Chapter 30

Carlie told her uncle that yesterday she met one of her friends at the event and because they both had the same trait of easily getting bored, they decided to leave the event early. And spent time sightseeing outside the city with some other friends of theirs. Meanwhile, Carlie's phone was left in the restroom where they met yesterday. And for 2 nights, she disappeared without a trace, Carlie couldn't contact anyone. Because she didn't remember her mother's, father's, uncle's, Ian's, or anyone else's number. Carlie never bothered to try to memorize the phone numbers of the people around her, Ian knew that. Apparently, her uncle trusted her lie. Knowing Carlie whose behavior sometimes made people shake their heads. 'But Ian didn't.'

He sensed a lot of inconsistencies in Carlie's story, and that's why his face still frowned in annoyance. He was still not satisfied. "I didn't know you met the owner of that bar,"Ian, who Carlie told was named Jonathan Austin, said. Of course, he couldn't boast the man's name to his uncle, who was a close associate with the FBI and CIA. The most famous figures in the world of justice.

"Am i a child that i have to report to you every single person i know and accompany, Ian?"Carlie raised an eyebrow.

"But someone like Jonathan Austin clearly isn't the type of friend who usually hangs out with you!"

"What is the usual type of people who hang out with me?"

"You know... more classy. Not just middle-class noblemen who have nothing but a few bars in Europe. Not men who don't have power and impressive achievements like that. If it were the usual you, you would say that he's not worthy to stand beside you."

Carlie felt like bursting into laughter inside. If only this young man knew that the 'middle-class man' he mentioned was the chairman of the world's largest mafia alliance. A man rich with every cunning trick of his. Even one of the richest men in the world if his wealth were truly disclosed to the media. Although of course, Carlie couldn't say that to Ian.

"Oh my, my silly rabbit,"Carlie stretched out her arms, then hugged Ian tightly. She reached for the man's head and forced him to look into her eyes closely. As if saying through the embrace alone that 'it's time for you to shut up'. "I'm a little sick of hearing your endless chatter. Instead of endlessly talking like that, you'd better help me, Ian."

Ian furrowed his brow,"help with what?"

"A mission. Incredibly important."

Even after 7 nights, 7 evenings passed, her mother, Dera Heston, still kept scolding Carlie incessantly. Every day, without fail. This afternoon, during her mealtime, Carlie found her mother calling back. Again, bringing up the same topic.

"Next time, you shouldn't be like that, understand!?"ger mother scolded. Trying to raise her voice. But unfortunately, in Carlie's ears, her mother's words were nothing more than the adorable squeak of a middle-aged woman. If Dera weren't her mother, Carlie had been convinced since she was a teenager, she would often pinch Dera's chubby cheeks, as if she were Carlie's favorite doll.

"You've said that 10 times in the last 7 days."

"And even during that time, i always said that i understood, didn't i? Don't you believe your own daughter's words, Mom?"Carlie asked, while enjoying her fettuccine carbonara. Then she sipped her wine, relishing its aroma.

"You're starting to be too noisy, really."

"Are you saying your own mother is noisy, Carlie!?"

Carlie laughed. "I'm not lying, at least,"she closed her mouth, hearing her mother's lecture once again. Stating how worried she was about Carlie, how bad she almost went crazy just because Carlie didn't contact them and repeating the same story again. 'The story of a mother who almost fainted because her daughter disappeared, but eventually her husband saved the day by planning a large-scale search expedition, but before that happened, her daughter innocently returned, saying she went out to play.' A somewhat amusing romantic story. But it made Carlie bored to hear it.

In the midst of her mother's seemingly endless speech, Carlie could see her office door being opened and from behind it, two people emerged. Emma, her assistant, who came carrying a stack of documents and behind her was Ian. Holding his iPad. Instantly, Carlie smiled broadly. The man came bearing his research to her.

"Mom, i know you must miss me, but i have something very urgent to attend to. I'll hang up first,"Carlie said, interrupting her mother's speech from over there.

"Not your father, not your twin, and now you too. Why is the entire Heston family busy people who even find it difficult to answer my calls?"her mother grumbled from the other side.

Carlie laughed. "Yet Mom herself is a busy person,"she replied. "Goodbye. You can call me again tomorrow but please don't bring up the same topic. My ears have been sore from being scolded for the past week,"Carlie stifled a laugh as her mother began to express her frustration once again in rapid succession. Mom was truly adorable.

"I'll end the call. Goodbye."

Carlie placed her phone on the nightstand, then stood up and greeted Jan with a smile on her face. Emma, who was only tasked with escorting Ian and the stack of documents, excused herself quickly. Leaving Ian and Carlie, the only two in her office.

"Good afternoon,"Carlie greeted. "I hope you've come here with the data i need, and not just to play around, Ian. Because i don't have time for small talk."

If we mention the title 'The Genius of the Century,' Carlie's uncle's name will surely be mentioned. A man who is indeed very brilliant. The best hacker of this era. Even the American police - the FBI and CIA - often ask for his cooperation to solve some complex cases they can't handle. A man with an excellent reputation. With intelligence that is not considered ordinary and apparently, his way of thinking skills have been successfully passed on to his eldest son.

Ian Andira inherited strong genetics from his father. Not only their faces are strikingly similar like duplicates, but even their intelligence, as well as cunning behaviors. Everyone at his university, his dean, his mentors, all agree that Rian Andira managed to duplicate himself in the form of his son. Succeeded in educating him to become the future successor of his father's great name. Ian has similar interests to his father. Likes to tinker with computers, entertained by exploring the web, servers, or even building them. Likes anything related to technology and most importantly, although hidden from his family, Ian was also taught how to hack data for his own personal interests. How to infiltrate even highly protected privacy data of large organizations and make it his own. Although not as clever as his father yet, Rian Andira once admitted that when he was 18 years old, he wasn't as smart as his son is now.

'Doesn't that sound like a promising talent?'

And this promising talent, Carlie deliberately uses it for her own benefit. To find evidence that Tiffany has been cheating.

"This is all i've got,"Carlie stood beside Ian who was sitting at his desk, opening his iPad, spreading out papers full of documents.

"The Model and Designer Grand Award has very complicated data security. So it took much longer than i wanted to check its contents. Even until now, i haven't been able to hack all the winner score collection data, but there's one significant thing I found."

"Tell me."