Chapter 145
By now, Charlotte had finished building the preliminary framework of her mirror system.
She stared at the content on the screen for a long while before overlaying the fabricated data stream on the surface.
Once that was done, her fingers flew across the keyboard again, quickly pulling up a black interface.
It displayed numerous virtual names, like a contact list. After scrolling for a moment, she found the only partner she could truly trust—the hacker known as "K."
Fifty million dollars was no small sum. Even for her, it would require routing the funds through multiple encrypted channels and dispersing them carefully to launder the money clean within three days without drawing the attention of international financial regulators.
She reached for the headset beside her and slipped it on.
A moment later, the encrypted voice channel connected.
"K, it's me. I need your help—now."
Static crackled steadily through the encrypted channel.
Soon, a heavily distorted electronic voice came through.
"S? You're contacting me at this hour. Something wrong on your end?"
"Yeah. Ran into some trouble." Charlotte nodded, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"Talk." K's reply was clean and direct.
"I need fifty million dollars." Charlotte's expression turned serious. "Within three days. Clean cash. No traceable trail whatsoever."
The person on the other end fell silent after hearing this, as if assessing the difficulty of the task.
"Fifty million?" His tone grew heavier. "Did some country's tax bureau get on your tail?"
"That's a massive amount, and the timeline's brutal. Even if I can pull it off in three days, the risk would be enormous."
Charlotte knew that all too well. But she had no other choice.
"I understand. But even with the risk, it has to be done."
"My mother's been kidnapped. They're only giving me three days to come up with the ransom."
"So no matter what, I have to get it."
K on the other end fell silent again. This time, the pause lasted even longer.
He knew Charlotte's situation. He knew about the bond between her and her mother.
After a moment, he pressed his lips together.
"Got it."
"Give me top-level access to all your encrypted accounts. I'll activate the Dust Protocol and pull funds from over a thousand shadow accounts worldwide."
"Then route them through financial transfer stations in sixteen countries. That should get it laundered successfully."
"Of course, I'll arrange for a batch of bearer banknotes to be delivered to your specified location."
"But there's one thing I have to tell you—moving this much capital will definitely alert the Watchers."
"Under those circumstances, the cleanup afterward is going to be a nightmare."
At K's words, Charlotte's eyes flickered briefly.
Others might not know, but she was well aware that the Watchers was the code name for the international anti-money laundering organization.
Once they caught wind of this, Charlotte would be stuck with them like gum on her shoe—impossible to shake off.
But right now, she couldn't afford to care about that.
"It's fine. I'll deal with all the fallout after I get my mother back."
There wasn't a trace of hesitation in Charlotte's voice, her gaze resolute.
"I'll send you the drop location via one-time cipher in a bit. Thanks for this."
"Don't mention it. We're partners." With that, he cut the connection.
Hearing the dial tone buzz in her ears, Charlotte removed the headset and let out a long breath.
K was one of the few people in this world she could fully trust. With his help, the funding problem would essentially be solved.
At that thought, Charlotte felt considerably lighter.
She glanced at the contact information displayed on the screen, tapped a few keys, and erased it from the computer entirely.
After finishing that, she reopened the virtual mirror system she'd built and began making some modifications.
Watching the additional elements gradually appear, Charlotte's lips curved into a smile, a cryptic glint flashing in her eyes.
"Richard, let's see how you manage to see through this one."
New search traces appeared on the computer—things like "how to borrow large sums quickly," "private lending platforms," "loan shark contact info," and so on.
To further demonstrate that she was truly desperate, she even opened several seemingly legitimate international investment company websites.
She filled out loan applications on them, but deliberately failed at the final step due to incomplete documentation.
After nearly an hour of work on the virtual screen, she'd successfully crafted the image of someone "desperate, helpless, and on the verge of collapse."
Once she confirmed there were no loopholes, she closed all the windows and wearily rubbed her temples.
Then she stood, cast one last glance at the high-tech equipment filling the basement, and left.
Climbing the spiral staircase, she arrived at the first-floor living room.
The villa was exceptionally quiet now. Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, night had fully descended. Only a few ground lamps remained lit in the courtyard, casting faint pools of light across the living room floor.
Alexander wasn't there. She had no idea where he'd gone.
At the thought, Charlotte couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.
She knew her earlier words had likely hurt him.
For a moment, guilt flooded Charlotte's heart.
But she had no choice right now—after all, she had to consider both her mother's safety and his.
As for the misunderstanding between them, she'd find a way to clear it up once she'd successfully resolved this crisis.
Lost in thought, Charlotte left the villa and returned to Gold Valley District.
After taking a shower and changing into loungewear, she prepared to grab some much-needed rest.
Days of sustained mental strain, plus going two nights without sleep, had left her utterly exhausted. Even her eyes were now threaded with red veins.
Just as she was about to lie down, her phone screen lit up with a push notification—#Harris Heir Benjamin Set to Wed Johnson's Daughter Chloe—Lavish Nuptials Coming Soon#.
Staring at the cozy photo beneath the headline—snapped at some gala or another—Charlotte's eyes turned cold.
'Those two backstabbers. After all that scheming, they're finally getting their happy ending.'
At the thought, Charlotte curled her lip.
Honestly, she couldn't care less whether those two got married or what happened afterward.
But seeing their news at a time like this just felt monumentally annoying.
She switched her phone to silent, tossed it aside, and closed her eyes.