?Chapter 424:


    Elliana gave a light shrug. “When I took Hutty in, we did a proper ceremony. But since you’re Cole’s cousin, just buy me lunch. That’ll do.”


    Lance’s eyes lit up. “Done! Where do you want to eat?”


    She pointed to the left. “Let’s keep it close. How about that Ublento Hotel branch?”


    Ublento Hotel had several branches across the city, and one was conveniently just behind the Evans Group. Any branch was her yground. It gave her the perfect chance to knock Lance out and then infiltrate the Evans Groupwork.


    Lance, oblivious to her n, beamed. “Perfect! It’s almost lunchtime anyway. Let’s go.”


    He motioned for her to walk with him, but Elliana stopped him with a raised hand. “Wait. I’ll go first. You follow a littleter.”


    Lance frowned, confused. “Why?”


    Elliana gave him a look. “You really don’t know how jealous Cole gets?”


    Realization hit him. “Oh! Right. Got it. Go ahead. I’ll wait ten minutes.” And just like that, Elliana walked off. She came to and left thepany without Cole seeing a thing.


    But luck wasn’t fully on her side—Myles happened to spot her on her way out. During a routine work update, he casually said, “Elliana dropped by earlier. She spoke with Lance for a bit and then left.”


    Cole raised an eyebrow. Why would his wife visit and speak to Lance, but not him? Why did she leave without bothering to see him?


    Myles added, “Maybe she was updating him on the Seek project. She left not long after.” Cole nodded, finding the exnation usible. “Have someone follow her. I want to know where she goes next.”


    “Right away.” Five minutester, Myles came back. “She’s at the Ublento Hotel branch behind the Evans Group for a meal.”


    A flicker of annoyance crossed Cole’s face. Why hadn’t she asked him to join her? Could it be that she intended to pack up some food there to dine with him in his office? The thought softened him a little, and he leaned back to wait.


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    But thirty minutes passed, and still no sign of her.


    Cole called Myles again. “Check what she’s doing now.”


    Myles had his subordinates keep an eye on the situation, and the update came quickly. “She’s in a private dining room with Lance. The doors are closed. We can’t see in.”


    Cole’s face darkened like storm clouds gathering. He’d told her clearly—stay away from Lance. And now she was not only meeting Lance in secret but having lunch behind his back. What was going on? Was she actually interested in that pretty face of Lance, who was several years his junior?


    Cole’s anger boiled just beneath the surface. He was seconds from storming over there when his phone buzzed. It was a system alert—Evans Group’swork had just been breached.


    Cole had built that firewall himself. Normal hackers couldn’t get close. So if the alert had reached his personal phone, it could only mean one thing—a top-tier hacker had slipped past his defenses.


    He grabbed his phone and scanned the logs. Then, a slow, knowing smile crept onto his face. He recognized the hacker’s signature—Quinn. Suddenly, it all clicked. That was why Elliana had gone out with Lance. He could almost see it—Lance, unconscious at the table, drugged like Wesley had been.


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