Cora’s hands twisted together in her lap as she continued her confession.
"That’s specifically why I contacted this good-for-nothing fool in the first place - he ca highly recomnded as soone who handled these kinds of sensitive situations discreetly and professionally. And so I gave him the job and paid him handsoly for it."
Her voice hardened with bitterness. "He told that everything was taken care of, that everything had been completely secured and permanently deleted, that he had done everything I had asked him to do thoroughly and professionally. He looked straight in the eye and told it was done."
She shook her head slowly, disbelief and fury mixing together in her expression.
"I never knew - not even for a single second did it cross my mind - that he had actually kept a copy of it for himself this entire ti, storing it away quietly like ammunition, just waiting for the right mont to use it against as blackmail material. I trusted him completely and he used that trust to set a trap for ."
Cora pressed her fingers against her temple and closed her eyes briefly before continuing.
"And you know how absolutely devastating this is going to be if this video actually gets out into the world. I cannot even begin to describe the kind of damage sothing like this would do to my reputation, my career, my dignity, everything I have worked so hard to build for myself." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper.
"I really, really need to stop this from happening."
She paused, and then a new layer of dread crossed her face.
"But here’s the problem - I know that trying to negotiate with him is going to be completely pointless, because whatever he asks for in exchange for keeping this quiet is going to be sothing I absolutely cannot give him. I’m very, very sure about that."
Her eyes darkened with the mory of seeing Leo’s face earlier that evening.
"Because when I saw him and observed the way he operates, I recognized imdiately how deeply greedy and manipulative he truly is. Whatever he wants, it’s going to be sothing that costs far more than money."
At that mont, Oliver was quiet for precisely three seconds - three calm, calculating seconds in which he seed to process every single piece of information Cora had just given him and file it away neatly into whatever strategic corner of his brilliant mind handled situations like this one.
And then he nodded his head slowly, and the corners of his mouth curved into sothing that wasn’t quite a smile but carried the quiet confidence of a man who had just seen exactly how a puzzle fitted together.
"Well, no problem at all," he said simply, handing the phone back to Cora with steady hands.
"I actually love dealing with greedy people like this. Greedy people are the easiest kind to handle because their greed always makes them predictable, and predictable people always make mistakes." His voice was completely unhurried and absolutely certain.
"I know exactly how to deal with soone like him swiftly and permanently, so here is what I need you to do right now - just respond to this email, tell him that you have agreed to his terms, and that you will be coming to whatever location he specifies."
Imdiately upon hearing Oliver’s calm and confident suggestion, Cora’s eyes widened with alarm and she turned to look at him with an expression that was equal parts disbelief, frustration, and genuine concern for what kind of plan he could possibly be formulating.
"What the hell are you even talking about right now?" she said, her voice rising slightly with the stress and fear that had been building inside her since she first opened that damned email.
"What kind of plans do you possibly have that could work in a situation like this? Do you even understand who we’re dealing with here?"
She gestured emphatically at the phone that was now back in her trembling hands.
"This person is a hacker, Oliver - and not just so amateur who knows a few computer tricks. He’s a very, very good one with serious skills and connections. He’s incredibly intelligent, he’s dangerously smart, and he knows exactly how to cover his tracks and anticipate people’s moves." Her voice was getting more urgent now, her words tumbling over each other. "And I know you probably just skimd through that email quickly, but didn’t you read the full content of the ssage that he sent? Didn’t you see where he explicitly stated that I absolutely should not co with anybody else, that I shouldn’t bring anyone along or involve anyone else in this eting whatsoever?"
Cora’s jaw tightened as she tried to make Oliver understand the severity of what they were facing.
"So how exactly are you planning to help when you can’t even be there with ? Because I know for a fact that if I make even the tiniest, smallest mistake - if he suspects for even one second that I didn’t co alone or that I told soone else about this - it’s going to be all guns blazing. He’ll release that video imdiately to every dia outlet and social platform he can find, and my entire life will be destroyed before I can even blink."
She shook her head firmly.
"So I really, genuinely don’t think I should even be honoring this eting at all. I think the smarter move would be to look for a way to give this matter to the proper authorities and let them tackle this situation properly and legally, so that it can be handled amicably through the right channels."
At that mont, Oliver actually laughed - a genuine, light laugh that seed completely out of place given the gravity of the situation they were discussing. It wasn’t a mocking laugh or a dismissive one, but rather the kind of amused chuckle that ca from soone who knew sothing that nobody else in the room had figured out yet.
"Well, if this guy thinks he’s such a great hacker," Oliver said, still smiling with that sa mysterious confidence that Cora had seen earlier at the restaurant, "then I think you should know that I happen to know sobody who is essentially the godfather of all hackers - soone who makes people like your blackmailer look like children playing with toy computers." His eyes glead with quiet certainty as he looked directly at Cora.
"So if you want this entire situation to be resolved quickly, completely, and amicably without any damage to your reputation or your life, then I need you to trust one more ti tonight and send him that ssage right now."
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