Chapter 41

Hearing Tristan's words, the guy holding the laptop shuffled on his knees till he was about two meters in front of them. "If I come clean, can I get a lighter deal? I'll tell you everything."

Tristan smirked, a touch of menace in his grin. "You think you're in any position to bargain with me?"

The man flopped straight onto his knees, his face drained of all hope. "What bad karma did I get hit with.But hey, if I help you find the real culprit, does that count as redemption?"

While talking, he quickly pulled out his laptop from the bag and powered it up.

"I recorded and downloaded the conversation I had with that person. But they used some mechanical voice changer. I can't crack it."

The audio clip popped up on the screen.

Female voice: "One million, get rid of all the footage from Capitol City for the past three months. Cash only.Pick up at the fourth support of Pegasus Bridge."

Male voice: "I'll get the money first, then delete everything."

Female voice: "You better be quick! I want it wiped so hard no one can ever recover it!"

Male voice: "Don't worry. Not even Hacker God or Blackwing could recover it. I'm that good."

Female voice: "You sureit's gone?"

Male voice: "Absolutely. No way to bring it back."

The guy scratched his head awkwardly. "I can't uncover the original voice, but if you can get Hacker God or Blackwing on it, they probably can."

Tristan and Megan exchanged smiles-finally,a lead.

It wasn't enough to nail someone just yet, but every piece helped.

Now they just had to dig further into the kidnapping of Daniel's daughter.

Megan chuckled. "Someone's a bit full of themselves,huh? Earlier you were bragging that even Hacker God and Blackwing couldn't undo your deletion."

The guy sniffled, giving a sheepish laugh. "I had to act cocky, right? Otherwise, why would they trust me?"

Megan rubbed her chin. "I'm just wondering.how'd she even find you?"

He pouted a little. "Well, I'm kinda a big deal online.I go by the name Wing God. Been a huge fan of Hacker God and Blackwing, so I mashed up their names into mine. It's got a cool vibe, you know?Guess she couldn't reach the real pros, so she settled for me."

Suddenly, the guy asked, "Can I ask who sent her to me?"

Tristan chuckled lowly. "Blackwing."

The guy slammed his palm to his forehead. "Great. I messed with the Grim Reaper himself."

Megan smiled. "Good that you get it. You've got a shot at redemption though-testify when the time comes, and you're off the hook."

The guy looked like he'd just dodged a bullet. He kept thanking them, like he was ready to start praying to heaven and every deity he could think of.

Megan raised her brows. If he found out she was Blackwing. he'd probably want to strangle her.

Tristan glanced at his watch-it was already eleven at night. "Let's go."

He pulled Megan up from the couch and into his arms.

The man handed over the laptop bag with both hands,eager to please.

Leaving Prestige Club,Tristan drove Megan straight to Dreamscape Manor.

"That Molly is a piece of work."

Tristan's hand clenched tighter around hers. "Don't worry.Justice might take its time, but it never forgets."

Then he added, "Wyatt's been staying at Benevita Hospital. That little girl'sthere,too. I'm betting Daniel got targeted back then."

Megan narrowed her eyes. "Both of them are dirty. No way they're not involved."

Tristan gave her a meaningful glance. "You already knew they had something shady going on?"

Megan almost answered, "From my past life." But nope,couldn't say that.

So she shrugged. "Nope. Just think they kind of suit each other."

"Suits each other?"

"Two peas in a messed-up pod- They deserve each other!"

Tristan let out a low chuckle. "I've looked into Wyatt before.He and Molly meet up at fancy hotels all the time."

Megan sighed in her heart. Of course they were messing around back then-she was just the fool who had no clue. Worse, she ended up being their weapon,hurting the one who loved her most.

Not this time. She wasn't letting either of them off the hook.

Tristan noticed the guilt flicker in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just wondering how I ever bought Molly's act."

"You've got good eyes. After all, you picked a good guy."

Megan felt a stab of shame. Her so-called 'good judgment' had come at a steep price-paid in betrayal and lessons burned into her bones.

She buried her face in his arm, mumbling,"Well,my hubby's the best guy in the world."

Tristan glanced down at her, eyes full of affection.

Back at their Dreamscape Manor, Tristan got a call from Cameron.

Daniel's daughter was fine. After reuniting at Prestige Club with her dad, she was quickly taken to a hospital specializing in blood disorders, guarded around the clock.

Turns out the kidnapper wasn't even the mastermind -just some hired puppet paid to take the fall. Every call he got from the real culprit came from fake,untraceable numbers. No recordings, no backups.Nothing. Huge difference between him and that hacker-real pros always leave themselves a way out.

Later, after washing up, Tristan brought Megan to the study.

She plopped down on his strong legs and watched him fire up his laptop and dive into the dark web. He messaged the Hacker God.

Tristan: [Can you restore a modified voice recording?]

Hacker God: [Sure. 2 million. Delivered tomorrow.]

Tristan: [Deal. Cash for goods.]

Hacker God: [Agreed.]

Tristan sent the file. Once it was received, the other party logged off.

Megan clicked her tongue. "Two mil? That's steep!"

Tristan tapped her nose. "Worth every cent."

Resting her head against his neck, she rolled her eyes.Worth it? Yeah, right.

Just as she was mentally mourning the blown cash,Tristan scooped her up and gave her a little toss."Alright, time to rock my baby girl to sleep!"

"Oh please! Just admit it-you're the one who wants that!"

His voice was deep and smooth, like a cello. "You're all talk, no truth,sweetheart."

·..

Moonlight slipped in through the curtains, soft and silver. The only sound in the room was steady,peaceful breathing.

Suddenly,those sly fox-like eyes shot open.

Megan gently moved the arm wrapped around her waist, carefully slipping out from under the covers.Barefoot, laptop in hand, she crept into the walk-in closet.

She quietly shut the door behind her and settled on the soft carpet, laptop on her knees.

Her pale fingers danced across the keyboard. Within moments, she'd broken into the dark web and slipped right through Hacker God's firewall, grabbing his file like taking candy from a baby.

She sent him a creepy little smiley face and a line: [Forever the runner-up(·'~'·)]

After logging out, she focused on restoring the warped voice clip.

If it was altered with a voice modulator, all she had to do was reverse the process-switch inputs and outputs -and boom, original voice retrieved. But if it had been mechanically distorted, like using some weird external tool, that'd be almost impossible to undo. No way to match the distortion strength or calibrate the sensitive variances of the device.

That's why that hack calling himself Wing God couldn't crack it.

As the audio neared full restoration, a smug smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Then, suddenly-she sensed a figure standing behind her...