âIâm here alone, Ms. Lane.â
Nicole heaved a sigh of relief. Itâs good that Evanâs not here. Johnâs easier to handle alone. âDo you need anything?â
âLetâs go inside, Ms. Lane. This is no place to talk.â
Nicole hesitated, but she let him in eventually.
John observed her house closely. It looked like a ramshackle house on the outside, and the inside wasnât any better. The place was dull, stuffy, and uncomfortable. Everything seemed patched together overnight. No wonder this is the slums. If Mr. Seet found out that Kyle is here, heâd be heartbroken.
âMs. Lane, I saw Kyle playing with your daughter outside. Does Mr. Seet know he comes to your place?â
Nicole had her guard up at the mention of Kyle. When she was packing her things to move a day before, Nicole realized Kyle and Juan had been swapped. The boy that was currently with her was the real Kyle. Will John tell Evan about this?
Juanâs living in Evanâs Hillside Villa now. If John told him Kyleâs here, Evan would get suspicious and look into this.
If that happens, Juanâs existence would be exposed. Heâs going to take Juan away from me then. No! Juanâs my precious son. I canât let John tell Evan about this no matter what.
âMr. Lin, I remember you said youâd help me the best you can previously.â
John knew he said that before, but Nicole had asked him to bomb Evanâs office that time. Does she expect me to say yes? Why is she mentioning this? Does she want something?
âMr. Lin, donât tell Evan that Kyleâs here. Thatâll be a big help for me.â Nicole looked at him with pleading eyes. This was crucial to her, and failure was unacceptable.
John sighed. With how things stood now, Evan would have killed Nicole if he could. If he found out Kyle was here, things would turn from bad to worse for Nicole.
âA word of advice for you, Ms. Lane. Youâll never win against Mr. Seet. Why donât I take Kyle back to the villa and pretend this never happened? You donât have to complicate things.â
Nicole was grateful for Johnâs help. This wasnât a bad way either. He could send Kyle back to the villa, while she would call Juan and ask him to come back in secret.
John thought her silence meant that she was objecting to his idea, so he persuaded, âYou should know Mr. Seetâs temper more than anyone, so donât be stubborn. Getting on his bad side gets you nothing.â
âOkay then. Weâll go with your plan.â
John heaved a sigh of relief after she agreed to his plan, then he told her the reason for his visit. After she listened to it, Nicole was shaken to the core.
Nina went to Seet Group and pranked Evan? And he suspects her of being the hacker behind the networkâs failure?
âDonât blame Mr. Seet for this, Ms. Lane. During the hack back then, the IP address showed your house address, and thatâs why he suspected you.â
The heck? That wasnât me! Wait, I didnât do it this time either! It was Juan back then, and now⦠Her gut told her Juan was also behind this.
Juan was researching even more powerful hacking skills these days. The continuous hacking and retreating from Seet Groupâs network resembled the skill Juan was practicing. Realization dawned on Nicole on why Evan called her earlier. Nina and Juan are really bold.
âMr. Lin, Nina is but a young child, so she can be rash sometimes. Please tell Evan not to hold it against her.â
âI donât think thatâs gonna work. Mr. Seet will definitely come for you, so youâd better get ready to explain then.â
Nicoleâs face paled at that. If he comes, Iâm doomed.