"M-Mr.Sullivan we… We tried our best."
The director of the technology department was barely holding back tears as he spoke.
The people who worked in this department in the Sullivan Group were the best of the best.
They hardly ever failed or made mistakes.
Except for now.
The flawless security system they'd designed had been so easily hacked into that it looked like the
hacker had enjoyed themselves.No one had even noticed when the system had been breached.
But worst of all, they still couldn't track down the hacker, no matter how hard they tried.
In all the director's long years of working in the technology industry, he'd never seen something like this
before.
It was supposed to be impossible to hack into the Sullivan Group's security system.
But apparently it wasn't that impossible, because someone had managed to get it right.
"That's not the answer I was looking for," Victor said blandly.
"I want to make this very clear to everyone; the Sullivan Group has no room for incompetent
employees.Seeing as you and your people can't find the hacker, I have no need for you lot.I suggest
you all leave.Now."
"Mr.Sullivan…"
The director's eyes widened in horror.He studied Victor's face, looking for the slightest trace of
mercy.But he found none.
Only his hardened expression and a cold light glimmering behind his eyes.
He swallowed the rest of his words and bowed his head.
He managed to choke out a feeble, "Yes, sir," before he turned and left the office.
The atmosphere in the office was oppressive and cold once the director had left.
As Ivan watched the director leave, he felt his heart start pounding in his chest.
This was going to be a problem.
He was never going to be get any sleep.
It had taken him three whole days to find perfect candidates to replace Alice and Wilson's positions of
director of personnel department, and manager of public relations department.
Now that the entire staff of the technology department had been fired, he was going to have so many
sleepless nights trying to find suitable candidates to replace them as well.
If he had known this was how things were going to go, he'd never have agreed to bring Rachel from the
Sue Garden to the Sullivan Group three days ago.
He may have just landed himself in serious trouble.
"Ivan, have you found anything on the matter I asked you to look into?"
Ivan quickly shoved his own thoughts aside and turned his attention to Victor.
"Mr.Sullivan, I have sent people to investigate it.The hacker connected our security camera to a remote
live streaming platform.Something like this had happened in the past." Victor said nothing.
He just stared darkly at Ivan, waiting for him to continue.
Ivan handed him the tablet.
It was open on an email he'd received earlier that morning.
"Four years ago, something like this happened abroad.A senior executive of one of some company
was having an affair.His wife found out and hired a private detective to try and get evidence so she
could get a larger settlement in the divorce.Three years later, and she still had no solid evidence.So
she turned to a hacker.The hacker got into the monitoring system of the hotel where her husband and
his mistress were.Mind you, this hotel claimed to have the tightest security around.Tums out it didn't
stand a chance against the hacker.Anyway, the hacker connected the camera feed to one of the most
popular live streaming platforms.All their bedroom activities were live online for the entire world to
see.This caused quite a stir, because now people didn't trust the hotel's security system
anymore.People stopped coming, and the hotel was in serious danger of closing down.This place had
been running for over 100 years already… The wife of the senior executive took the evidence to court
and sued her husband for all he was worth.According to the senior executive's ex-wife, the hacker
was."
"The King of Hearts,"
Victor cut in before Ivan could finish the rest of his sentence.
"Mr.Sullivan? How did you know?" Ivan said in surprise.
Victor just glanced at him coldly.
Instead of answering his question he flatly said, "Continue."
"When our monitoring system was hacked, it was also connected to a live streaming platform.Just like
the King of Hearts did to that hotel four years ago.It makes me wonder if the King of Hearts is perhaps
behind this scandal of ours as well," Ivan said with a frown.
This was nothing more than a wild guess, but it was all he had.
He'd spent hours following all the clues and tracking down every scrap of information he could found on
the case.
So far, he'd found out that the King of Hearts had disappeared shortly after the whole affair had been
revealed.
No one knew who the hacker was, let alone if they were a man or a woman.
But no manner of temptation like large sums of cash or desperate, would-be clients could tempt the
King of Hearts out of hiding.
If what had happened really was the King of Hearts' work, that begged the question of why.
Why would this person do this? 3 It wasn't exactly uncommon for a man's wife to go after her
husband's mistress.
So why now? Why would the King of Hearts go through so much effort to hack the Sullivan Group's
monitoring system and broadcast the spectacle? Was it for money? Ivan had checked into Julia's
background and family history.
Her parents were well off enough to live a comfortable life, but their funds would be pitiful in the face of
what it would cost to hire the King of Hearts.
Even if they delved into all their savings and funds, they wouldn't have been able to afford this hacker.
Three years ago it had cost close to 20 million dollars to hire this hacker.
After the disappearance, people had offered up to 80 million.
Had King of Hearts done this simply out of kindness? But that didn't sound like something the King of
Hearts would do.
Rumor had it that the King of Hearts was a cold-hearted person.
There was one particularly well-known story of a man that had recorded himself kneeing on the floor,
begging the King of Hearts to help him find his missing child.
The King of Hearts had refused.
But the incidents were so similar that Ivan couldn't just brush off the possibility that it might be the King
of Hearts.
While it was true that someone could be mimicking the methods, perhaps trying to take over the
acclaimed name, they'd still have to be as good a hacker as King of Hearts was.
Which was nearly impossible.
The King of Hearts was the best hacker in the Alliance of the Red Hackers.
No one had ever come close to that same skill level, and it was doubtful that anyone ever would.
So it just didn't seem like a copycat.
Victor was silent for a long while.
He just stared at the wall in front of him with his eyes narrowed.
The office was so that Ivan's own heartbeat was too loud in his ears, and his breathing sounded like a
heavy wind.
Another few tense, quiet minutes ticked by before Victor coldly said, "You can leave now."
Ivan barely managed to stop himself from sighing in relief.
"Alright," he said with a small bow, and then hurried out the office.
For a few moments there, he'd thought Victor was going to fire him like he'd done to the people from
the technology department.
Victor waited until his office door was closed.
Then he waited a little longer to make sure no one else was suddenly going to enter.
Once he was certain he was alone, he fished his phone out his pocket and looked down at the screen.
It showed a caller ID, as well as the time ticking by of how long the call had been active.
"Did you hear all that?" he said in a voice devoid of emotion.
"Hmm,"
Carson hummed in response from the other end of the phone.He'd heard Victor's entire conversation
with the director of the technology department and Ivan.
"And? What do you think?" Victor said slowly.
Carson was currently lounging on the sofa while he was on call.He had his phone wedged against his
ear, and was the picture of relaxation and laziness.
"I agree with Ivan.There is no one else who could have done this except for the King of Hearts."
Victor's already gloomy expression darkened even further.He drew a breath to speak but Carson beat
him to it.
"But no one has heard from the King of Hearts in three years," Carson said.
"I just can't understand why this person would suddenly reappear just to hack into your system and
broadcast the fiasco like that.And if it really is the King of Hearts, there are only two reasons for doing
something like this."
"Go on," Victor said.
"Either the King of Hearts is holding a grudge against Alice, or it's against you."
There was a note of self-satisfaction in Carson's voice as he said this.
"In my opinion, it could be both.I mean, what are the odds of this happening otherwise? Out of all the
companies, the King of Hearts chose yours.And I think we all know that the Sullivan Group has the
tightest security system in the world.We're not exactly an easy target."
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