Ch. 2776..2780: My Wife Is A Hacker Chapter 2776-2780

Chapter 2776

“Everyone was present. I had Patricia with me, so it was all good,” Nicole explained before flashing him a smile.

“I missed you,” he softly said as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Jared was not able to sleep or focus on work in Nicole’s absence.

Flustered, Nicole’s heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks reddened. “It’s just been a day since we last saw each other.”

In response, he kissed her on the cheek and said, “I want to see you twenty-four seven.”

“What’s with you today?” Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

Nicole felt Jared was especially affectionate and clingy with her today.

“I’m fine, I just missed you,” Jared answered, and lowered his head to kiss Nicole on the lip.

The gentle kiss progressed into a passionate smooch, making Nicole irresistible to him. In reciprocation, she surrendered to Jared and succumbed to the pleasure which they then shared.

Concurrently, Patricia had just arrived at Ellar’s house.

“Why aren’t we back at your place?” Ell ar asked in concern. Glaring at him with cold fury in her eyes, Patricia said. “Get out of the car.”

Patricia figured it would be more convenient for her to send him home, rather than leaving him on the streets to hail a cab back after reaching her place.

Deflated and dispirited, Ellar could only sigh at Patricia’s uncompromising attitude. “Take care on your way back.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be safer alone, honestly,” Patricia coldly spat, her words carrying venomous undertones.

Ellar, having understood what she was implying, mumbled,” But I won’t hurt you.

How is it unsafe to be with me?”

In reply, she shot him another glare, shutting him up and forcing him to leave the car on his own accord.

“You should get inside,” Patricia ordered after finding Ellar still standing out in the open.

Ellar’s heart was close to sinking to his stomach as he suggested, “You should go first. I’ll enter once you’ve hit the road.”

Ellar felt completely humiliated as Patricia had revealed that she did not even have an ounce of trust in him. Indeed, she had even gone as far as to shoo him off after she had sent him home.

Patricia proceeded to shoot him a glare of disapproval, countering the look of aggrievement he had been wearing for the past hour. She had been suppressing the urge to beat him into a pulp whenever he gave her that pitiful look.

After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Patricia calmed down and sped off into the distance.

“Hey, you don’t have to floor it!” Ellar shouted, but Patricia had already disappeared into the night by then.

“Ugh.” Ellar sighed in defeat.

He scratched his head, wondering to himself what could be the reason for Patricia’s annoyance at him. He could not help but feel bitter, as he did not know what to do with her at this point.

The moment Patricia returned to her apartment, she found her neighbor’s door open while the lights were still on. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“Why are you so late?” Charlie asked.

“I had to send Nicole and Ellar before returning,” Patricia replied.

“Ellar was there?” Charlie frowned, not expecting that Ellar had been there too.

Patricia nodded. “Yep, Stanley was there too.”

Charlie was aware of the guest list but he did not know that Stanley and Ellar would be there too.

“Wasn’t it supposed to be June’s company team-building event?” Charlie asked.

He was confused as the event, by the looks of it, had turned out to be more like a team-building event for the Riddle brothers instead.

“I think it’s because Nicole was there too,” Patricia explained.

She was not involved in any of the Riddle brothers’ affairs, so she had no clear understanding of the situation.

Frowning, Charlie advised Patricia, “You should stay away from Ellar.”

Patricia, in turn, looked at Charlie, and promised, “I will.

 

Chapter 2777

Patricia had never approached Ellar for personal reasons; it was Ellar who had done so. Still, Charlie’s words just so happened to resonate with Patricia’s wish.

She, too, wanted to stay away from and never meet Ellar ever again.

After he saw that Patricia had entered her apartment, Charlie returned to his.

The sun shone brightly the next morning, and the Riddle family manor was merrier than ever.

Nolan and Lana woke up, took their showers, and knocked on Nicole’s bedroom door, trying to get their parents to wake up. After waiting for Nicole and Jared to get themselves cleaned up and dressed, the family went downstairs to the living room.

“Mommy, was your team-building event fun yesterday?” Lana asked out of curiosity.

“Yep, and everyone had fun,” Nicole answered, ruffling Lana’s hair.

Lana then continued with a mischievous grin and asked,” Can you bring us along next time?”

Chuckling, Nicole reached out to pinch Lana’s nose affectionately. “Kids are not encouraged to join these activities. You’ll only get bored even if you’re allowed to go.”

“Oh, alright then,” Lana pouted without showing any signs of disappointment.

Gloria and Daniel walked down the stairs, and once they saw that everyone was present, they chuckled and greeted them all. “Good morning. I see everyone is up.”

“Grandpa, Grandma!” Nolan and Lana greeted them back.

As she approached the couch, Gloria shot the kitchen a glance and said, “It’s almost time for breakfast. Let’s head to the dining room.”

“Alright,” Nolan and Lana replied, and followed their grandparents to the dining room.

Then, Nicole chuckled and looked at Jared. “Well, shall we?”

“Yeah,” Jared replied, after which he took Nicole’s hand and walked her to the dining room.

Just as the couple had taken their seats, Stanley emerged from his room and trudged his way to where everyone else was.

Nicole noticed Stanley’s pale complexion and instantly figured that he had a restless night.

Raising her brows slightly, Nicole shot Stanley a meaningful glance. Though she did not say anything, her expression conveyed an obvious message.

Sensing Nicole’s gaze, Stanley awkwardly looked away, unsure of how to respond to her silent inquiry.

Nicole was sure that his current condition was due to his interaction with Tia last night. However, he had nothing to tell Nicole, as he was unsure if he had gotten anywhere with Tia thus far.

Nicole was quick to grasp what the situation was.

Apparently, there had been no significant progress between Stanley and Tia.

Nevertheless, the fact that he had taken the initiative to speak to her was a significant step up from where he had been. Only time would tell what would happen to the future of their relationship.

“Hi, Nicole,” Tia called out, informing Nicole of her arrival to send the kids to school.

She was standing in the living room, seemingly deprived of the courage to approach the dining hall. And after she had informed Nicole of her arrival, she patiently waited in the living room with her head hanging low.

“Hi, Tia!” Nolan and Lana greeted her.

Then, they placed their cutlery down and hurried to the living room.

“Are you done with your breakfast?” Tia asked, seeing that the kids were ready to leave for school now.

After slinging their bags onto their shoulders, Nolan and Lana replied, “Yep, we’re done with our food.”

“Bye, Nicole. We’re leaving now.” Tia said to Nicole.

“Yep, see you later,” Nicole acknowledged.

However, Nicole had managed to catch onto the fact that Tia was behaving rather unusually today as well.

Chapter 2778

‘Tia doesn’t look right either. It seems that she hasn’t gotten any sleep last night.

Did something happen after the both of them left yesterday? Something must have, or else the both of them wouldn’t have been acting weird and all. But if something did happen, why aren’t they talking to each other? ‘ Nicole pondered.

Stanley stole a quick glance at Tia as she was leaving with the kids, and as expected, his subtle movements did not escape Nicole, whose eyebrows were raised. It was at this point that Nicole confirmed that something had indeed happened to them when no one was around. Otherwise, the both of them would not have exhibited such unusual behavior.

Meanwhile, Tia had just gotten into the car with Nolan and Lana.

“Tia, what’s going on with you and Uncle Stanley?” Nolan asked, his head tilted in curiosity.

Caught offguard, Tia panicked and defended herself. “No-no -nothing happened.”

“Are you sure? It seemed that the both of you were avoiding each other,” Lana described.

Lana was sure that something was off between Tia and Stanley, for Tia had greeted everyone except for him when they were having breakfast. In addition, Stanley had not done so to Tia either. It was as if they were ignoring each other.

Furthermore, Lana had seen Stanley sending Tia back home last night, leading the little one to wonder what could have happened to them in the span of one night.

Tia was speechless, unable to provide an honest answer to the kids’ honest question.

Instead, she forced a smile and replied, “I swear, nothing happened. Don’t think too much about it.”

“Did Uncle Stanley make you angry?” Lana persisted, still feeling something was amiss.

To make things worse, Nolan piled in and remarked, “We saw you coming home with Uncle Stanley last night. There must be something going on between you two, since you’re ignoring each other now.”

Lana agreed, nodding her head. “Something must have happened yesterday, right?”

Tia’s face turned beet red at once, as she had been cornered by the kids. The children’s innocent but straightforward questions were too much for Tia to handle. And while the kids might not misunderstand anything that had happened last night, there was no guarantee that others would not, either.

“No, there’s nothing going on. I was just too tired after going on a night out, and on top of that, I didn’t sleep well,” Tia explained patiently, hoping to convince the two mischievous kids to leave it.

“Are you sure? You didn’t have to ignore Uncle Stanley if that’s the case, though,” Nolan mumbled, frowning in disbelief.

“I wasn’t ignoring him. I just didn’t have the time to say hi,” Tia replied with a half-smile, feeling a little guilty deep down.

It was obvious that Tia had the time to greet Stanley, but considering everything they had going forthem since last night, she did not dare to even look at him.

She was simply too embarrassed to interact with Stanley after that particular incident in the car.

“Oh,” Lana said, finally believing Tia.

Just when Tia thought they were going to drop it, Nolan looked at her and blurted, “So, did you make any new friends yesterday, Tia?”

“Huh?” Tia asked with her brows furrowed, not catching onto what Nolan had said.

“Didn’t Aunt June introduce you to some new friends? Did you like any of them?”

Lana asked mischievously.

Lana wanted to gossip, believing that there must have been someone whom Tia had taken at least a little liking for.

And just like that, all of that embarrassment came flooding back. It was getting harder to deal with their questions now.

“It’s not how you imagined it. It was just a normal gathering. Besides, there were a lot of people who attended, even the bridesmaids from the wedding,” Tia simplified the situation and explained.

After all, she had joined the team-building event only because she did not have the heart to decline their invitation.

“Okay. So, there was no one you liked. But, was there anyone there who liked you?” Lana continued.

“I’m sure there were some,” Nolan interrupted. “Otherwise, Uncle Stanley would not have gotten all jealous.”

“Jealous?” Lana asked.

She seemed puzzled, as if she had just been met with something she was totally unfamiliar with.

“Wait, isn’t Uncle Stanley with Cherry? Why would he be jealous?” Lana asked Nolan.

“You know,” Nolan hesitated and paused, finally noticing that something was not adding up.

Chapter 2779

If that was not the situation, the kids could only wonder why Stanley would bring Tia home last night “Don’t overthink it! I swear! Nothing happened yesterday,” Tia insisted.

The more they explained, the more complicated the situation became, and at this rate, the kids were proving to be quite a handful.

“Tia, I think you should keep your distance from Uncle Stanley. Why don’t you try to make friends with the people Aunt June introduced?” Nolan advised.

He had no choice but to say what he said because he did not want the people he cared about to get hurt.

“Actually, we really hoped that you would give Uncle Stanley a chance. We’ve even helped him in secret many times, but sadly. Ugh! Sadly, things just aren’t working out,” Lana sighed, her speech and mannerism mirroring that of an adult.

They had initially thought that Stanley and Tia would be a good match.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and there was nothing they could do to force it.

Tia’s lips twitched. She was in complete disbelief of what the kids were thinking about these days.

“I’ll warn Uncle Stanley tonight. His behavior will only hurt you and Cherry,”

Nolan shook his head, looking distressed now.

Tia was speechless at the kids’ words. They really thought they were thinking ahead of time.

” Tia,” Lana was about to continue, but was stopped when Tia covered her mouth.

If the kids continued to talk, she and Stanley would become the scapegoats of the family.

“Erm, you guys misunderstood the situation,” Tia explained.” I didn’t want to join the others in the karaoke. That was why we came home earlier yesterday.”

Tia figured that this was her last ditch effort to clarify her situation to the kids.

The simpler the explanation was, the easier it would be for them to understand.

“Then?” Lana asked, eager for more details.

“Then we came back to get some sleep. I got a headache from the alcohol, so I didn’t manage to rest well last night,” Tia came up with an excuse, and blamed the booze.

“Oh,” Nolan and Lana breathed their sighs of relief in unison.

At long last, they had gotten the reassurance they were looking for.

Tia was much more at ease after comforting the two kids. If they continued on with their imagination, there would be no limit to where the story would end.

And once she had dropped the kids off at kindergarten, she loosened up. She gently patted her cheeks, frustrated at how difficult it would be for her to interact with Stanley in the future. She did not know how to face him, and even the kids could already tell. On top of that, she was sure that other people had also noticed their unusual behavior.

Meanwhile, Nicole had just reached Riddle Corporation.

As soon as she stepped into her office, Lulu approached her with an eager look:

one which indicated her desire to gossip.

“So, how did it go?” Lulu asked before flashing Nicole a meaningful smile.

She was expecting Stanley and Tia to have made some degree of progress.

“No idea,” Nicole shook her head, feeling that something was off. “They’re acting weird. During breakfast, they seemed even more distant than usual.”

Nicole shared the story with Lulu, and said, “It’s better to let them handle it.”

Nicole found their situation strange, as Stanley and Tia did not seem to have any major issues with one another.

Perhaps something had really happened to them last night. The only other possibility was that they were waiting for the perfect time.

“Oh,” Lulu replied. “Fine. I wish them all the best.”

“Oh, and by the way.” Lulu smirked and placed the file down. “It’s done.”

“Nicole raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what Lulu had accomplished. “That went smoothly.”

 

Chapter 2780

“Hehe. It can’t be helped as Harvey is always so anxious,” Lulu gloated. “He is impatient, so he’s prone to acting blindly and falling into traps.”

Lulu was able to gain some leverage over him precisely because of his impatience. As such, she could act boldly without worrying that she would spook Harvey and put him on guard. At this moment, Harvey might even still think that Nicole had taken his bait.

“You have to be careful. If at any point in time Harvey realizes he’s been deceived, he won’t let you go,” Nicole reminded.

“Don’t worry. I’m not only engaging him in a game of 4D chess behind the scenes. I’ve also collected a bunch of evidence against him. If things go south, we’ll at least be able to defend ourselves with the evidence in hand. He can’t do anything to us. Besides, well be returning everything to Thomas after we’re done with him anyway,” Lulu said confidently.

Even if Harvey were to make a fuss, he would not stand to gain anything out of it.

Pleasantly surprised by her strategy, Nicole looked at Lulu with admiration.

“You’ve really improved.”

“Hehe!” Lulu chuckled. “You’ve got to fall over twice to stand up on the third.”

If Harvey had not decided to screw with them countless times, they would not have treated him like this. They did not need to pull any punches to teach Harvey a lesson, since everything they gained would ultimately be returned to Thomas. With that said, they hoped Harvey would learn to stay in his lane and mind his own business in the future.

“Alright then. We’ll go with your plan. Keep it up,” Nicole said.

All she needed to do now was to patiently wait for the results.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take too long,” Lulu grinned.

After a slight pause, she continued, “By the way, when is Thomas coming back?”

Harvey’s assets would be transferred back to Thomas in the end. Thus, he had to be present to sign the necessary documents during the procedure.

“I’ll check with Thomas and have him prepare on his end. If everything goes well over here, we can ask him to come back for a visit,” Nicole said after contemplating for a moment.

“Okay,” Lulu agreed.

She only had to focus on her responsibilities as the upcoming affairs were not within her job scope.

After Lulu had walked off, Nicole stopped to think for a moment, and called Thomas.

“How have you been recently?” Nicole asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Yep, I’m all good here,” Thomas replied. “Do you need me back there?”

Nicole hesitated for a moment, after which she beamed and replied, “We can afford to wait a few more days.”

“I say, there’s no need for the wait. I’m packing already. Once everyone has been settled, I’m ready to go home,” Thomas explained.

Regardless of what happened, Thomas had to come back. He felt that there was no need to delay any longer, and that it was better for him to make his return sooner than later.

“That’s fine. If you’ve decided, well respect your wishes,” Nicole agreed.

“Well talk when I get back,” Thomas said.

“Sure, I’ll be there to pick you up from the airport,” Nicole said.

While she was hanging up, Nicole bit her lips, knowing that Thomas was feeling conflicted about the situation.

Sure enough, Thomas ended the phone call with a sigh.

“If you’re not ready, we can wait a few more days before going back,” his caretaker comforted.

Waving his hand, Thomas said, “It’s fine. I’ve decided to go home. We don’t have to delay it any longer.”