Chapter 103: Vance Sterling

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Vance Sterling

With the system secured, Derrick’s fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up corporate filings, hidden shell accounts, and encrypted offshore registries.

It didn’t take long for him to hit jackpot.

Deep within a buried set of cross-referenced financial logs, a clear pattern emerged.

Vance Sterling had a shining reputation but there were still dirty patches in his life he did not want to come out.

One of such instances was his recent work with a shady businessman.

Now, Vance himself hated illegal activities but when had been backed into a corner, he had no other choice.

A high-profile, notoriously shady businessman had gained leverage over Vance, forcing him to do illegal activities for him.

Vance had to create an illegal trail of money for the man.

On paper, it looked airtight. There was no sign of tax fraud.

But Vance knew what it was.

A massive tax evasion scheme designed to let his client skirt millions in obligations while leaving Vance with a part of the liability if it ever blew up.

If it came out, he would not only loose his license to practice law but he would also go to prison for a long time.

Keira leaned over his shoulder, catching the faint smirk forming on Derrick’s lips as he scrolled through the damning evidence.

She shook her head with a faint chuckle.

"I almost pity the guy," she shook her head but her expression did not match her words.

Keira looked just as intrigued to see what he would do next.

Derrick just rolled his eyes.

Without missing a beat, he routed a secure, untraceable call through the supercomputer’s encrypted network directly to Vance Sterling’s private line.

Before opening the channel, he toggled an audio filter on the interface, masking his voice into a flat, synthetic, completely monotonous tone.

The terminal screen chimed softly as the call went through.

Ring... Ring...

Click.

"Go for Sterling."

Derrick’s lips curled up into a devious smirk as he uttered, "Hello, Mr. Sterling. I would like to discuss about your future with you."

...

At the same time, in a pitch-black room, the only light came from the cold glow of a computer screen.

Sitting in front of it was a completely naked young woman.

She was typing away with one hand, her fingers flying over the keyboard at high speed.

Her other hand was busy between her legs.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" she yelled into her phone, which was pressed tight between her shoulder and her ear.

Her face was flushed, her breath coming out hot and fast as she stared at the screen.

"I told you a hundred times, that’s not how it works!" she snapped, her voice shaking with a mix of anger and pleasure. "Why would I care if your bugs were crushed?"

The person on the other end of the line tried to argue back, but she cut them off instantly.

"Shut up! Just shut your mouth and listen to me! Someone managed to get into my program. Which means, they have a talented hacker on their side."

"I was not paid enough for this shit again. If you want to continue the deal, send me 50,000 Golden Credits."

She let out a low gasp, her hips twitching slightly against her chair as her hand kept moving.

"If you mess up my setup again, I swear to God I’ll ruin you," she growled into the receiver.

Click.

Without waiting for a reply, she slammed the phone down on her desk and hung up.

She leaned closer to the bright monitor, her heart pounding in her chest as her eyes locked onto the screen, completely lost in her own crazy world.

Slowly, she pulled her hand out from between her legs.

She held her fingers up in front of her face, right in the cold, harsh light of the monitor.

A clear, glistening string of wetness stretched between her fingers, catching the blue glow of the screen.

A manic, crooked smile spread across her face as she stared at it, her heavy breathing filling the quiet room.

"Mmm..." she murmured, her voice dripping with raw, unhinged satisfaction.

"Still no climax. I need more of this..."

She brought her fingers up to her mouth and slowly licked them clean, her eyes never leaving the glowing lines of code scrolling across the display.

The anger from the phone call was completely gone, replaced entirely by the electric rush of a real challenge.

Her fingers dropped back onto the keyboard, moving with absolute, frantic speed.

"If only I had left a backdoor to enter that pc again. I wonder when we will meet again." With a dreamy look on her face, she clicked on an icon on her desk screen opening sinister web.

"Interesting." The first thing she saw was a string of commissions related to the Myriad Pill Palace.

That alone was not enough to warrant her attention.

What surprised her was the price. The original bounty had risen to ten times the original ones.

Everyone was dying to know who the owner of this Business was.

...

Back in Keira’s apartment

"Who is this?" Sterling’s voice came through, trying to sound calm and professional.

"If this is a scam, hang up right now before my legal team traces this call."

Derrick tapped his fingers on the desk, a cold smirk on his face.

His artificial, monotonous voice cut through the line without any emotion.

"You can try to trace it, Mr. Sterling. But we both know you should worry more about the tax files for Blackwood Holdings."

Complete silence fell over the line.

In a luxury office across the city, Vance Sterling froze.

All the color drained straight out of his face the moment he heard that name.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Sterling said, his voice dropping low as panic set in. "Blackwood Holdings is completely legal—"

"Blackwood Holdings is an illegal tax evasion scheme to skip out on thirty-two million in taxes," Derrick interrupted smoothly.

"A scheme you built because your client backed you into a corner."

"You know, you could get disbarred for that."

Sterling’s breath hitched hard.

He rushed over to lock his office door before pressing the phone tight against his ear.

"What do you want?" Sterling whispered, but he still managed to keep his cool. "Money? How much?"

Beside Derrick, Keira leaned back with her arms crossed, watching the show with an amused smile.

"I don’t care about your money, Mr. Sterling," Derrick said into the mic. "I want your services. I want you to work for me and help my company."