Thousands of Brilliant Stars: You Deserve the Best!-Chapter 69: Beware of Deceit, Undercurrents Surging!
Won’t see you again?
Iris heard the words come out of Lachlan Wyatt’s mouth and her expression shifted, "That Jude Hawthorne, what gives him the right to restrict Seraphina Colbert’s freedom?"
"No idea."
Lachlan shrugged, "Some people, you know, are just born into these lowly positions. You don’t really think everyone’s equal, do you?"
Inequality is everywhere.
Iris narrowed her eyes, inequality? She had faced it a lot, back when she was chubby, she was discriminated against everywhere because of her size. Speaking of enduring unequal treatment, she could empathize quite a bit.
That’s why, when she heard Lachlan’s words, she felt a bit uncomfortable. So what if there’s inequality, class system, gender differences—she would shatter them all!
"Inequality?"
Iris let out a cold laugh, muttering the three words as if savoring their meaning, "I will be the one to break these words apart."
Seraphina, she would definitely go find her again!
Iris was taken to the company by Lachlan, sparing James Chesterton the trouble of escorting her. He watched Iris and Lachlan walking out shoulder to shoulder, and sighed inwardly.
Their backs really matched well.
With their defiant aura, they had a bit of the flavor of being desperate lovers in the apocalypse. James clutched the USB drive necklace at his chest, recalling the words Lachlan once said to him.
Back then, Lachlan was truly spirited. With his outrageously handsome face, a casual wave would cause women nearby to gasp and scream. Surrounded by crowds, he came from the crowd, wrapped his arm around James’s neck, and said to him like a young emperor, "Want to start a firm with me?"
James, with his yellow hair, said without thinking, "No time!"
Lachlan raised an eyebrow, his smirk revealing his carefree attitude toward life, "Maybe this way we’ll build our own information database, slowly collect data, and find your sister."
It was the first time James, with his yellow hair, looked up at Lachlan.
His bangs were long, hadn’t been cut for a long time, and after his sister got lost, he’d been aimless for a long time. Each time during the league matches, players said James had become taciturn and his fierceness increased.
Yes, how could he not be?
He, who could penetrate heaven and earth, couldn’t even find the whereabouts of his own sister.
Taken by traffickers, as if she vanished from this world.
He still remembered when his sister gave him a pure silver necklace for his birthday; it was shaped like a USB case but was empty inside, where a real USB could be hidden.
She placed it in his hand and said, "Happy birthday, my internet addict brother!"
My brother was the world’s greatest tech expert, famous from a young age, capable of anything. He could stand behind the storm and protect me; no one, no secret could escape his grasp.
James, though going through a non-mainstream phase, was extremely skilled, but his family felt he had strayed off the path. After all, the Chesterton family was known for academics, yet James had halfway gone into being a Red Guest.
Only his sister valued him, telling him, "Don’t care what the family says, I support you!"
"Are you dumb? No one supports me, why would you?" James pinched his sister’s nose.
She laughed and said, "Just because when I got beaten by hacks in the game, you wrote programs to punish them! You’re the greatest brother in the world!"
Back then, James felt he was like Superman, protecting his silly sister’s little dreams.
But a week later, James felt like a failure.
He couldn’t even protect his own sister.
His sister was targeted by traffickers and disappeared without a trace. At that time, his parents cried and begged James to hack and check all the surveillance. James complied but couldn’t find anything.
Fifteen years ago, surveillance wasn’t as widespread as now, and information technology wasn’t as developed. James tried everything, even passing out in front of the computer, but couldn’t find his sister.
His sister, lost for fifteen years, still hasn’t been found, causing James immense pain when he thought about it. The USB necklace on his chest was the last gift his sister gave him.
How do I deserve? I’m not your Superman. I’ve hacked so many people’s firewalls, searched every corner of the electronic world, no information can escape my eyes, yet I can’t even find you.
Back then, Lachlan’s words touched the repressed James.
At that time, he’d given up on a lot, spending his days avoiding reality in internet cafes, but Lachlan dragged him out, saying, form a firm with me, we’ll slowly build our database, someday, we’ll find your sister.
With information technology advancing so quickly, there were countless cases of reuniting with family after decades, maybe someday in the future...
James has been waiting until now.
Lachlan and Iris’s backs had disappeared from his furthest sight. James ended his recollection, slowly walking back to the second-floor bedroom, planning to tidy up the place Seraphina and Iris slept last night, and upon entering, he was stunned.
On the table, there was a note, and the handwriting made his eyes redden.
Just two simple words, thank you.
It was Seraphina’s handwriting; after all, Iris wouldn’t do such a thing, yet this handwriting was really similar to his sister’s.
If his sister could be found, she should be like Seraphina Colbert, though his sister has been pure and kind since childhood, the type to silently cry when losing a game. The only similarity between his sister and Seraphina might be their handwriting.
With a self-deprecating smile, James Chesterton put away the note and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
When he reopened his eyes, he was still the renowned Red Guest L, a man capable of overwhelming armies. In the online world, he was the unreachable pinnacle for ordinary engineers.
*****
Iris Crawford almost clocked in late today because Jude Hawthorne’s visit delayed her a bit. Lachlan Wyatt watched her jog to clock in, shaking his head amusingly, making Iris mentally vow to become a boss herself one day so she wouldn’t have to clock in ever again!
Sitting down at her desk, Leo Langdon glanced at her instinctively.
Oh, she didn’t wear black stockings today.
Leo sighed with relief. If she had worn them several days in a row, it might have affected quite a few employees in the company!
Noticing Leo’s gaze, Iris handed him a document, then a USB stick, saying, "The PPT I prepared while working overtime yesterday, could you please check it for me? I have to present it at the meeting this noon."
Leo was unexpectedly helpful in checking Iris’s work and found that the completion rate of her report was very high. He adjusted his glasses and showed Iris an appreciative look while tapping the document, "Did you really finish this all by yourself working overtime?"
Iris clicked her tongue and snatched back the document from his hands, "Stop saying things I don’t like to hear! Give it back!"
"..." Leo didn’t know how he had offended this little lady with his straightforward comment and looked up at the ceiling.
But considering even Lachlan Wyatt’s top subordinate Leo Langdon said so, it seemed Iris did a good job on this task. Satisfied, Iris reviewed it once more, internally marveling at her own competence, then stood up to deliver the document to Lachlan Wyatt in the president’s office. When she returned, she found Roxanne Young at her workstation.
Even before approaching, she overheard Roxanne telling Leo, "Langdon, you should be careful. This Iris Crawford is a schemer, don’t be fooled by her!"
Leo pushed his glasses with his signature gesture, "Hmm, what exactly did she do?"
Roxanne stumbled, "She... what did she do?" She wouldn’t accept unnecessary work imposed by seniors and would refuse to do work not belonging to her. Is that excessive?
Roxanne had always wanted to get back at Iris for a previous embarrassment. Now, finally, with the company’s strictest Leo Langdon back from a business trip, it was the perfect chance to accuse Iris!
So she exaggeratedly said, "Did you know she almost got into a fight with our department supervisor last time! Everyone saw it, I’m not making this up. This woman is just so mean, she doesn’t care about teamwork at all. If you ask her for a little help, she might turn around and humiliate us..."
Leo shook his head while listening, asking, "How could this be?"
Roxanne agreed, "Right? It’s too much. Langdon, you’ve been around for a few days, you should have noticed her temperament, right? Isn’t she too much? We’re all in the same company, yet she does something so inconsiderate. Just thinking about it makes me angry. Langdon, you need to set some rules for her..."
Before she could finish, Roxanne’s back was abruptly pushed, nearly causing her to fall. When she turned around, she saw Iris, who had returned from the president’s office earlier than expected, standing behind her, staring disdainfully.
Roxanne was shocked and turned pale. She thought Iris would take at least thirty minutes with her report, but it had only been ten minutes since she left?
Getting caught bad-mouthing had even Roxanne, who was known for her shamelessness, a bit flustered. She could only raise her voice to cover her embarrassment, "Why would you push when we’re talking properly!"
Why push her! Such a delinquent act!
Iris sneered, "What’s there to say to someone like you, hmm? Can a dog spit out ivory? You’re good at backbiting, aren’t you."
Roxanne turned pale, "Don’t think that no one in the company can deal with you!"
"You’re not even from my department, why are you here?"
Iris pulled out her chair and sat down, "Move along, you’re in the way."
In the way?
If it weren’t for Iris, Roxanne would have had this position! Now being coldly treated by Iris, how could Roxanne swallow this insult?
An idea occurred to Roxanne as she glanced at Iris’s coldly beautiful face, quickly deciding to appear weak before stamping her feet and leaving. Iris, over the past ten minutes, didn’t figure out what Roxanne was up to.
A deliberate visit... a trap?
Leo, seeing Iris’s guarded expression, couldn’t imagine associating her with violence.
Could such a woman resort to violence? He thought scheming women would only instigate others and stay detached.
"What are you looking at?" Iris snapped, "Never seen a beauty?"
"..." Leo withdrew his earlier thought.
Given Iris’s nature, it wasn’t surprising she might resort to throwing punches.
The two remained silent until noon. When it was time for the meeting, Iris couldn’t find her USB stick anywhere, even though she showed it to Leo that morning, but now it was nowhere to be seen.
"Have you seen my USB stick?"
Iris stretched her head back, "It’s black... very common-looking."
Leo rummaged through his desktop for a while and found one, "Is this it?"
In a hurry for the meeting, Iris took a quick look and said, "Yeah, it looks like this. I’m going to get ready for the meeting."
Leo didn’t finish speaking before she left. Scratching his head, he said, "I remember returning it to her after checking, so how did it end up on my desk again?"
