Chapter 101

Chapter 101
True to Jethro’s words, the summons from the council had come early, and they—he and Rashel—were to appear before the council in a few days. She wasn’t ready to resume work at Scepter Towers yet, so she spent her days waiting.
Waiting was a new concept to her, so it killed her not to know what exactly was going on or what to expect. But in this moment, it was all she could do. And it seemed like the best option, because whatever decision she decided to take would be detrimental to Scepter Technologies and the entire pack.
The lawyer had already come to brief them on the details of the case, and Rashel understood that the future of Scepter was hanging in the balance. If they won the case by some miracle, then they could save their reputation, but if they failed, which seemed most likely, Scepter was done for. Finished even, but Rashel wouldn’t let that happen.
Even while she waited, she didn’t stop planning. She had developed a foolproof plan to find the inquirer and find the original message that was sent to him. She had already sent Milla to find the person behind the account. She knew that Viola had used a fake account to send him the pictures; of course, it was Viola, and honestly, she would be disappointed if she hadn’t done that. If only she could find the inquirer, she could trace the IP address to Fortis and prove that this was instigated by Viola, just to prove her accusations right. She already had the documents that proved her innocence, which she would present to the council once this was done.
There was a knock on her door that forced her thoughts back to the present.
“Come in.” She called as she sat up on her couch.
Milla walked in with a small smile on her face, and Rashel’s heart did a flip. She knew Milla had found the inquirer.
“The cause of our problems, Commander, is an eighteen-year-old boy. He hasn’t even started college yet!” Milla laughed as she finished her sentence, and Rashel joined her in laughing. They had been through a rough couple of days, and this felt refreshing.
“How did you find him?” Rashel asked, amusement still evident in her features.
“He’s a pretty good hacker, I must confess. But then he’s just a kid who doesn’t know how to cover his tracks properly. There were some loopholes, and of course, he left some leads. The app he used to cloak his IP address had a glitch, which means that, once you’re able to hack the app, you get access to the information of every user registered. His name is Ryan Hedges, and he lives at 995 St. Canyon.” Rashel watched the excitement leave Milla’s face as she finished speaking.
“What is the matter, Milla?”
“I was hoping I could get Viola too, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get her.”
“Of course, I appreciate your efforts, Milla. Thank you. I’ll take it from here.”

The drive to the inquirer’s place was a long one, as Ryan lived on the other side of Denver. It took Rashel all of two hours and forty-five minutes to get there, and unfortunately for Ryan, by the time she got out of the car, she was already irritated from the long trip.
Ryan lived in a beautiful neighborhood, proof that his blogging had paid off, and in all honesty, Rashel was impressed.
She asked her men to wait in the car while she rang the doorbell. She didn’t want to scare him or whoever was in the house; she already had a lot on her plate as it was. She rang the doorbell twice before someone came to the door. When the door opened, Rashel beamed; it was Ryan himself who opened the door. He must have heard a lot about her because the moment he recognized her, she watched fear spread across his freckled face. He suddenly looked like the teenager he was and not some vicious blogger who destroyed lives.
Rashel’s smile didn’t disappear because she was delighted to see that he was actually afraid of her. She had come here to plead with him and grovel at his feet if the need arose, but now she could add a little bit of fear.
“Hi, Ryan.”
“H-Hi.”
“Can I come in?”
Ryan didn’t say anything, but instead, he moved aside to give her room to go in.
“You have such a nice place, Ryan,” Rashel said as she looked around.
“Thanks,” Ryan said, watching her carefully and trying to mask the look of fear on his face. Rashel saw his conflict, and it amused her the more. Regardless of all the things he had achieved, he was still a child.
“You’re wondering why I’m here, right? Well, I’m not here to harm you, Ryan. I’m here to reason with you. Beg you even. Anyhow, you want to look at it. I just need you to listen to me.”
“About?” He tried to sound clueless, but Rashel saw through him.
“Come on, Ryan. I know that you’re aware. I know that you’re the inquirer.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Ma’am.”
“I used to follow your blog religiously, Ryan. I used to believe the things you said because they were true. I thought that we finally had a blogger who only said the truth, but now I think otherwise. I’m starting to think that you’re also a liar. Just like every other blogger out there.”
“I’m not—I’m not the inquirer.”
“I’m innocent, Ryan. Whatever was sent to you was sent by someone who seeks to destroy me. The fraud allegations were raised in my company a few months ago, and the evidence you shared was the evidence they put together to frame me. But we cleared them up already, and I have solid proof that the person responsible is now in jail. I wouldn’t be this bothered if this were just targeted at me, but an honest man who has spent years building his empire stands to lose his life’s work, and it’s all because of me.”
“If you’re here to find out who sent me those documents, then I can’t help you. They used an anonymous account, and it was deleted after the photos were sent. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”
“On the contrary, you can. Can I see your phone?” Rashel watched Ryan hesitate.
“I promise, I’m not wiping out your device or anything. I know who sent you those things, and if I could get into the conversation, I could trace her address and prove that she did this to me.”
Ryan hesitated for a moment before he handed his phone to Rashel, and for the entire period in which she used the phone, he stood over her head and watched everything that she did.
“I was right. The location this was sent from matches the location of my prime suspect.”
“How is that even possible? I’m a hacker; I’ve been doing this since I was fourteen. I tried to trace that account, but I couldn’t, man. How did you even find me in the first place? I cloaked everything that could be traced to me.” Ryan asked when she handed him his phone.
“There’s a whole world out there that’s bigger than all of this, Ryan. I believe you know who I am, or else you wouldn’t have agreed to spread those photos you received.”
“Well, I’m grateful for your help. I’ll leave these here, just in case you need engagement for your page. I’m the hot topic right now, and any news about me could boost your page, especially if it’s an exclusive. These are the documents proving my innocence. The public might not believe it, but it could help your page.”
“Gee, thanks,” Ryan said, obviously surprised.
Rashel knew he was wondering why she didn’t harm him or even threaten him. It was the only way that wouldn’t cause much harm to Sceptre Technologies. She was wise enough to leave him with some news for his page, which she knew he would post. She had brought it along intentionally to bait him. She didn’t even need to threaten the boy; her reputation had gone ahead of her to instill fear in him.
Playing Viola’s game was one way she had learned she could actually beat her, and now that she was sure Ryan wouldn’t post anything to destroy her image, she could go after Viola.

On the ride home, Rashel called Viola. After her conversation with Ryan, she suddenly felt rejuvenated and ready to indulge Viola.
“Hello, Viola.”
“I must have done something right for the great and mighty Rashel to call me.”
“Oh, spare me the theatrics. I just wanted to commend you for a job well done. You went to great lengths to tear me down and Sceptre Technologies along with me. I hope you sleep better at night now.” Rashel ended the call abruptly and ended the call. She was about to begin her game, and Viola wouldn’t even see her coming.