immediately said, “Dad, see this girl? She still doesn’t admit her fault.”

“What wrong have I done?” Nicole frowned.

“Do you mean I should let him grab me just because the Woods family is powerful? Will it not look bad on the Riddle family?”

Nicole’s voice was sonorous and powerful. For a moment, there was silence in the living room.Mr. Riddle Sr’s eyes brightened up.

“Absolutely. As nasty as the Woods family is, we, the Riddles, aren’t someone who can be easily bullied. Nicole did the right thing.”

Norah was exasperated, not expecting Mr. Riddle Sr. to be so supportive of Nicole.

Karen became anxious and said, “Dad, you should know how to distinguish between right and wrong. What good is it for us to mess with the Woods family?”

Seeing his wife so fiery, Dillon coughed gently to remind her.

“The situation is not that bad, Karen. The expulsion is no big deal. Austin doesn’t know that Nicole is our family, and the Woods family will not bother us.”

Daniel could not take it anymore at seeing the husband and wife echoing each other’s words.” I wonder why you two are so opinionated. Is it because you are afraid that Nicole’s matter will implicate you two?”

The faces of both Dillon and Karen turned red, and Dillon snarled, “Why say so? We don’t just worry about ourselves, but the Riddle family. The Woods family is such a scoundrel that people try to keep away from them. What good is it for us to mess with them?”

“Do you mean that for the Riddle family staying out of trouble, we should do nothing when our children are bullied, even if they are Snow and Raine?” Nicole shot a frosty glance at Karen and Dillon.

Mr. Riddle Sr. became even more clearheaded this time. “You guys just want to stay away from this problem and care about yourselves. If Snow is the one who gets bullied, will you still shift the blame like now?”

“I…” Karen tried to say something but was discouraged by Mr. Riddle Sr.’s reprimand.

Seeing that no one could counter Nicole, Norah stared at her with indignation. She realized she had seriously underestimated Nicole.

It did not take long for Mr. Riddle Sr. to express his final thoughts.

”Nicole did the right thing. If she is expelled, I will find her a better school tomorrow. It is no big deal. I can even send Nicole to study abroad. No matter what, I want to give her the best education.”

The kid from the Johnston family was so outstanding. He was not going to let his granddaughter fall behind.

Knowing that Mr. Riddle Sr. genuinely cared about her, Nicole looked at him with a relieved smile.

“Don’t worry about it, Grandpa. I will not be expelled.”

Her voice was calm and determined, inexplicably persuasive.

“Mr. Ellison has contacted you?” Seeing that her granddaughter was so assured of herself, Mr. Riddle Sr. thought she might have gotten some news.

“Not yet, but he will call me back as soon as he is free.” Nicole sounded as if it was a matter of course. It was as though Mr. Ellison was her subordinate.

This strange feeling made everyone look doubtful. Norah’s eyes were almost on fire. Did Nicole really think Mr. Ellison was subservient to her?

While she was thinking so, the family butler suddenly came up and whispered to Mr. Riddle Sr. “Mr. Ellison calls.”

“Mr. Ellison?” Not expecting that Mr. Ellison would call him, he took the call immediately.

Everyone looked in Mr. Riddle Sr.’s direction. As Mr. Riddle Sr. had poor hearing, he put the call on the phone speaker. “Mr. Ellison, I didn’t expect you to call.” Mr. Riddle Sr. answered politely. On the other end of the phone, Mr. Ellison was letting out a kind smile. “Mr. Riddle Sr., today I heard that the kid from the Woods family offended your granddaughter, Nicole. Is she all right?”

Everyone heard that and was all wide-eyed.

In terms of importance, it should be Nicole who offended Austin, but Mr. Ellison said that it was Austin who offended Nicole. How high was Nicole’s importance in the eye of Mr. Ellison?

 

Chapter 22

Nicole subtly shook her head to signal Mr. Riddle Sr. He then shook his head and said, “She is fine. She didn’t take it to heart.”

“Glad to hear. I will tell that kid from the Woods family to behave. No one will bully Nicole at school from now on. I assured you that.” “Thank you so much.” Mr. Riddle Sr. was elated and immediately thanked Mr. Ellison.

“No problem. Let us have a cup of tea together if you have time next time,” Mr. Ellison said politely.

“Any time, Mr. Ellison. Call me when you have time.” Mr. Riddle Sr. was flattered. Not anyone could meet Mr. Ellison, and it was unimaginable that Mr. Ellison would ask to meet him. So, he agreed immediately.

“Sure.”

After that, Mr. Ellison hung up. The air felt standstill as everyone who heard the conversation looked at Nicole in disbelief.

Norah was most surprised. She had not believed it at all that Mr. Ellison would still be protective of Nicole when such a thing happened, but his phone call had confirmed everything.

Mr. Riddle Sr. slowly lowered his phone and calmed himself down.

“Nicole, are you and Mr. Ellison close?”

Last time Nicole only said she and Mr. Ellison had met just once. But he now felt that their relationship was more than acquaintances.

Seeing her grandpa’s doubts, Nicole thought for a moment and said, “Sort of.”

They had only met once, but it was she who had been accompanying him when he was in the hospital, and so they kind of knew each other well.

Karen was not too happy with Nicole’s answer.

“What do you mean by ‘sort of? How did you two meet?”

She was resentful that a country girl like Nicole could get into Royal Creek Institute High School. Not only that, when Nicole confronted an opponent like the Woods family, Mr. Ellison still harbored Nicole. What was going on? She had to figure out their relationship.

Neither Daniel nor Gloria spoke. Apparently, they were also eager to know what their relationship was.

Seeing that her parents were so curious, Nicole decided to tell a little more.

“If I must say so, I saved Mr. Ellison’s life.”

Nicole said calmly, but her words stunned everyone.

“You saved his life?” Karen stared wide-eyed at Dillon, unable to believe that an eighteen-year -old girl claimed to have said Mr. Ellison’s life.

“Nicole, is what you say true? Don’t bluff just because Mr. Ellison has called.” A student from the countryside claimed to have saved Mr. Ellison’s life. How was that possible? Was it not a pipe dream?

“Ask Mr. Ellison if you don’t believe me.” Nicole had little patience with Norah.

Norah’s face turned pale as she knew she was qualified to see Mr. Ellison. Obviously, Nicole had concluded that she could not verify it.

Daniel looked back and came to a sudden realization.

“No wonder Nicole was so sure that she would not be expelled when she was at home.”

Gloria was finally relieved.

“Yeah, so it seems that Nicole will not be expelled.”

Daniel and Gloria were happy, but it was a slap in the face for Dillon and Karen.

At first, they thought about coming back today to tattle to Mr. Riddle Sr. about Nicole being kicked out of school, not expecting Nicole to turn things around. Instead of making Nicole look bad, the two of them had become the laughingstocks. Looking guiltily at Mr. Riddle Sr., Karen could no longer sit still.

“Now that the matter is settled, we will go now.”

Mr. Riddle Sr. had no plan of letting her go just yet.

“In the future, stay out of the school issues of children and do not bring issues that shouldn’t be brought home.” Karen felt humiliated in front of Daniel and Gloria after being reprimanded by Mr. Riddle Sr. But this time, it was indeed her fault. She could only grit her teeth and say, “I got it, Dad.” She then left with Dillon, with their tails between their legs.

Mr. Riddle Sr. looked at Nicole with an avuncular smile.

“You are truly my granddaughter. Tell me how you taught the kid Austin a lesson today.” Mr. Riddle Sr. had long been despising the Woods family. His granddaughter was just like him, sharp, incisive, and fearless.

Finding it hard to explain in words, Nicole showed a video to Mr. Riddle Sr. and her parents.

The three of them watched nervously. “You know how to fight, Nicole?” Gloria was wide-eyed.

“I used to learn some martial arts in the countryside. My grandmother said it was for self defense.” She dodged Gloria’s gaze and randomly made up a story.

“Not bad. Girls should learn some self-defense techniques. You are the only one who is like me in the family.” The more Mr. Riddle Sr. watched, the more elated he became. He kept watching the video clip several times.

Norah was completely neglected, her eyes fixated on Nicole. She could not believe that she had even used Snow and Raine to make Nicole look bad, yet she still failed. Instead, Nicole had stood out even more, and this was making Norah mad. Norah clenched her hands in resentment, her fingernails almost sinking into the flesh of her palms.

An hour later, Daniel and Gloria were back at home with Nicole and Norah.

Nicole texted Mr. Ellison to say thank you once she was in her room. Mr. Ellison had no habit of texting, so Nicole went to the shower. Not long after leaving the bathroom, there was a sudden knock on the door. She opened the door and saw Norah.

“What is it?” Nicole asked indifferently, her eyes lacking emotion.

“Nicole, this is the cosmetics I brought back from my previous trip to Floeze. I would like you to have it.” Norah let out an innocent smile, but Nicole did not like that smile very much.

Thinking of how Norah kicked her when she was down today, Nicole took a step back.

“I am good. I never use these things.”

She really hated cosmetics and did not bother to get them.

“You have never used them?” Norah was slightly surprised. Nicole had never used cosmetics, yet her skin was so beautiful. It made her jealous.

 

Chapter 23

“Anything else?” Nicole sounded cold, clearly wanting to drive her away. Norah felt embarrassed and could only quickly get down to business.

“I know that you and Austin have a conflict. I was just worried that our family would get involved, so I said something that might have offended you. Please don’t mind. You may hit me if you are angry.” Norah said with an innocent look, as if Nicole would bully her.

Nicole sneered as she despised someone who liked to play the victim like Norah.

“Since you know you shouldn’t have said something that shouldn’t be said, you should have corrected yourself instead of coming to me to pretend to apologize.” With that, Nicole slammed the door shut.

Norah felt insulted, as if she had been slapped, her face feeling a burning sensation. D*mn it.. How dare Nicole disparage her? Did Nicole really think she had the right to reprimand her because she came to apologize?

“Let’s wait and see, Nicole.” She stomped her feet angrily before taking her things and went away.

Nicole had locked the door and now turned on the computer. After entering the dark web, she decided to start taking a job today.

A client wanted her to hack into a network company’s system and find loopholes in their accounts.

This was the most common and simplest type of hacking job she had always been doing.

She had done such hacking jobs for years, from accessing enterprise data centers to exploiting the Federal Intelligence Agency’s system. But she had her principles and would do nothing illegal.

Three hours flew by. At midnight, she found a vulnerability and implanted a monitoring code into the target system to monitor the target’s accounts. She then turned off the computer to prepare for sleep

She suddenly received an anonymous text message on her phone.

[Carl is alive.]

Nicole’s heart skipped a beat at seeing the name. She calmed herself down and replied, [where is he?]

The anonymous sender replied, [Beetle Town, Lanningbourg.]

[Great! I will go see him.]

After the last mission, she thought her partner was dead, not expecting that he was still alive. This made Nicole, who had always been calm, almost lost control of her emotions.

[Not now. Someone is watching. We will take care of him. Don’t go abroad so your whereabouts won’t get exposed.]

Nicole suppressed her emotions after getting the reply. She would have to wait for a long while before she could meet Carl. But she was still too excited and could not sleep all night after knowing the news.

She felt a little tired, but this was common to her. So, she still went for a morning run like usual.

After breakfast, she came to Royal Creek Institute in the Riddle family car. Her frosty look could not hide her beauty. It attracted a lot of attention.

A boy could not help but take out his mobile phone and take a few candid photos of her. Nicole looked back at the boy coldly, as if she had eyes on her back. The boy was intimidated by her gaze and deleted the photos.

Now the rest of the people became more behaved, and Nicole hurried to Class B. Bradley had arrived. His grades were mediocre, but he was very hardworking, sitting on the side reading a book. When he saw Nicole, he asked her to sit down.

“Yesterday, Ms. Emerson came spot-checking the evening self-study class, and only you were not in the class. She will definitely get mad at you today. You have got to be careful.”

Nicole couldn’t care less about that. She did not have to waste her time on that boring evening self- study.

Nicole nodded, signaling Bradley that she got it.

Lulu also came, running into the classroom and up to Nicole and Bradley, winking at them. Seeing that both of them looked at her in puzzlement, she caught her breath and said, “Nicole, Austin here. You had better hide now.”

Nicole did not expect Austin to still have the audacity to come after being taught a lesson so badly. However, she did not go anywhere. Instead, she just silently took out a foreign language book and read.

Lulu looked at Nicole’s nonchalant look and became anxious. Austin was notorious for being a petty guy. Nicole had pissed him off yesterday, and he would surely take revenge on her.

“Austin must be here to get revenge on you. Go to the teacher’s office, and wait until the class starts before coming back. Just don’t let him find you.”

It was heartwarming to see Lulu was so concerned about her. Just when Nicole was about to say something, Jack’s vivacious voice came from behind.

“She is supposed to be the one who should be worried, Lulu. Since Nicole doesn’t want to listen to you, why do you care?”

Jack remembered Nicole had rejected Gary’s offer yesterday. Knowing that Austin was coming after her now, he could not help but gloat over it.

“Let’s see how arrogant you could still be when Austin arrives.” Nicole looked at him coldly, and Jack looked at her dark eyes, somehow feeling a chill running up his spine

. Just then, Austin had stormed into Class B with a few guys, his eyes searching around the rapie classroom before spotting Nicole. He paused for a second before striding toward Nicole, who was sitting in the back of the classroom. The few guys behind Austin rubbed their hands eagerly and stared at Nicole maliciously. All eyes were on Nicole. Jack and Wayne were sitting in the back, waiting to see how Austin would fix Nicole. Even Gary, who was indifferent to such things, looked over.

Austin walked up to Nicole and suddenly bowed and said aloud, “I am sorry for yesterday, Nicole.”

For a moment, everyone’s jaw dropped to the ground. Austin had always been the school bully and no one, except the Finley brothers, dared to mess with him. Now he was apologizing to a girl who had hit him.

Chapter 24

Everyone looked at Nicole in admiration. But the more unbelievable things were yet to come. Austin’s followers looked at Austin with confusion, and one of them asked, “But boss, yesterday, this ungrateful brat rejected your—”. Before the guy could finish speaking, Austin gave him a punch with a backhand.

“Stop talking like that to Nicole! From now onward, Nicole is my boss. I will not spare those who dare to bully her.”

The poor guy glanced angrily at Nicole. Seeing that Austin was serious, the rest bowed their heads and submitted to Nicole. After that, Austin looked at Nicole flatteringly, hoping to get her compliment.

Everyone was in a daze for a moment, as they could not believe that all this was true.

Jack and Wayne behind them were speechless. Gary watched on with great interest, his eyes falling on Nicole and studying her. But Nicole was nonchalant, giving no reaction to Austin’s actions.

She then calmly checked her watch and said to Austin, “I am not your boss. My class is about to start. Don’t bother me anymore.”

Austin panicked when he saw Nicole opening a book, as if she was going to study. But his father had repeatedly told him to build a good relationship with Nicole and that he must not piss Nicole off.

“I know it was my fault, Nicole. Please forgive me.” Austin humbled himself.

But Nicole ignored him, holding the book she had not finished reading. She did not seem to care about this farce that was happening right now.

Austin’s face flushed when Nicole ignored him. No one in Royal Creek Institute had ever humiliated him like this. He had been unwilling to call Nicole his boss from the beginning. How could he still be the

school bully if Nicole rejected him?

“You have got to be the boss, no matter what.” Austin left angrily after saying that. Nicole had no idea that she had rejected something that many people considered great and irresistible. Many were envious of her.

Gary saw her nonchalance and knew that Nicole did not take Austin seriously. He could not help but take a greater interest in her.

Who was she that even the Woods family was bowing to her?

Raine came looking for Gary when she saw Gary staring with interest at Nicole. Angry, she clenched the bag in her hand and took in Gary’s line of sight.

“Gary, there is a new café in front of the school. How about we go for a cup of coffee after school?”

Gary was displeased when someone blocked his view. When he looked up and saw that it was

Raine, he reluctantly agreed. Raine left the classroom feeling pleased. After she left, Bradley leaned over and whispered to Nicole, “I heard Raine had been courting Gary for a long time before Gary accepted Raine. Now it seems that the rumor is true.”

Nicole could not help but smirk upon hearing that. Thinking back to how arrogant the twin sisters, Snow and Raine, were when she was back at home last night, it would be interesting to see their family’s reaction when they found out that their daughters were kissing the feet of the Finley brothers.

Bradley looked at Nicole and scratched his head.

“Stop worrying about others. Maybe you should worry about yourself. Is it really okay for you to reject Austin like this?”

“Don’t worry; it will be alright.” Nicole couldn’t care less. She was not thinking about Austin at all but focusing her attention and immersed in the Esperian-language book in front of her. Carl somehow came to mind. He was cynical and annoying, but his eyes were always so charming and wicked. Now she wondered how well he had recovered. But she felt less guilty toward him as long as he lived. Thinking of this, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The class bell rang, and Nicole slowly pulled her drifting thoughts back. Ms. Emerson walked in her high heels into the class with a stack of test papers in her hands.

Ms. Emerson asked Lulu to distribute the test paper while she stood on the podium with her arms folded, her eyes sweeping over the last few rows with a sneer.

“Some students in our class couldn’t even plagiarize correctly, making the exact low-level stupid mistakes. Why didn’t you all copy the name, too?”

Jack whispered sarcastically, “It must be that Nicole who made the stupid mistake while plagiarizing. We have been doing that for so long, and nothing has happened. Why did Ms. Emerson say someone was plagiarizing as soon as Nicole arrived?”

Wayne nodded in agreement with disdain for Nicole in his eyes.

Ms. Emerson continued. “Jack, Wayne, Gary, you three are at the same level. What is the point of plagiarizing each other’s answers? You will get more correct answers by throwing the papers to the ground and stepping on them than answering them yourself. Plagiarism is so obvious; were you afraid that I couldn’t find out?”

Jack was not too happy when Ms. Emerson only singled out the three of them.

“Nicole has done the same thing, too. I saw it with my own eyes. Why don’t you reprimand her?”

Ms. Emerson got furious when Jack was trying to implicate Nicole.

“Plagiarism is one thing, and slandering your classmate is another. Nicole has got a perfect score. Only she has a perfect score in the class. Even Lulu has answered two questions wrongly. So, tell me, who was plagiarizing whose answers?”

 

Chapter 25

Ms. Emerson turned her head to look at Nicole with a gentle smile.

“Keep up the good work, Nicole. Don’t get complacent just because you have scored a full mark this time. The monthly exam is around the corner; it is still crucial to do revision at night.” Yesterday, she thought that Nicole’s grades were mediocre. Nicole was even absent from the self-study class last night. It was only after the test did she find Nicole’s exam results were anything but mediocre. She was now much more at ease.

It shocked Bradley to see how easily Ms. Emerson glossed over Nicole’s absence from the self study class.

Jack was even more dumbfounded, not expecting Nicole to be the only person who got a perfect score. He and Wayne looked at Nicole sitting in the third row from the last, as if she was some kind of monster.

While passing the test papers to Nicole, there was a complicated look in Lulu’s eyes as she noticed that Nicole had corrected the two questions that she had done wrong.

Those two questions were tough problems, very challenging. She had thought about it for a long time and was still confused by them and gave the wrong answers. Yet Nicole could see through the problems at a glance and came up with smart, concise, and correct answers. She looked at Nicole’s steps of solution; her thinking was unique and unconventional yet effective. She admitted she was way behind Nicole. Could it be that this transfer student from the countryside was a real genius?

Ms. Emerson also featured Nicole’s problem-solving approach in her lectures. She compared it with the standard textbook answers and praised Nicole’s creative approach.

After the class, Lulu came up to Nicole and asked, “Did you come up with the solution to those two problems yourself?”

Nicole nodded. Compiling hacking codes was a thousand times more difficult than these test papers. These test papers were completely unnecessary for her. If it was not for the sake of submitting assignments, she would not even write it, as it would be a waste of time. That was why she just copied and pasted the answers.

“Nicole, you are awesome. Do you have time to teach me?” Seeing Lulu looking at her with adoration, Nicole could not refuse her. She agreed with a smile.

“Sure.”

After Lulu left, Nicole felt stares from behind her while she lazily put her things into her bag. However, she paid no heed. Instead, she just packed and left the classroom.

It was not until Nicole disappeared from the line of sight that Gary pulled back his gaze thoughtfully.

Nicole was standing in front of the Royal Creek Institute campus as the driver called and apologized to her, saying that the traffic was too congested and told her to wait a little longer.

Nicole saw that there was a café in front of the school. Since it was still early, and she had nowhere to go, she thought she might as well go in and sit down in the café.

Once stepping into the café, she found that the interior decoration was of a Nordic style she liked very much. The color tone was subtle with a tad of luxury feel, which showed the café owner had good taste. Nicole walked over to the bar, ordered a glass of Iced Americano, and then went to the corner of the café and sat down. It was laid back and free. Nicole sat in a chair and read the foreign language book. Unfortunately, it did not take long before a few people came in and sat down at an adjacent table. Hearing the familiar voices, Nicole looked up and saw Norah, Snow, and Raine.

“Nicole, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Norah saw Nicole and immediately let out a friendly smile.

“Do you want to join us?”

Nicole was not interested in Norah. Besides, she was disgusted to see Snow and Raine surrounded by those who tried sucking up to them.

“It is alright. My driver will be here soon.” If not for she had nowhere to go, she would have wanted to leave by now. “I will go shopping with my cousins and will be home late.” Norah had a triumphant smile on his face, as if she was showing off that she could mingle with Snow and Raine.

Nicole gave a plastic smile.

“Suit yourself.” Her look of giving a d*mn upset Norah. She had invested so much time and effort to cozy up to Snow and Raine. What gave Nicole the right to ignore what her family thought?

Biting her lip and seeing that Nicole had bowed her head to read her book, Norah could only turn around and return to her table.

Celia Rowe, Norah’s buddy, saw Nicole ignoring Norah and asked in puzzlement, “So arrogant. Who is she?”

Celia seldom checked the forum and thus did not know who Nicole was.

When asked, Norah immediately lowered her head and pretended to be embarrassed.

“My sister from the countryside. She doesn’t know much about manners. Hope you all don’t mind.”

But her words caused the girls to frown.

“A country girl is so arrogant?”

“Uncivilized.”

Celia shot a sideways glance at Nicole and sneered.

“I wonder if a hillbilly knows how to appreciate coffee. She should have gone back to the countryside and do farming instead.”

Seeing Nicole being ridiculed, Snow and Raine sat by and gloated over it.

With so many people sucking up to her, Celia was carried away. She stirred the coffee in her hand and then took a deep breath of the aroma of coffee.

“I could tell with just a sip that this coffee was made from the beans grown in Habla. I wonder if a hillbilly knows how to appreciate.”