Chapter 48
Bella turned around and looked at her with a cold laugh, her eyes carrying a hint of mockery.
"Ms. Johnson, oh really? You're saying you have a way to solve this? Then come over here and let us see what you've got."
Charlotte glanced at her coolly, "Sure."
Bella froze for a moment.
She had only meant to mock the other woman for talking big, but she never expected Charlotte would actually agree right away.
It was as if Charlotte was certain she could solve this perfectly.
She scoffed dismissively, couldn't be bothered with Charlotte, and huffed before leading the shareholders out first.
Charlotte supported Daniel and followed behind at an unhurried pace.
When they reached the IT department downstairs, everyone saw over a dozen technicians frantically searching for and patching vulnerabilities. On the large screen in front of them, various codes were jumping around, all in an alarming red color.
The head of the security team was a top cybersecurity expert in the country, hired by the White Group with a million-dollar annual salary to manage their operating system.
Right now he was sweating profusely and couldn't find any solution.
A man nearly forty years old was on the verge of breaking down and crying in front of everyone.
"What's the situation?" Bella walked over arrogantly and stared at him coldly.
Being questioned like this, the head became even more frightened, his face turning pale as he stammered, "We've already found the vulnerability, but we haven't completely figured out how to patch it yet. Please, please give us a little more time..."
Before he could finish, Bella cut him off directly.
"Aren't you supposed to be the country's top cybersecurity expert? Why are you having such a hard time finding the real problem! I'm giving you twenty more minutes. If you still can't solve it, your entire team can forget about continuing to work here!"
The head's face grew increasingly pale. He typed on the keyboard even faster, but his expression became more and more grave.
Charlotte watched the large screen quietly, her gaze focused.
After staring for a few seconds, she suddenly spoke up, "The twelfth line of the third code segment. Take a look at it."
The head paused and turned to look at Charlotte, not knowing who this very young woman was.
"Who are you?" he questioned.
Charlotte frowned, "Does it matter who I am? Just look when I tell you to look."
Daniel even scolded, "Didn't you hear? Look when she tells you to look!"
With Daniel speaking up, the head didn't dare say anything more.
He quickly looked at that string of code.
After looking for a few seconds, the head's pupils contracted, and his eyes slowly widened.
"Is it a repeated instruction?" Charlotte asked.
The head stood up in shock.
"Yes, it's an invalid instruction! And it's been disguised as normal code. If you hadn't specifically pointed it out, I wouldn't have noticed it at all. I looked at it several times just now and didn't catch it!"
He immediately deleted that erroneous code segment.
Everyone looked at each other.
They didn't expect the problem was really there.
"The system is back!"
Suddenly a technician shouted out.
The entire IT department rushed over, and then burst into cheers.
"It's fixed! The system is finally back!"
The head let out a long breath, feeling like his life had been saved.
Otherwise, his million-dollar job would really be gone.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, stood up to look at Charlotte, and bowed solemnly.
"Thank you."
He looked at Charlotte with sincerity and admiration, "If you hadn't pointed it out, I estimate even after another hour of checking, I wouldn't have found where the problem was. Their technique was really too sophisticated. This code was hidden very deep, I didn't notice it at all."
"No need to thank me." Charlotte said coolly, "Your firewall needs upgrading. This technique isn't even the latest attack method anymore, but your defense system hasn't been upgraded to the newest version yet."
The head's face turned red, and he quickly said, "You're absolutely right. I'll arrange for an upgrade immediately."
Everyone in the IT department didn't dare underestimate Charlotte anymore. At this moment, they all looked at her with admiring eyes.
A girl younger than them had actually solved their difficult problem in one go and saved their jobs.
Who wouldn't admire Charlotte!
Seeing everyone looking at Charlotte with such admiring eyes, Bella's face turned livid.
What was her background exactly?
A problem that everyone else couldn't solve, she fixed just by watching from the side!
And the things Charlotte said clearly showed she was an expert, not just talking randomly.
Could it really be that Daniel hired her because she had real skills?
Many thoughts ran through Bella's mind.
She had wanted to watch Charlotte make a fool of herself, but instead let the other woman demonstrate her abilities.
Several shareholders also changed from disdainful attitudes to shocked ones.
Daniel had been watching from beginning to end, and seeing those shareholders' speechless, face-slapped expressions, he felt even more satisfied.
"Very good. Worthy of being the consultant I personally invited. Ms. Johnson, everyone in our company thanks you."
With his words, what else could everyone say? They all thanked Charlotte with their own thoughts.
Bella clenched her teeth and said nothing. Furious, she turned and left, slamming the IT department door hard in front of everyone.
The door closed with a thunderous bang. Daniel's expression changed slightly.
Charlotte didn't mind.
That's what incompetent people are like - after being humiliated, they can only throw tantrums like clowns.
One of the directors directly chased after her.
"Bella! Wait."
Bella stopped at the end of the corridor and turned around impatiently, "What?"
"Don't be upset. Nobody expected her to have some real skills, but having technical ability and managing a company are two different things. It's not like we can't deal with her."
Bella's expression softened a bit.
The person smiled again, "Have you forgotten? There's a very important matter for you to handle today."
Bella thought of this and her eyes lit up, "Right, the auction is being held tonight at eight! Alexander will be there."
"Exactly." Mark Clark smiled, "He seems very interested in one of the auction items and should attend in person. You've been thinking about him, so go and find a chance to interact with him. That way he'll remember you."
Bella's face flushed red.
Alexander was the man all the socialites in their circle wanted to marry - worth hundreds of millions, and never had a single scandal.
Such a capable, handsome, and clean-living man was simply the best of the best.
She couldn't forget him after seeing him just once last time, and had tried every way to create opportunities to meet him, but hadn't succeeded.
Tonight's auction was her chance.