Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Something Not Suitable for Minors
Claire instinctively hugged her beloved laptop tighter and shook her head forcefully. "No, I spent three years custom-building this. If you’re going to destroy it, I won’t allow it!"
Adrian’s tone was gentle. "I won’t destroy it. Just let me see it."
"Do you even know anything about computers?" Claire asked, still clutching her laptop, not daring to let go just yet.
Adrian said in a low voice, "I’ll have them take a look. As long as there’s nothing on it that could harm society, we’ll return it to you. This is just routine procedure."
"No, absolutely not!"
Her computer didn’t have anything that could harm society, but it did contain... certain indescribable things. If anyone else saw them, her entire reputation would be ruined.
"Why not?"
"It’s just... it’s just... my computer has a lot of my personal secrets on it. I can’t let other people see."
"Then let me see it."
"No... you can’t see it either."
Adrian’s brow suddenly furrowed. "Claire, you’re putting me in a difficult position. The laptop must be handed over."
Claire pouted and muttered under her breath, "There’s... material not suitable for children on it..."
"Nude photos?"
Claire shook her head.
"Illicit videos?"
Claire shook her head once, then nodded.
Adrian couldn’t help but chuckle. "So that’s the kind of thing you like to watch."
"I don’t!" Claire denied immediately.
To hell with it, she might as well come clean.
"It’s the video of that damn scumbag Logan Linden having an affair with Melanie Sinclair. You told me to keep it as evidence, so I saved the video to my computer and forgot to delete it..."
"Mm," the man nodded.
What was that "mm" supposed to mean???
Claire’s face flushed. "Besides that video, everything else is software I developed myself. Most of it is fine, but a few programs... might be a little questionable. But I’ve never used them for anything bad! I just mess around and build things when I’m bored. Really, please believe me!"
Adrian’s gaze slowly fell to the laptop bag in her arms. "Let me see."
"Just... just you alone?"
"Yes."
"Alright then... as long as you don’t destroy my baby..." Claire finally placed the ’instrument of the crime’ on the table, took out the laptop, and entered her password to log in.
The moment the computer started, a small window popped up—
[Because you failed to complete your task on time, the God of Sin is about to punish you!]
Adrian, who had moved to stand behind her at some point, frowned. "What is this?"
"I don’t know who they are or how they found me. That invitation letter you took a picture of on your phone before... I actually received one too. They invited me to participate in a hacker competition, but I ignored them.
"This morning, Teacher Hartwell took me to the East District Police Department for safety. When I turned on my computer, they found me again and ordered me to breach the East District Police Department’s network system. Instead, I immediately tracked down their IP and sent it straight to you guys..."
After hearing her tale of heroism, Adrian felt nothing but shock and a deep sense of worry.
So she had been targeted by those people long ago, and he had been completely unaware.
"Claire, if anything like this ever happens again, you have to tell me."
"I was just scared..."
"Scared of what?"
"Scared you wouldn’t believe me and would lock me up."
The moment she finished speaking, the man suddenly leaned down and wrapped his arms around her delicate shoulders from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Claire, you’ve boarded my ship now. I have to trust you, and you have to trust me. The future will be even more dangerous. Only if we’re in perfect sync can we both reach the shore together."
