Chapter 109
Once this gets out, I’m afraid even the Director–General won’t be able to protect you. Besides, in the hacker world, there are far too many people itching to take on
“Cipher.”
“I’ll handle it right away.” Felipa slid into her chair, fingers flying across the keyboard as she dove into the digital underworld, tracing every scrap of information about Fernando she could find.
}
Finally, she unearthed a photo–Fernando and Blanche, together.
“Professor, this is the only picture
with any link to Blanche.” Felipa pulled it up on the screen. “Here it is…”
Judging by the timestamp, this was before Felipa had been recruited.
“It was six years ago,” Fernando explained. “A mission. She saved my life, but she wasn’t able to save my assistant. She was devastated. I asked her to come out of hiding to comfort her, and someone snapped this photo.”
“Delete it,” Fernando said quietly, his hand hovering over Blanche’s sorrowful face on the monitor. “That was her first taste of powerlessness–watching my assistant die, helpless to intervene.”
“I don’t want her seeing it. I don’t want her reliving that moment.”
“I’ll take care of it now.” Felipa typed rapidly, and the screen flickered to a 404 error. “You’re good to her, Professor. Blanche will feel that, whether she admits it or not.”
“She…” Fernando gave a wry smile. “She has no conscience at all. It’s like I don’t even exist to her.”
Meanwhile, Eddy had brought Blanche to the hospital. After a checkup, the doctor prescribed some medicine to help heal her bruises.
Watching Blanche fuss over him, Eddy’s heart melted completely.
But the thought of her defying him–sneaking off to the Ivycrest Research Institute–still stoked his anger.
“Did you quit your job just to go work at lvycrest?” he demanded.
Blanche hesitated. So he knew.
“Felipa is an incredible programmer–a genius,” she replied softly. “I wanted to learn
1/3
20:36
from her.”
“So that’s it…” Eddy muttered under his breath.
“I’ll ask Felipa to come to our place and teach you. There’s no need for you to leave the apartment.” He pulled her into his arms, voice firm. “I’m only thinking of your health.”
“A miscarriage takes a terrible toll. You need to recover properly, like a new mother resting after childbirth.”
Blanche looked into Eddy’s deep eyes, but her mind was filled with images of him and Jeannette–her trust, a poisoned wound that would never truly heal.
Her gaze darkened. He knew how much this would hurt her–yet he’d still coldly told the doctor to take her child away.
Eddy never had a heart.
Ingrid hadn’t been wrong.
“Ask her, then. We’ll see.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make it happen,” Eddy replied, full of confidence.
They left the hospital side by side, when suddenly a voice called out from down the hall.
“Eddy! Please, wait!”
Margaret Anderson hurried up, breathless, blocking their path. “My husband’s in the hospital from the stress, and now he wants to throw Kelvin out of the house! Please, come help me plead his case.”
Eddy and Blanche exchanged a glance and followed Margaret to the inpatient wing. “Our family has never seen such a disgrace,” Margaret fumed as they walked. “He has a fiancée, but he’s still fooling around–now there’s a child, and he’s even planning a lavish wedding for that little tramp.”
“How do you expect Miss Marshall to take this? She’s gone public, accused Kelvin of cheating and betrayal. Our company stocks have tanked.”
“My husband was so furious, he had a heart attack.”
“Eddy, why can’t Kelvin be more like you with Blanche? All he learned from you was how to get into trouble. If he weren’t my only son, I’d have disowned him by now!”
90-26
་་བས་ཅ་་
Margaret’s tirade grew harsher, and Blanche noticed the cold fury in Eddy’s eyes.
Margaret was certainly giving him an earful.
Suddenly, Margaret realized what she’d said and looked back, embarrassed. “Blanche, I forgot she’s your sister.”
“I’m just so upset, I didn’t think.”
“A sister who seduces a man, becomes the other woman, gets pregnant out of wedlock, and tries to force a marriage–I don’t want to claim her either,” Blanche said, glancing at Eddy. “But Eddy insisted on helping Kelvin support her, even registering the child as his own…”
Margaret’s eyes snapped open in realization. Fury blazing, she shot Eddy a look, then stormed into the hospital room, snatched the riding crop from Theodore Anderson’s hand, and brought it down hard on Kelvin’s back. “Tell me! Is that child really yours? Is that woman really your lover?”
“If you don’t tell the truth today, I’ll beat you senseless and then throw you out of this house!”
