They gave her expensive clothes, elite education, and a life of privilege, not because they cared for her, but because they needed to ensure she remained an attractive target.
Even Lily had been adopted for the sa twisted purpose.
The entire family bullied Lily. And Lily, in turn, bullied Abbey.
The more Abbey thought about it, the more furious she beca.
Her fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
When she turned eighteen, even her fiancé, the man who had been arranged to marry her, often treated her with cold indifference.
He spoke to her with an aloof tone and acted as if she was beneath him.
At first, Abbey couldn’t understand it.
But later, she discovered the truth again. In secret, he actually loved Shay.
He treated her coldly yet refused to break off the engagent to keep Shay safe.
The realization only made Abbey feel more disgusted.
The more she reflected on everything, the more she felt that the Brown family had gotten away far too easily.
After all, once they realized she had outlived her usefulness, they simply threw her out.
From the age of eighteen to twenty-three, Abbey struggled alone in the cruel outside world. Her life collapsed piece by piece. There were days when she couldn’t even afford a proper al.
Debt piled up like a mountain.
The bitter taste of cheap alcohol often lingered in her throat as she forced herself to survive.
She had to move from one man to another, carefully manipulating them, searching for soone powerful enough to help her climb back to the top.
That was when she encountered Hans.
Honestly, Hans wasn’t a particularly impressive man. If anything, he was laughably easy to manipulate. However, he possessed several dangerous secrets , secrets that Abbey knew could eventually lead her to greater opportunities.
So she stayed beside him.
Now that she had finally obtained the money she needed, Abbey decided it was ti to return.
After undergoing plastic surgery to subtly alter her face, she reappeared at the Brown family mansion under a completely new identity.
A maid.
She spent a large amount of money fabricating a flawless background, carefully erasing any trace of her past. By the ti she finished, the Brown family had absolutely no reason to suspect her.
The reason she chose to enter as a maid was simple.
She wanted information. The deeper and more confidential, the better.
Once the secrets of the Brown family were exposed to the dia, the scandal would explode like wildfire. Their reputation would crumble overnight.
And at that mont... She would deliver the final blow.
Just imagining it sent a thrilling shiver down Abbey’s spine.
That excitent alone was enough to keep her going.
However, after infiltrating the mansion, Abbey quickly realized sothing frustrating.
This family was far dirtier than she expected.
There were countless pieces of evidence hidden inside the house.
Yet obtaining them was almost impossible.
Maids were not allowed to carry phones inside the mansion. They weren’t even allowed to approach the family mbers directly.
Whenever they cleaned a room, they were supervised by two people, one trusted employee and another hired purely for their professional qualifications.
On top of that, surveillance caras covered nearly every corner of the building.
Trying to secretly take photos or collect evidence was extrely difficult.
Still, Abbey refused to give up. If she couldn’t take photos... Then she would morize everything.
Every docunt. Every suspicious conversation. Every hidden deal.
This thod was exhausting and painfully slow. Even after weeks of work, she could only rember about half of the information she encountered.
But every single night, she returned to her small maid quarters and carefully wrote down everything she had witnessed that day.
It was an extrely dangerous task.
If anyone discovered her notes, she would be finished.
Most people in her position would have given up long ago.
But Abbey endured everything with one burning determination.
She wanted to wipe the Brown family off the face of the earth. Completely.
After gathering a significant amount of information, Abbey felt a surge of excitent.
Then she suddenly rembered Aurora’s deal.
Without the slightest hesitation, Abbey compiled most of the information she had collected...and sent it directly to Aurora.
Aurora began carefully checking through the information Abbey had sent her.
At first, she thought it would be just another simple investigation, but the deeper she read, the more confused she beca.
Her brows slowly furrowed as the glow of the screen illuminated her face in the dim room.
The Brown family... in fact, had not been so ancient or powerful, wealthy family.
Thirty years ago, they had been almost insignificant.
However, everything suddenly changed when the head of the Brown family ca up with an astonishing idea related to artificial intelligence and advanced technology.
Within a few short years, he founded a technology company that grew at an unbelievable speed.
Twenty years ago, he had already beco one of the wealthiest billionaires in the world.
Ten years after that, his wealth skyrocketed again.
He eventually beca the richest man.
Aurora leaned back in her chair slowly, her fingers lightly tapping against the desk as she stared at the screen.
’Sothing is wrong...’
The reason for her confusion was painfully simple.
Before his sudden rise, the head of the Brown family had been nothing more than a criminal.
A real criminal.
He had a long history of illegal dealings, underground activities, and shady connections. His entire past was filled with violence and manipulation.
So for soone like that to suddenly have a brilliant breakthrough in AI technology... it simply didn’t make sense.
Aurora narrowed her eyes slightly.
’Even geniuses need ti, education, and research to reach that level.’
But according to the records, the man had never even attended college. He didn’t possess a single professional degree related to technology, engineering, or programming.
So where did he obtain such advanced knowledge?
Aurora wasn’t looking down on him. After all, talent could appear in the most unexpected people.
However... His credentials were extrely suspicious.
Too suspicious.
Aurora even briefly considered another possibility.
’Did he steal soone else’s work?’
It wouldn’t be impossible. If he had sohow taken credit for another person’s research and then built an empire on top of it, that would explain many things.
But confirming such a theory required sothing far more complicated.
It required deep hacking.
Aurora quietly rembered sothing Spencer had once told her.
If she ever wanted to access the deeper layers of the hacker world... the underworld networks... she should give the task to him.
Spencer was far more experienced in navigating those dangerous digital circles.
Without any hesitation, Aurora imdiately contacted him.
She forwarded the files and explained the situation. After reading everything, Spencer replied quickly.
"I’ll investigate it."
A mont later, another ssage arrived. "Give until tonight. I should have an answer by then."
Aurora’s eyes brightened slightly. ’By tonight...’
She patiently waited the entire night. But no ssage ca. Not even a single update.
By the ti morning arrived, the soft sunlight creeping through the curtains, Aurora could no longer hold back.
She sent Spencer a ssage. An hour later, he finally replied.
"I tried infiltrating the circle. But I realized sothing. It’s much more difficult than I expected."
Aurora leaned forward slightly, reading carefully.
Another ssage appeared.
"If you want real results, give at least ten days."
Aurora fell silent for a mont. ’Ten days...’
She thought about it for a while before slowly nodding to herself.
Ten days wasn’t a long ti. Nothing significant would change within such a short period.
So she replied with a simple agreent. Still...
A new thought quietly appeared in her mind.
’Just who exactly is this hacker?’
For Spencer to spend ten whole days trying to break through their defenses... that was sothing Aurora had never seen before.
The curiosity in her heart only deepened.
anwhile, while Aurora was digging through information, Alex and Adeline decided to go out on a date.
The reason was simple.
Both of them had been overwheld with office work recently. Endless etings, docunts, negotiations... it all piled up like a mountain.
They desperately needed a mont to breathe. So they chose a location far away from their office.
A quiet high-end café located on a peaceful street.
The café was elegant and modern, with soft jazz music playing gently in the background.
Alex and Adeline sat across from each other, casually chatting.
Alex suddenly looked around the café.
His gaze slowly swept across the interior. Then he muttered quietly.
"This place feels... strangely familiar."
Adeline raised an eyebrow. "What do you an familiar?"
She glanced around the café as well. "This place only opened a month ago."
She leaned slightly forward, confusion written clearly on her face. "So how could you possibly find it familiar?"
Alex turned to look at her, opening his mouth as if he wanted to explain sothing.
But before he could say anything... Crash!
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