Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 49

As soon as Amber returned to the apartment, she couldn't wait to test out the laptop.

In her past life, Sharif had also given her a six-figure machine, using the same excuse—that he didn't want her embarrassing him.

Though it wasn't the exact same model, the performance was top-tier.

Before doing anything else, Amber opened the system settings. She executed a series of commands, and the screen flashed black, pulling up lines of code. She located the specific directories, typed in a complex sequence of script, and hit enter.

—She was installing anti-tracking countermeasures!

This was a gift from Sharif Madison, after all. Even though she wasn't doing anything illegal, she knew his personality perfectly. He was absolutely monitoring her, especially since the three 'interview gifts' she sent had shaken him to his core.

The fact that Julian Zeller had shown up at the digital plaza to deliver the laptop—and a warning—proved that the old fox didn't trust people easily.

The code Amber used had been independently developed by Vance in her past life. It might be slightly too advanced for this era, but she had asked him about it before, and it was universally compatible. In her past life, she had personally installed it on Lucian's laptop, never expecting she'd eventually use it on her own.

Regardless, she had to protect her privacy. Even if Sharif was trying to spy on her, she would ensure he got absolutely nothing.

Hah! The petty tyrant wanted to spy? Let's see him try now.

As a result, Sharif, who firmly believed he was about to uncover Amber's mysterious backer, felt like he had just been slapped in the face.

"It was destroyed?!"

This was probably the biggest joke he had heard since becoming the wealthiest man in Riverport.

Charles, a rugged-looking man around Sharif's age, was a computer science graduate from Zenith University with a master's in software engineering. He was an absolute genius, yet just five minutes ago, the spyware he had personally sent Mr. York to install had been decimated.

"Yes, Mr. Madison. I apologize. I've already assembled a team to break through her defense, but..." Charles felt deeply humiliated. "Is she really just a high school senior ranked tenth in her class?"

Charles knew that if she had coded this firewall herself, it would be terrifying. Currently, none of his systems could even identify the architecture. What did that mean? She was a prodigy!

The corner of Sharif's usually stoic mouth twitched, his handsome face registering pure disbelief.

He sat in his executive chair, slowly swiveling back and forth, casually spinning an expensive fountain pen between his elegant fingers. He let out a dark chuckle. "Impressive. She actually dismantled the software written by Madison Group's Chief Technology Officer. Julian, have the private investigator resume trailing her. Charles, call off your team. If whoever is behind this could break your program, they definitely won't let me watch them."

Sharif's dark eyes grew dangerously cold. "Investigate. Keep digging. I will find out who is pulling her strings."

Sharif refused to believe he couldn't uncover the truth.

Completely unaware that her actions had only intensified Sharif's surveillance, Amber finished compiling Vance's future code, restarted the computer, and began using it properly.

At the foot of a mountain sat a four-thousand-square-foot, three-story concrete house. Xanthe Sutton walked into the pigpen, carrying a heavy bucket of slop in one hand while carrying her younger brother's eight-month-old baby strapped to her back.

Suddenly, her second brother's three-year-old, sitting in a walker in the courtyard, started wailing.

Before Xanthe could even put down the bucket, her eldest brother, lounging on the sofa watching TV inside, bellowed, "Xanthe! The kid is crying, are you deaf?! The Sutton household feeds you, clothes you, and gives you a place to sleep, and you can't even watch a damn kid?!"

His voice was so loud it terrified the baby strapped to Xanthe's back, who also began to scream.

With two kids screeching like it was a competition, Xanthe couldn't comfort both in time. And before she could even try, her father, apparently woken by the noise, stormed out and slapped her hard across the face without a single word. "You worthless jinx! You can't give birth, and you can't even take care of a kid?!"

If Xanthe didn't have a baby strapped to her back, her father would have definitely kicked her to the ground.

This was a daily occurrence. For the fifteen years since she had been rejected by her in-laws, she had lived like a beast of burden.

Her ultimate crime was being infertile. No man wanted to marry her; her in-laws despised her, and her own family treated her like garbage.

Xanthe was used to it. She wiped the tears from her face, pulled herself up, and tried to soothe the screaming children.

Just then, Loretta pushed open the courtyard gate. "Xanthe, I've arranged a match for you. Clean yourself up; you're coming with me to meet him."