Chapter 20
Andrew glanced at James provocatively, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Clearly showing off his victory.
My mouth twitched a few times as I urged, "Let's go."
In high spirits, he walked back around to the driver's seat and started the engine.
The black Panamera smoothly pulled away, leaving James, radiating anger, completely behind us.
Afterward, Andrew brought in top gynecologists and a team of nutritionists to carefully help me recover from the physical damage caused by the miscarriage and emotional turmoil.
Under his attentive care, my complexion gradually improved, and the weakness in my body lessened considerably.
Only that deep scar in my heart still needed time to heal.
And Andrew was true to his word.
He not only put me in charge of the most important core projects, letting me immerse myself in the world of code, but through the success of each project, I gradually regained the confidence and sense of worth that belonged to "ZeroSpecter."
Between James and me, it was as if someone had pressed pause.
Aside from that divorce decree waiting to be collected, we had no contact whatsoever.
Until a highly anticipated business summit gala.
As a rising star in the industry, Shadow Circuit Studio was also on the guest list.
Andrew took me as his plus one.
I wore a well-fitted navy blue evening gown with refined makeup, completely different from the pale, fragile person I'd been half a month ago.
The gala was filled with clinking glasses and elegantly dressed guests.
As a top-tier company, the Smith Group naturally made James the center of attention.
He moved through the crowd with ease, though occasionally his glances in my direction couldn't hide their sharpness.
Just as the summit chairman reached the key point of his speech, the huge LED screen at the front of the banquet hall suddenly flickered and switched off.
An obscene video began playing on loop, accompanied by harsh noise.
The audience instantly erupted in chaos.
The chairman's face went pale. Staff members frantically tried to cut the power but found the control system completely unresponsive.
Several engineers rushed to the stage, working at the computers with sweat beading on their foreheads, but made no progress.
The video continued looping like a loud slap in the organizers' faces, making all the guests present feel embarrassed and angry.
The situation was spiraling out of control.
James frowned deeply, clearly aware of how serious this was.
It wasn't just about the organizers' reputation—it affected the image of every company present.
Just as everyone was at a loss, I took a deep breath and pulled out a uniquely designed silver USB drive from my clutch.
I had modified this USB drive myself, loading it with some emergency tools.
Ignoring the doubtful or dismissive looks around me, I walked straight to the control station.
The flustered engineers saw me and froze for a moment, about to stop me.
"Let her try." Andrew's steady voice came from behind me, full of complete trust.
I glanced at him, nodded, then quickly addressed the engineers. "Move aside. The system has a low-level lockdown program planted in it. Regular operations won't work."
Perhaps intimidated by my presence, they instinctively made room.
I leaned down and inserted the USB drive into the main computer's USB port.
My fingers flew across the keyboard. Black command windows popped up, strings of code scrolling like waterfalls.
My eyes were focused, completely blocking out the surrounding noise.
This feeling of battling an enemy in the virtual world made my blood feel like it was on fire.
In less than thirty seconds, the obscene video on the big screen disappeared, switching back to the normal summit logo, and the harsh noise stopped abruptly.
The banquet hall fell into an eerie silence, then erupted in enthusiastic applause and relieved sighs.
I pulled out the USB drive expressionlessly, as calm as if I'd just done something trivial.
Just then, James somehow appeared beside me.
His eyes fell on the USB drive in my hand, then moved to my face. His pupils were full of shock and deep questions, along with an emotion I couldn't read or understand.
"You... know how to do this?"
In his past understanding, I was perhaps just a woman with some cleverness who knew how to climb the social ladder, never someone who could possess such advanced computer skills.
After all, from marriage to divorce, he had never truly tried to understand me.
I had no intention of answering him.
The old Sophia was dead. There was no need to explain anything to him.
But Andrew stepped forward, naturally positioning himself between James and me in a protective stance.
He wore a composed smile, looking at James with a gentle tone that carried an obvious edge. "Mr. Smith, you may not be aware, but Sophia doesn't just 'know' computers."
He deliberately paused, intentionally raising his voice, glancing at me with tender eyes, his words radiating intimacy and familiarity. "She was my junior at a top university abroad. We studied under the same mentor. In our field, her talent and abilities even put me to shame."
His words not only explained the source of my skills but cleverly hinted at the deep, extraordinary relationship between us—far beyond ordinary business partners.
Andrew dared to speak to James this way partly because his technology was government-protected, so James couldn't touch him for now, and partly because of his family background.
However, every time I saw James rendered speechless by him, I felt an indescribable satisfaction.
Sure enough, James's handsome face darkened immediately, his sharp gaze sweeping back and forth between Andrew and me, his earlier shock replaced by deeper anger.
He pressed his lips tightly together, the oppressive aura around him seeming to lower the temperature by several degrees.
Andrew acted as if he noticed nothing, maintaining his polished smile, but the challenge in his eyes was unmistakable.
A smokeless war quietly escalated once again at this gala of clinking glasses.
Just as Andrew finished speaking, that familiar voice slithered out like a venomous snake, breaking the silent standoff between the two men.
"No matter how impressive that sounds, can it really compare to the legendary 'ZeroSpecter'?" Amelia clung intimately to James's arm, her face wearing a fake smile, but her beautiful eyes were like swords, precisely aimed at me.
She raised her voice, ensuring that the guests around us who hadn't fully recovered from the screen incident could all hear.
"James went to such great lengths to get ZeroSpecter, but sadly, that person still won't even show their face." As she spoke, she glanced at me meaningfully, the condescension in her words undisguised.
"If you ask me, someone who plays so mysteriously probably doesn't have real skills. Maybe they're just a fraud living off false reputation, not comparable to Ms. Brown here with her 'real abilities.'"
She made the last phrase sound ambiguous, as if I'd solved the crisis through some shady means.