Chapter 9

Joanna felt that Corinne was very optimistic, and by contrast, she was already prepared for the worse.

She had spent a whole month preparing for that project. Alas, she had to face the depressing fact that there was no way for her to retrieve it. There was nothing she could do to change the situation either.

With a sigh, Joanna went to the pantry. "Do your best, Corinne. I'll make you a cup of coffee to boost your concentration."

"Thanks!" Corinne replied. At the same time, a red progress bar appeared on the black computer screen.

Once the progress bar was full, Corinne immediately cracked the password. She clicked open a hidden dialog box and tapped away on the keyboard. Then, she hit [Enter] and sent her message.

[What kind of grudges do you hold?]

The hacker was shocked and replied, [Who are you? How were you able to bypass the AJ League's ultimate encryption system?]

Corinne's fingers danced across the keyboard. [My identity isn't the main issue here. The main issue is why you hacked Alpha Enterprises' computer system. Behind every grudge is a specific person, and you ought to be settling scores with the person who provoked you, rather than ruining innocent people's fruit of labor.]

The hacker didn’t back down and immediately fought back. However, his attacks were successfully intercepted by the defense system that had been set up by Corinne. He could not help feeling a sense of admiration for his mystery opponent whose skills were superior to his own.

-

By the time Joanna came back with coffee, Corinne had restored the computer system to its previous state, and that included all the files within.

"It is fixed! You're amazing, Corinne! How did you do it?"

Corinne pulled out the USB flash drive and twirled it on the tip of her fingers. She leaned back lazily on the chair and said with a smile, "This antivirus software that I bought online for a dollar during a promotion sale claims to work against all sorts of computer viruses. Looks like they weren't lying after all. I'll be sure to leave them a good review later!"

Joanna frowned in confusion and said puzzlingly, "Huh? You fixed the computer using antivirus software? The technical department said that antivirus software was useless, but I'm beginning to think they're the useless ones!"

Corinne reached out to take the cup of coffee in Joanna's hand. She nodded and said, "Alright. Don't you think you should copy the file and show it to Mister Alfred?"

"Oh, right. I'll go right now. You're the best, Corinne!" Joanna blew a kiss to Corinne and hurried off.

The other colleagues surrounded Corinne all of a sudden and requested the link to the antivirus software.

Corinne fobbed them off by saying, "Relax. I'll send it to the group later."

She sipped the coffee and looked up slightly to glance at Alfred's office. 'Jeremy probably hasn't finished his coffee yet, has he?' she wondered.

-

Inside the office, Zoey was striking all sorts of sexy poses to show off her long, fair legs after bringing the coffee to Jeremy. However, she failed to attract the man's attention, while her legs were beginning to cramp.

Joanna knocked softly on the door and leaned in to report the situation. "Mister Alfred, the file is ready, and we can proceed with the meeting as planned."

Alfred's eyes lit up as he tactfully enjoyed the coffee with Jeremy. "Has the computer been repaired?"

"Yes, Mister Alfred!" Joanna nodded affirmatively. "Corinne has restored the system."

"Well, well. She's got quite the skill there!" Alfred's tension could finally subside a little as he stood up and respectfully gestured to invite Jeremy to the meeting room. "Mister Jeremy, the materials are now ready, and we can proceed to the meeting room. The person in charge will soon give you a brief introduction to our company's new project."

Jeremy's big hand and handsomely slender fingers were still holding the coffee cup. He soon placed it down and narrowed his charming eyes in pensive thought as soon as Alfred invited him to the meeting room. He stood up gracefully, and every single gesture that he made exuded the firm, noble charm of a mature man.

Zoey gritted her teeth angrily and was surprised that Corinne was able to fix it.

-

15 minutes later, Jeremy walked out of the meeting room with a calm look on his handsome face. There was no telling what he was thinking.

Alfred walked out beside Jeremy with his head hung low.

When Jeremy passed by Corinne's workstation, he paused all of a sudden and tilted his head slightly to glance coldly at her. An unkind smile could be seen on his face. "Bravo, Mister Alfred. This talented employee in your company has done nothing but waste an hour of my time."

Alfred had a look of embarrassment. "I... Umm… I'm really sorry, Mister Jeremy."

Jeremy walked toward the elevator without looking at Corinne a second time. Corinne was still trying to wrap her head around what happened when Zoey walked over with a gloating look. "So what even if you restored the computer system? Mister Jeremy didn't like your plan at all!"

In ignoring Zoey, Corinne turned to look at Joanna as the latter exited the meeting room. "What happened?" she asked.

Dejected, Joanna broke down and cried. "I don't know why, but there were so many errors present in the key data. Mister Jeremy said our plan was rubbish..."

Corinne frowned.

By then, Alfred had sent Jeremy off and came back. He lambasted Joanna sternly. "Was that the kind of work you produce? The basic mistakes are too many to count! You'd be better off finding another job if you can't even do this right!"

Joanna bowed in shame. "Mister Alfred, I'm sorry! I..."

Corinne caught sight of the snicker on Zoey's face and knew she had something to do with it again.

"Mister Alfred, the error has nothing to do with Joanna. The computer system might've been restored, but the virus damaged part of the original content and corrupted the data in the presentation. It was my fault for asking Joanna to bring it to the meeting without checking it. I'll take responsibility and resign."

Alfred frowned and looked at Corinne, while Richard, who had been following Alfred from behind, said angrily, "Resign? You can stop dreaming now, Corinne. We're firing you. Pack up your things and get out of here. You'll only piss Mister Alfred off if you stay here!"

While Corinne waited for the elevator, Joanna chased after her with a guilty and uneasy expression. "Corinne, I'm the one who should resign..."

Corinne shook her head. "It has nothing to do with you. Richard wanted to fire me in the first place, so there's no point for you to get involved too."

However, Joanna still could not accept the injustice. "But if you leave like this, Zoey will get the permanent position. Her abilities can hardly compare to yours. She's having it too easy!"

Corinne shrugged indifferently. She waved to Joanna, then turned and entered the elevator. When she got out, someone happened to exit the elevator next to her too.

It was Zoey. She came out with a box of office supplies and threw them in front of Corinne. "You forgot to take away your stuff. I was informed by the manager that your desk will be vacated for me!"

Remaining as calm as always, Corinne bent down and picked up her belongings. "As your former colleague, let me give you a word of advice."

Zoey crossed her arms over her chest in a triumphant stance and shrugged. "Make it quick."

Corinne wore a watery smile as she leaned over to Zoey's ear and whispered, "Karma's a b*tch."

Zoey was taken aback. "Tch!"

After all, Zoey had one-upped Corinne, and there was nothing more for Zoey to fear.

-

Corinne was walking out of the company building with her belongings in her arms when a black-colored, limited-edition Mercedes-Benz MPV parked beside her all of a sudden.

Tommy got off the front passenger seat and said, "Mister Jeremy wants you to get in the car, Miss Corinne."

Corinne was in no mood to entertain that request and merely walked past Tommy. However, he raised his hand to stop her. "Miss Corinne, please get in the car!"

Her face darkened. In the end, she reluctantly got into the car.

Zoey happened to see that scene. She had spotted a limited-edition luxury car passing by the company entrance, and she went out to take a closer look. Little did she expect that Corinne would be getting into such a luxurious car.

Zoey’s eyes widened in disbelief. 'What's going on? Isn't that a limited-edition Mercedes-Benz? How can someone like Corinne ride in that sort of luxury car? She's not worthy of it!'