Chapter 178 Back in the Game.

Chapter 178 Back in the Game.
Lena turned to stare at him, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank you."

Theon kept silent. The muscle in his jaw kept ticking. She could see him trying to control his emotions, his hands still gripping the steering wheel like he was holding himself back from doing something reckless.

So she let him be.

"Erhm… you can just drop me at my old house. I don't want to go back to—"

"Are you avoiding your father?"

Theon cut her off. His voice was flat, but she could hear the edge underneath.

Lena didn't answer.

"Does your father know about this whole thing?" he pressed.

She looked down at her hands.

"I think we should pull over first." Lena forced a small smile. "I can't risk another unexpected brake, please."

Theon didn't laugh. But he eased his grip on the wheel.

The rest of the drive was unbearably silent. The only sound was the hum of the heater and the soft crunch of snow beneath the tires. Theon reached over and turned on the radio.

"—breaking news. Health officials are urging the public to remain vigilant as a new, unidentified virus continues to spread across the region."

Lena's frowned at the unexpected news.

"Early symptoms appear to mirror those of the Sunderholm outbreak of 20XX. Fever, fatigue, and severe respiratory distress. However, this strain appears to be more aggressive. The World Health Organization has issued a level three alert. Citizens are advised to avoid crowded spaces and report any symptoms immediately."

The broadcaster continued, but Lena's mind had already drifted.

"That explains the sudden rush in the hospital last time," she said, breaking the silence. "Was that why you got so busy?"

Theon didn't answer.

"And how come the virus wasn't detected early? It's still unknown."

Theon reached over and turned the radio down. "It's nothing," he said quietly.

Lena didn't believe him. She studied his profile. "Stay safe," she said after a moment’s hesitation.

Theon stiffened at her sudden concern. He mentally shook himself, erasing the thoughts.

The car pulled over in front of her old house.

Snow covered everything—the roof, the porch, the bare branches of the small trees planted at the side. It looked different now, softer somehow. Even the memories seemed buried beneath the white.

Theon didn't unlock the car right away. He waited.

Lena stared at the house. Her hands rested in her lap.

"You didn't answer my question," he said quietly. "Does your father know?"

Lena let out a slow breath.

"No. He doesn't know anything. Which is why I didn't want to escalate the issue before."

Theon turned to her. "Don't you think your father deserves to know?"

She stared at the snow-covered house.

"Not because you owe him an explanation," he continued, "but because he loves you. And he'll want to be there for you. You're his only child, Lena. You don't always have to keep your feelings to yourself."

Lena's lips curved. "Wow. You sound way more mature now."

"It's not funny."

"I know." Her smile faded. "Okay. I'll let him know. Because sooner or later, he'll find out. Especially since he's been pestering me about Rhys lately."

Her voice cracked slightly. She took a breath and steadied herself.

"I've been making excuses for months. Every time he asks, I tell him Rhys is busy. Or traveling. Or I don't feel well. And every time, I just come back to this house and pretend I'm at Rhys's place."

"I'm tired." Her voice dropped. "I'm so tired of pretending."

Theon quietly listened as she slowly unloaded everything she’d been carrying.

"But I do have a plan now." She looked at him. "I just want you to help me get those divorce papers signed. I don’t even need the law firm back. I made that clear to him before. He should just SIGN.”

He nodded. "I can do that."

"No lawyers." Lena shook her head. "I don't want to drag this out. I don't want to make it a war. I just want it done."

Theon studied her face. "You're taking this quite well. I didn't expect you to talk about it so calmly."

Lena let out a dry laugh. "I know, right? I've been a shell of my former self for too long." She paused. "And to hell with all that emotional crap. I just want to be free again."

“Not gonna lie, I miss the old Lena too. Seeing you in a dress is…” 

He cleared his throat and looked back at the road. “Forget I said anything.”

Lena glanced at him. "Is what?"

"Never mind."

She almost rolled her eyes at him again.

"I'll call it a night." Lena reached for the door handle, then paused. "And Theon?"

"Don't do anything brash. I can't afford ‘that’ on a lawsuit right now. Don't do anything harsh to Rhys."

Theon pressed his lips into a tight line. 

"After all..." She swallowed. "He's still my husband."

—

As soon as Lena got inside the house, she shreds her coat off and settled for something comfy, then collapsed on the bed and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

The sheets were cold, but the bed was still made from the last time she'd been here. She sat down, pulled her laptop onto her knees, and opened it.

The screen glowed to life.

She made her way to the kitchen, warmed a cup of milk, and stirred in cocoa powder. The familiar ritual grounded her. She carried the mug back to the bedroom, settled against the headboard, and opened her laptop again.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. Then she logged in.

The moment the dark web forum loaded, notifications flooded her screen. Messages piled up like a digital avalanche, each one more frantic than the last.

She scrolled through them.

ShadowByte: NyxFlame where the hell have you been?

CircuitBreaker: You missed seven massive jobs. Seven. I had to pick up your scraps.

VoidWalker: Maybe he/she is probably dead. Or in jail. Who knows.

GhostLine: NyxFlame is too good for jail. I’m betting she is probably sipping cocktails on a private island.

NyxFlame: Not dead. Not in jail. Definitely not sipping cocktails.

The forum exploded.

ShadowByte: NyxFlame LIVES

CircuitBreaker: You are SO paying for those jobs I covered.

VoidWalker: I'm just glad you're not dead. That would've been inconvenient.

GhostLine: Where have you been? The entire forum was convinced you were compromised.

Lena smiled into her mug.

NyxFlame: I got married. Full-time housewife for a while.

Silence settled on the forum.

CircuitBreaker: Wait. You're a woman?

GhostLine: Her name is literally NyxFlame. Did you think she was a dude?

CircuitBreaker: I don't judge based on names. People can be anything online.

VoidWalker: You're married? That's adorable.

ShadowByte: Wait—if you were married, why are you back?

Lena stared at the screen. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.

She typed:

NyxFlame: Getting divorced. So I'm back to work.

The messages poured in.

CircuitBreaker: Damn. Sorry to hear that.

VoidWalker: His loss. You're the best hacker on this platform.

GhostLine: You're going to have to rebuild your client list. People got jumpy when you disappeared.

ShadowByte: Told them you were probably just on vacation. No one listened.

Lena scrolled through the messages, a faint smile tugging at her lips. She took a sip of her cocoa.

NyxFlame: I'm not worried. I have a steady inflow of cash. Sitting pretty well, aside from tangible assets.

GhostLine: Show-off.

VoidWalker: That last job you took was worth 130 million in liquidation. I'd be sitting pretty too.

CircuitBreaker: 130 million? She's set for life.

ShadowByte: She could retire and never work again.

NyxFlame: Where's the fun in that?

She watched the messages flood in for a few more minutes, then closed the forum with a soft click. Her mug was half-empty now, the cocoa cooling.

Lena set it aside and stretched her fingers.

"Now," she murmured, "I wonder why that video from the hospital isn't circulating yet."

She opened a new window and began typing. Her fingers moved fast—familiar code and old habits returning like muscle memory. Her eyes scanned the screen as she pulled up the video feeds, the metadata, and the circulation logs.

Her brows drew together. “The views are being taken down."

She clicked deeper, following the trail of deletions. “Who would want to meddle with this?"

Her fingers paused on the keyboard.

"...The Adler family."

A slow smile spread across her face.

"Since you don't want the dirty drama out," she murmured, "you shouldn't have casted in it."

Lena set her mug aside and cracked her knuckles.

Strings of code began to fill the screen. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, fast and precise. She worked in silence, the only sound was soft click of keys and the hum of the laptop fan.

After a while, she paused. Her finger hovered over a single key.

"Initiating release." She clicked.

A progress bar appeared on the screen. Loading slowly till it got to 100 percent.

Ding.

Her phone chimed. Lena picked it up and smiled at the notification.

"Anonymous upload confirmed."

She set the phone down and reached for her cocoa. “Good luck deleting it this time.”