Chapter 17  

Wayne quickly shut up, while Bradley was dumbfounded. They seemed not to want to mess with Gary.

Gary always scored the last in every exam, yet because of the powerful influence of the Finley family, no one in school ever dared to mess with him and his elder brother, Ryder, a junior.

Glancing at Nicole, Gary said coldly, “What is your relationship with Raine and Snow?”

Nicole raised an eyebrow and glinted at Gary. “I don’t know them.” She sounded indifferent.

“See? I have just said they are not related.” Jack rolled his eyes at Wayne.

“That is a shame. Gary would protect you if you were a relative of Raine and Snow.” Wayne grinned.

Nicole had already retracted her gaze. “I don’t need the protection of anyone.”

Rejected by Nicole, Gary felt he was getting a slap in the face.

“Hey you, girl, do you know who you are talking to?” Jack got up in displeasure as he could not bear to see her attitude toward Gary.

Everyone around them was frightened at seeing this, and they did not dare to say a word.

“Cut it out.” As much as Gary felt losing face, he had no interest in bullying girls. “Since she doesn’t need our protection, no one is allowed to intervene in her affairs next time.”

Gary looked at Nicole coldly, but she did not even look up at him.

“Got it.” Jack and Wayne nodded. Gary had taken the entire eleventh grade into his umbrella of protection. Since this chic was unappreciative, she should not blame them for anything that happened in the future.

Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief after the three of them walked away slowly. Bradley grinned and became even more interested in Nicole. “You have got guts, so daring to brush the Finleys off.”

Bradley had long been having issues with Gary, but no one in San Joto wanted to offend the Finleys.

“The Finleys? Are they famous?” Nicole took out a book without looking up at him.

Bradley glanced at the book. It was in a foreign language that he could not read.

“You don’t even know about the Finley family? They are the number one family in San Joto.” Bradley rattled on, but Nicole did not seem to be listening.

“As much as I admire your courage, it is not a good thing to be without their protection. Not only is there a quarrel among different classes, but there is also strife between the Royal Creek Institute, be it the high school or the university, and several schools in the vicinity.”

Nicole was not interested in the school feuds. Noticing that her phone vibrated, she went out to answer the call.

Bradley saw her acting secretive and could only turn his attention back to his assignment to finish it.

It was a voicemail. Presumably, she had got the job.

“So quick?” Nicole felt a little surprised. It usually took at least three days to know if she had got the job as there were many competitors, as with this job. But she was informed today that she had successfully gotten the job.

Feeling doubtful, she pressed a few keys, checking to make sure that she had really won the job. After that, she turned off the phone.

Unbeknownst to Nicole, a computer in a place far away had shown her coordinates for a second.

“It is right there, Mr. Johnston.” Max managed to trace Nicole’s location, although it had just shown for a second.

“Royal Creek Institute in San Joto?” Jared’s gaze deepened with a surprised look on his face. The person he was looking for turned out to be in San Joto. What was even weirder was that person was hiding in a school.

“That is weird. But we have hacked into The Hunters’ dark web reply system. Her signal to reply to the system message is indeed sent out from there.” Max also wondered how it was possible in a school.

“It seems that Ellison has the person we are looking for.” Jared sneered with a meaningful look in his eyes.

“But that is Ellison’s territory. Our men can’t go in there just like this.” Ellison would not believe that if they told him there was a hacker from The Hunters in the school.

“That is for sure.” Jared’s gaze darkened.

“So, how are we going to find Lucifer?” Max ran out of ideas.

After a moment of silence, Jared fiddled with his coffee cup and said, “Open a café opposite the school.”

“Open a café?” Max was baffled. He could not figure out what was in his boss’s mind.

“Ellison doesn’t like others peeking around in his territory, but he still welcomes businesses.”

Max’s eyes lit up immediately. “I got it.”

After Max left, Jared looked out the window. ‘I will catch you, Lucifer.’

...

It was noon, and Nicole went to the cafeteria with Bradley and a cute girl showing her the way.

“This is Lulu Barrera, a committee member of the Studies Society.” Bradley introduced the girl to Nicole.

“Nice to meet you.” Nicole eased up slightly at seeing the innocent-looking girl.

Lulu let out a bright smile. “Nice to meet you, too. If you don’t mind, join us at the cafeteria.”

“Yeah, why not?” Nicole nodded her agreement. She had a good impression of Lulu.

So, the three of them walked toward the cafeteria of Royal Creek Institute with Bradley chattered nonstop. When they got there, he enthusiastically taught her how to order meals and which set meals were the most value-for-money.

“Nicole!” a passionate voice suddenly came. Nicole looked back and saw Samuel.

She then shot a frosty look at Samuel, startling him.

Spencer immediately got the hint and pulled Samuel away. “You had better keep a low profile and don’t let your fans bother your sister anymore.”

The crisis was defused, and Nicole looked better now.

“Nicole, you know Samuel, don’t you?” Lulu looked envious, seeing that Samuel had just called Nicole.

“Not so.” He was just her brother, whom she had known for barely a day. Hence, technically, she barely knew him.

“Oh, yeah?” Lulu doubted, 'Are they really not close? Just now, Samuel seemed very enthusiastic.'

Nicole had ordered her meal and sat down with Lulu and Bradley.

“Is that girl a newcomer? She is pretty.”

“I guess so. Class B has posted on the forum today, saying that the title of the hottest girl in the school belongs to someone else now.”

“She indeed looks much better than the twins.”

“Shhh, the twins are here.”

Everyone looked up and saw two girls walk into the cafeteria.

One was Raine, who was in the twelfth grade, and the other was Snow, a college freshman.