Ch. 2176..2180: My Wife Is A Hacker Chapter 2176-2180
Chapter 2176
Hearing the argument between her kids again, Nicole shook her head helplessly.
“Alright, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner.” Nicole interrupted them, diverting their attention.
“Okay.” Lana and Nolan walked toward the restroom together.
On the way, they appeared harmonious and friendly with each other, as if they had not just had a heated argument.
Nicole then watched her two children with a gentle gaze, her heart softening at once.
Harkening back to the past, she felt that life was always full of joy and hope no matter how difficult things were, so long as Nolan and Lana were there.
“Let’s get ready for dinner.” Lawrence approached her.
“Okay.” Nicole stood up in agreement and prepared to head toward the dining room.
“Nikki,” Lawrence called out to her.
Nicole paused and turned to look at Lawrence. After returning to San Joto, she had reclaimed her true identity, and Lawrence had stopped calling her that. As such, it made her wonder as to why he would suddenly use that name again.
“Leo, that name doesn’t mean much to me anymore.” Nicole smiled. “Just call me Nicole.”
“I just said it unintentionally. Don’t mind it,” Lawrence explained.
“Why would I? Do you think I’m that petty?” Nicole asked, finding it amusing.
She just felt that there was no need to mention the name Nikki anymore. Now that she had returned to being Nicole, everything about her was just Nicole.
“Of course not.” Lawrence smiled and changed the topic.” Come on, let’s go see the children.”
“Yeah.” Nicole agreed and followed Lawrence to find Nolan and Lana.
Lawrence fell behind Nicole and squinted at her figure.’ She’s so close, yet so far.’
He was calling her Nikki on purpose, and her reaction had indeed made his heart grow cold.
He did not expect that Nicole had completely severed her connection with the five years they had spent on the island together and had fully returned to being her true self. ‘Aren’t her memories still buried?’
“Leo…” Nicole suddenly turned her gaze to Lawrence, but her words came to a sudden halt when she saw Lawrence’s expression.
‘What was that? Lawrence’s eyes looked so dark. Was I imagining things?’ she wondered.
Lawrence had not anticipated that she would suddenly whirl around, so he was taken aback for a moment. However, he managed to regain his composure in a split second.
“What’s wrong?” Lawrence asked with concern in his eyes.
In that instant, Lawrence had once again become the Lawrence that she was familiar with, so much so that she even wondered if she had seen wrongly just now.
“Godfather, Mommy, hurry over!” the kids yelled.
“Oh, coming.”
Hearing the children calling out for her, Nicole responded by making a beeline for the dining room. Meanwhile, Lawrence clenched his teeth in frustration and followed her from behind.
Nolan and Lana were already seated, and upon seeing the two of them, they immediately greeted, “Godfather, Mommy, we’re ready to eat!”
“Great.”
Nicole and Lawrence then sat down.
“What did you want to say just now?” Lawrence poured a glass of juice for Nicole and casually asked.
Chapter 2177
“It’s nothing.” Nicole grabbed the glass of juice. “Let’s eat.” “Okay.” Lawrence did not pursue further, though he was still looking at Nicole sentimentally.
Nicole seemed to be oblivious to the peculiar expressions on Lawrence’s face, as she was focused on taking care of Nolan and Lana while they were eating. However, deep down, Nicole felt that Lawrence had been acting strangely.
In the afternoon, Jared came to pick Nicole and the children up-
After bidding farewell to Lawrence, Nicole left Lawrence’s mansion with Nolan and Lana, before following him into the vehicle. Watching as the car drove away, Lawrence’s gaze grew even darker and colder.
Jared and Nicole were about to get married, and this news had done nothing but driven him crazy. Besides, Nicole’s obvious infatuation with Jared had made it even harder for him to accept this. With that in mind, he could absolutely not allow such a thing to happen. To him, Nicole must never be allowed to marry Jared.
“Mr. Royce, they’ve already left. You should go back.” Ian reminded him in a low voice.
Lawrence shot a glance at Ian and gritted his teeth, his voice cold and deep. “Tell Iris to act swiftly, or else she’ll have to attend Jared and Nicole’s wedding.”
“Yes, sir,” Ian respectfully agreed.
Lawrence then turned around and entered the mansion, while Ian followed his instructions and messaged Iris.
To that. Iris replied, [We’ll have results soon.]
He then pocketed his phone and strode into the mansion to report the situation…
On the other side, Jared was on a steady journey home.
“Is there something on your mind?” Jared asked softly as he noticed that Nicole seemed to be contemplating something.
“No.” Nicole shook her head, not mentioning her doubts about Lawrence.
She felt that she had not figured things out for herself just yet, so she should not throw this topic around casually for now.
Jared’s eyes narrowed a little. He had a gut feeling that something was bothering Nicole, but she did not seem inclined to talk about it.
Lowering his gaze to her, Jared’s eyes glinted with solemness. What is it that she does not want to say? Is it about Lawrence?’
Suddenly, Max’s phone rang.
He answered it via Bluetooth, and after a moment, Max’s expression became grave. After hanging up, he shot a bullet of a glance at Jared through the rearview mirror. Without saying anything, he gritted his teeth and floored the accelerator.
Jared squinted a little as he observed Max’s actions, and before long, they arrived at the Riddle residence.
After Nicole and the children had gotten out of the car, Jared remained still and told Nicole, “There are some matters at the company that I need to tend to. I’ll go to HQ first.”
Feeling a strange heaviness in the air, Nicole did not inquire further and simply agreed.
“Alright, go ahead.”
After a slight nod, Jared instructed Max, “Drive.”
“Yes, sir.” Max acknowledged and brought the engine to life.
After passing through the gate, Max’s expression became grim. “Mr. Johnston, there’s a problem with the project we were discussing. Mr. Dalton said that the data we provided was incorrect, leading to significant errors in their subsequent operations. The losses this time are pretty bad, and Mr. Dalton wants an explanation from us.”
“How could the data be incorrect?” A cold gleam flashed in Jared’s eyes.
“I’m not sure. Normally, the data would not have been wrong. We’ve already verified it on our end,” Max replied, expressing his confusion.
He was familiar with the data and genuinely believed that there should not be any issues.
“Get someone to investigate and find out.” Jared ordered in an icy tone of voice.
If Max was certain that there could not be any issues, yet problems still arose, it could only mean one thing – something must have happened in between.
“I’ve already assigned people to investigate, but we have not received any results yet,” Max replied.
Chapter 2178
“Let’s go to the office first.” Jared’s pupils slightly narrowed.
His gaze was so dark that it was impossible to discern his thoughts.
Meanwhile, at the Riddle residence, Nicole had already entered the living room with Nolan and Lana.
“Mom?”
“Grandma!”
The three of them greeted Gloria and plonked themselves on the couch.
“You’re back.” Gloria’s eyes narrowed into a smile. “I thought you would stay until the evening.”
“We came back after having lunch.” Nicole sat down and proceeded to express her concern for Gloria. “Why are you sitting here instead of resting upstairs?”
“I suddenly felt restless and could not sleep, so I sat here for a while.” Gloria then shot a glance at the window. “Jared brought you back just now, didn’t he? Why did he not come in?”
“He has something to do at work, so he went off to deal with them,” Nicole explained.
“He has something to tend to on a weekend?” Gloria asked, surprised.
Nicole nodded. “There might have been an emergency.”
She had overheard Max receiving an important call earlier. Though she did not know the details, she could sense the subtle solemness in the atmosphere afterward.
Gloria was puzzled. “What sort of unexpected occurrence could the Johnston Group be forced to deal with?”
Moreover, Jared went there personally. Could it be something serious?’ she asked herself.
Hearing that, Nicole’s eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. She also found it strange, and now that she thought about it. Max’s expression at that time seemed somewhat troubled.
Nicole could not understand the feelings brewing within her, but she simply had the urge to help Jared out. “Mom, I’m going to my room.”
“Go ahead, I’ll take care of Nolan and Lana,” Gloria nodded, thinking that Nicole also had something to attend to.
Nicole quickly went upstairs to her room and turned her computer on.
After assessing the system files of the Johnston Group, she became puzzled, as she did not find anything unusual.
‘Everything seems fine, so why did Max’s demeanor feel off? If it’s not because of the ongoing project, could it be a problem with the project they were discussing?’ she wondered.
Suddenly, upon arriving at a realization, Nicole quickly worked on the computer, and retrieved Max’s call records.
Nicole squinted after she had understood the contents, her eyes becoming dark and cold. Questions then began to arise. The project was going to be a success, so what problems did it have? How could a project that had been running smoothly encounter issues that had caused direct financial losses to the other company? How could Max make such a rookie mistake? And how would Jared handle this matter?
The night fell silent, with nary a chirp from the outside. Everyone in the Riddle residence had gone to sleep, but the light in Nicole’s room was still on.
When Jared returned home and saw that glimmer of light, his gloomy expression instantly eased, and his eyes turned gentle. It felt good to know that someone had kept a warm light on for him.
He went upstairs to his room and was somewhat surprised to find Nicole still awake. There, he could not help but ask,” Why are you still up at this hour?”
“I was waiting for you.” Nicole looked up at him and closed the laptop in her hands.
Jared raised an eyebrow the instant he heard that. “What were you busy with?”
Instead of answering the question, Nicole put the laptop away and asked, “How did it go?”
She already had a rough idea of the situation, but she did not know how he planned to resolve it. She had just been trying to find a solution online, hoping to help him in some way, but he had returned before she could make any progress.
Chapter 2179
Jared immediately understood Nicole’s intentions when he heard her asking him these questions, but then, he could not help but brush it off. “I think it might take a while.”
“Can you think of an idea to solve this?” Nicole asked.
Jared nodded. “There are quite a number of solutions to this but they’re not completely effective as we’re still researching them.”
‘Every solution has its own set of pros and cons, and the final one has yet to be determined,’ he thought.
“Well, it’s best to have a solution when things go awry.” Nicole issued a huge sigh of relief. ‘This won’t affect the Johnstons much.’
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Gentleness flashed across Jared’s eyes as his hand caressed Nicole’s hair. Then, he spun around and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Nicole set her laptop aside while waiting for Jared to come out from the shower. Nicole had been focusing on coming up with a solution the entire night. She was relieved when she could finally get some shuteye, as she was beginning to feel a little tired.
Nicole’s heart skipped a beat when she felt Jared’s concern over her. It was the first time she had noticed any traces of warmth in his eyes.
The next day, the sun shone brightly, and each member of the Riddle family left the residence after they had eaten their breakfast. Nicole and Jared too were about to leave the house when Daniel
stopped them.
“Jared, I heard that you were having some problems with your projects. How’s it going now? Is it going to be tough?”
“They’re fine for now. We’re just looking for solutions.” Jared calmly responded.
“That’s good to hear.” Daniel then turned to look at Nicole.” You don’t look too good. Don’t strain yourself too much.”
“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I’m okay.”
‘It’s probably because I overworked myself last night. I’m feeling great though,’ Nicole thought to herself.
After they had bade their goodbyes to Daniel, both Jared and Nicole left the Riddle residence. On the other hand, Tia had brought the twins, Nolan and Lana, with her and were about to hop onto Stanley’s car.
“Mom.” The twins called out to their mother in their cute, little voices.
This prompted Nicole to walk over and look at Tia and Stanley. “Is it… convenient for the two of you?”
“Stanley said there’s something he wants to do, and it so happens that he will be passing by the kindergarten, so it’s okay,” Tia explained in a low voice.
Nicole raised her eyebrows and looked at Stanley, ‘Oh? How coincidental.’
“There’s a seminar,” Stanley said in a calm voice.
“Well, okay then. Off you guys go. Don’t let me hold you back, ” Nicole said.
Nicole, however, could not shake the thought of Stanley’s expression looking a little off-putting, though it had since returned to normal.
“Well, it’s almost time for us too.”
“Mommy, we’re leaving.” The twins called out to their mother when they heard they were about to drive off.
“Miss Riddle? It’s best that I get going now.” Tia nodded and got into the car.
Nicole genuinely believed that Stanley was in the area to drop the twins off, so she hurried them off, not wanting to hold Stanley back, as she knew it would not be appropriate to be late.
“Okay, off you guys go.”
Nicole watched as the car left, the corners of her lips twitching involuntarily.
A glint then flashed across her eyes. ‘Stanley and Tia look a bit off…’
“Hop in!” Jared called out as he eyed the curiosity on Nicole’s face.
With his brows raised, he grabbed her arm and buckled her in before bringing the engine to life.
Nicole leaned into her seat, continuing to think about
Stanley and Tia’s odd behavior when her phone rang out of the blue, derailing her train of thought. She frowned upon seeing that Lulu was the caller.
Tm almost at the office though. She knows this, so why is she calling me? Is there an emergency?’ she wondered.
Chapter 2180
Nicole answered the phone, “Lulu? What’s the matter?’ “Nicole, I thought our meeting with Sky Corporation regarding Al development went well. They phoned me just now, saying that they’re backing out of the deal, so I’ve decided to call you to tell you about this.” Lulu anxiously stated.
Nicole’s eyes narrowed, her expression turning cold. ‘They’re not going to sign the contract with us?’
Unconsciously, Nicole turned to look at Jared. ‘Why are things not going our way? Could someone be plotting against us?’
“Okay, I got it,” Nicole finished, hanging up as she bit her lip.
Then, she pocketed her phone, fuarrowed her eyebrows, and thought, ‘Something definitely smells fishy.’
Soon, the car came to a halt, with Jared turning over to look at Nicole. “If there’s anything you need, you can call me.”
Though Nicole was unsure of what exactly went wrong, she could sense that there was inevitable trouble heading her way.
With that, she gave Jared a faint smile. “I can handle it.”
‘He has his fair share of problems to deal with, I better solve my own problems myself,’ she thought to herself.
Nicole pushed the door open and got out of the car. Nicole only walked into the office after she had seen his car speeding away.
In the car, Jared’s eyes darkened, as his voice became low and gravelly. “Is there any progress?”
“The planning department was working overtime last night, and they had come up with the most appropriate solution,” Max replied in a low voice.
“Well, let us just settle the problems from the project first.” Jared’s eyes narrowed, ‘This has been dealt with, and now, there are other pressing matters I need to look into.’
Things were indeed happening a little too fast for Jared to wrap his head around them, ‘I guess all we can do now is to solve it. As for the other things, we can put them on the back burner for now.’
In the midst of the mess, Jared was clear about the notion that the things happening recently were not as simple as it seemed. ‘The data crisis must’ve had some minor error that was overlooked. I must see to that matter for myself.’
Max nodded in agreement with a somber look on his face.” Yes, sir. After I’m done arranging the matters here, I’ll get a team to further our investigation.”
Max understood Jared clearly, as he himself also felt that this was an issue that commanded proper care and attention, for it was not one that could be easily resolved and laid to rest.
Jared’s eyes darkened a little as he leaned into his seat, his gaze darting out the window as if he was deep in thought.
On the other side, Nicole had just entered the office when she was accosted by Lulu, who was already waiting for her in the lobby with a stack of documents in her arms.
“I feel that this issue is very odd. It’s as if someone had pulled some strings.” Lulu’s expression became solemn, unable to pinpoint the core of the matter.
“Yeah.” Nicole nodded. ‘I’m certain that something doesn’t add up.’
Nicole opened the document Lulu had given her, and a grimace instantly crossed her face.
“Sky Corporation is going to work with NandoCorp?” Nicole gritted her teeth in silence. ‘So it is the doing of Damien and Everett.’
“Though they have yet to announce it to the public, I happened to come across this by luck,” Lulu said, feeling a little dejected.
‘Sky Corporation is being a little strange. Why would they give up on working with us and choose to form a partnership with NandoCorp instead?’
“I know. Since that’s the nature of the issue, we can give up on this project.” Nicole’s eyes darkened, turning frosty in an instant.
Hearing this, Lulu was taken aback. “Give up?”
“Yeah, go sort out the paperwork for this.” Nicole closed the document in her hand, indicating she had no interest in reading it any further.
Lulu immediately got up and took the documents off her hands. “Okay, I’ll do it right away.”
After Lulu had left, Nicole’s eyes narrowed as her thoughts engulfed her. ‘Is this another one of Damien’s stunts or is NandoCorp so capable that they can go head-to-head with us when it comes to duking it out for projects?’
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and less than a second after, Steve walked in with large strides.