?Chapter 605:


    Niki stood tall—six-three, easily—and filled the room like a wall.


    When Ste offered her hand, Niki barely nced at it. He didn’t bother to shake.


    She didn’t flinch, just handed him the USB.


    Niki took the seat at Marc’s desk and got to work, fingers flying across the keyboard as he pulled up the files.


    Just as he was about tounch the instation, Marc’s voice cut in sharply.


    “Wait!”


    Niki paused, turning back. “Something wrong?”


    Marc’s paranoia red. He hadn’t forgotten what Ste had done before—one tiny trick in the code and she could hijack an entire system.


    He wasn’t taking chances.


    He said, “Run a full security scan before loading anything.”


    Niki gave a small nod, a flicker of respect in his eyes. “Marc, you’ve really covered your bases.”


    Marc grinned. “That’s nothingpared to your skills, Niki. You nning to stick around in the country? Come work for the Walsh Group. I’ll offer you top dor.”


    Ste let out a soft scoff at Marc’s shameless pitch.


    “Mr. Volkov, careful,” she said tly. “Marc’s great at making promises he doesn’t keep. He fed me the same lines, then used my patent for years without paying me a dime.”


    Marc’s face tightened, clearly embarrassed that she brought it up. “Stel, don’t be ridiculous,” he muttered. “Niki’s new here. He might actually believe you.”


    “Let him do a little digging,” Ste said coolly, “and he’ll see who’s lying.”


    Marc, done with the back-and-forth, suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the office door.


    Outside, his tone dropped cold. “Just wait here. Once Niki finishes checking everything, I’ll let you back in. No need to stir things up.”


    Ste crossed her arms. “What’s the matter, Marc? Afraid Niki might see through your act? That he’ll realize what kind of person you really are?”


    Your imagination takes flight on g?lnσν???s


    Marc’s jaw tightened. Her words had hit a nerve.


    “Stel, quit it. When all this is over, I’ll make it right. Once the Walsh Group’s back on top, I’ll pay you whatever you want.”


    Ste stared at him like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.


    She yanked her hand free, her voice icy. “You’re pathetic, Marc.”<fn793c> Chapters first released on Find★Novel</fn793c>


    He opened his mouth to argue but swallowed it back, thinking of Niki inside.


    “I don’t have time for this,” he muttered.


    With that, he headed back inside, leaving Ste standing outside.


    Ten minutester, Niki spoke up. “Marc, there’s no virus in the files.”


    Marc finally exhaled. “Great. Go ahead and upload it. Sync it to our system.”


    Niki nodded and got to work, his fingers flying across the keyboard.


    Outside, Ste sat calmly, not the least bit anxious. She hadplete faith in her tech.


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