Chapter 911 There’s Nothing to Talk About Between Us
An hour later, the phones were ringing off the hook in various departments. Since Smith Co. had stopped its operations, many other industries had been affected as well. Everyone had become less efficient and even the stock market plunged, causing huge losses in Cittadel’s entire economy.
Several common workers were implicated all of a sudden, which caused a series of serious road accidents. At that moment, the entire Cittadel had descended into chaos.
Meanwhile, Raffle was seated in a chair with his eyes closed. As he gently tapped the armrest with his fingers, he waited for Alexander to give in to him. However, before Alexander phoned him, he received a call from his higher-up.
“What on earth are you doing, Raffle? The world is in chaos, and you’re still hiding in the Department of Commerce! I’ll give you one hour to settle the issues with Smith Co. If you can’t do that, you’ll be replaced by someone else!”
Raffle was taken to task, and before he could respond, the other side hung up on him. He had been working diligently for the past few decades, but it was his first time being reprimanded by his higher-up. After telling someone to look into the matter, he picked up his coat and left his office.
He got into his car, looked at his wrinkled face through the rear mirror, and became deluged with a sense of etherealism.
He had been working for far too long, and it was to the point where he had lost sense of what he really wanted to do. Soon, he regained his rationality and clearly understood that he didn’t have a choice.
He was on the same boat as Wendy and the others, so there were only two eventualities for him; he would either keep walking down the same path or die on the way.
Thirty minutes had passed, but he still couldn’t find out Alexander’s whereabouts. Hence, he could only seek help from Wendy.
“Alexander is right in his home. Just look for him directly. Before that, tell your people to do a full inspection on Smith Co.,” Wendy ordered.
“I’m worried that he won’t resolve the dispute easily.” Raffle didn’t have the confidence to persuade Alexander. “Since we’re from different sides, why would we have to resolve the dispute with him?”
“What do you mean?” “The longer you stall for time with Alexander, the more time we’ll have to make some arrangements in the company. Your task is to serve as our cover-up.”
“I know what to do.” Twenty minutes later, Raffle arrived at the Griffith Residence. He kept persuading Alexander and even tried to enrage him, but the latter still didn’t bother sparing him a glance.
Seeing that the other man just wouldn’t respond to him, Raffle adjusted his pants and bent his knees in an attempt to kneel.
“Wait a minute,” Alexander finally replied to him. He moved his eyes away from the monitor and stared at him with a dispassionate gaze. “There are kids in the house. You’ll scare them by doing this.”
Raffle could only straighten up and beg for the other man’s mercy with his head hung low. “What do you want me to do to let Smith Co. resume its operations?”
“It’s not like there’s anything I can do about it. It depends on how fast the authorities will finish doing the inspection.” Alexander played dumb.
“That can be settled with a phone call. We’re both intelligent people, Mr. Griffith, so let’s stop beating around the bush. Just tell me the conditions you have,” Raffle said.
“I love how frank you are.” Alexander shot him a look of approval, then said solemnly, “Honestly, my brother and I don’t like anyone bossing us around. If you’re swamped with work, you’d better not interfere in his company and the competition this time.”
“Apart from this matter, you can bring up other conditions. I’ll do my best to fulfill them.” Raffle turned him down.
Disturbing Alexander’s participation in the designers’ competition was the only task assigned to him by the organization, so he could not give in.
“There’s nothing to talk about between us, then.”
Alexander shifted his attention back to the monitor, and the entire living room was engulfed in a sense of awkward silence.
Meanwhile, Elise was searching for some information in the study on the second floor when a risk alert popped up on her screen. After clicking on it, she realized that someone was trying to break into the company’s intranet.
The other party was skillful. In just half a minute, they had broken through three barriers, and they were just two barriers away from getting the company’s most confidential files.
Certainly, Elise wouldn’t miss such a chance to let her children learn something about anti-hacking, so she quickly beckoned to the little ones. “Come over here, Irvin and Lexi. I’ll show you how to do it.”
Irvin and Alexia stood beside her and watched attentively.
Only then did Elise start working on dealing with the hacker. In just two minutes, she managed to upgrade the firewall and encrypted all the important data.
“Mommy, this way, the hacker can still break into the intranet.” Alexia pointed at the screen where the progress of the other party getting the data was shown. She appeared puzzled.
A successful hacker was supposed to ensure the safety of their computer and stop anyone from breaking into the system.
“They won’t succeed,” Elise replied. “I’ve hidden all the confidential files. By letting the person in, we’ll see what they want to copy and find out what their intention is. By then, we’ll no longer be in a passive position. Do you get it?”
“Can’t we settle the issue easily by breaking into the other party’s system instead?” Irvin said calmly.
“You have a point!” Elise was elated. She excitedly kissed his chubby face. “You’re so smart, Irvin!”
Then, her fingers flew over the keyboard, and as she pressed the ‘Enter’ button, footage of the hacker’s front-facing camera appeared on Elise’s monitor.
When she saw Wendy’s face, she wasn’t surprised one bit. However, upon recalling that Raffle was downstairs, she hurriedly left the room.
When she reached the living room, Alexander and Raffle were still in a deadlock. The atmosphere was rather intense.
She shuffled toward Alexander in light steps and sat down beside him. Then, she leaned close to him and told him about the hacking incident.
At the same time, Raffle received a call from Wendy. “It’s done. You can leave now.” Raffle’s eyes brightened. He kept his phone inside his pocket and became energetic in an instant.
“Alexander, I dare you to keep Smith Co. closed for business. I’ll only be punished at most, but from now on, you’ll never have any peaceful days again. According to the rules, a designer’s work won’t be selected for the competition without my permission. There will come a time when you’ll be forced to beg me. Just wait and see!”
After threatening Alexander, he turned around and left. Elise arched her brow, then fished out Alexander’s phone and connected it to the real-time footage of her computer.
When Alexander saw how conceited Wendy looked, he snorted and turned to look at Elise with a smile. “Amy, why don’t we become one?” “Alexander!” Elise was bashful and helpless. “Can you stop being a rascal in broad daylight?”
Alexander appeared innocent. “What I mean is that I want you to teach me your skills. What’s on your mind?” Elise was at a loss for words, her face flushing. “Nothing…”
