<b>Chapter </b><b>17 </b>
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My hand tightened around Emily’s throat, her face turning an rming shade of red as she desperately wed at my fingers. Her eyes bulged with genuine terror–the kind that onlyes when someone realizes they might actually die.
“Jade…” Max’s voice came from behind me, soft but urgent. I hadn’t heard him approach, but I could sense his presence in the doorway now.
Without turning, I kept my gaze fixed on Emily’s reddening face. “Not now, Max.”
“Jade, please…” His voice trembled slightly.
I spoke coldly, my eyes still locked on Emily. “If you don’t want to die,” I warned the girl in my grip, “you better stay the hell away from me after this.”
The silence that followed was broken only by Emily’s choked gasps. After another moment. ‘ released my grip, letting her copse onto the floor – not for Emily’s sake, but for Max’s.
I stepped over her as if she were nothing more than a piece of trash on the sidewalk and walked into the kitchen. My hands were steady as I filled a ss with water and drank it in one long swallow. Then, without warning, I hurled the empty ss against the wall where it shattered into a thousand glittering pieces.
The crying stopped instantly. From the corner of my eye, I saw Emily scrambling to her feet, half- crawling toward her bedroom. The door mmed behind her, and the house fell silent again.
Max had already begun picking up the sandwich from the floor, his movements careful and precise. Without a word, he grabbed the dustpan from under the sink and started sweeping up the ss shards.
“Leave it,” I said.
He looked up, his expression unreadable. “It’s no trouble.”
“I said leave it. Come to my room. I want to show you something.”
In my bedroom, I opened myptop and positioned it so Max could see the screen. Lines <b>of </b>code scrolled across the disy,plex algorithms and data patterns that would have been <b>gibberish </b><b>to </b>most people.
Max’s eyes widened. “You… you’re saying you’re…<b>?</b>”
I smiled slightly, reaching out to touch his cheek. His ears immediately flushed pink. The contrast between my treatment of him and Emily couldn’t have been more stark.
“Hacking is about finding weaknesses in systems and exploiting them,” I exined, my voice softer now. “It’s understanding how things work at their most fundamental level and then figuring out how to make them work for you instead.”
Max leaned closer,pletely engrossed. I spent the next hour walking him through basic pration testing concepts, and he absorbed everything with remarkable speed.
“You have talent,” I said finally. “With some practice, you could be very good at this.”
“Really?” His face lit up with a mix of pride and excitement.
“Really. Which is why we’re going to get you a properputer. Come on.”
At Best Buy, I led Max straight to the high–endptops. “Pick whichever one you want,”
His eyes darted between the price tags and my face. “Jade, these are like two thousand dors each.
“And?”
While Max carefullypared specs on three different models, I watched him with something close to affection. He had a natural aptitude for technology–quick to understand concepts, methodical in his approach. Within minutes, he was exining to me why one processor would be better than another for specific applications.
After purchasing theptop, I made a quick stop at the Chase Bank branch next door to set up a new
ount.
“Let’s get some lunch,” I suggested afterward. “I’m starving.”
The Grand za Hotel restaurant looked just as impressive as it had a few days ago–elegant, refined, and ridiculously overpriced. Despite this being his second visit to such an upscale ce this week, Max still fidgeted with his silverware, clearly not yetfortable in these surroundings.
“Don’t let all the extra silverware intimidate you,” I said, noticing Max eyeing the multiple forks and spoons. “Just remember, for a formal service like this, start from the outside and work your way in with each course.”
6:57 Tue, Sep 16
:
He nodded seriously, watching as I subtly demonstrated with the outermost sd fork. “Where did you learn all these fine dining protocols, Jade?”
I shrugged. “I read a lot.”
<b>80 </b>
After lunch, rather than taking a cab directly home, I decided to get off early. “I’m going to walk the rest of the way,” I announced. “Need to burn off those calories.”
“I’lle with you,” Max said immediately.
I frowned at his leg. “Don’t be stupid. Your foot will hurt.”
“I don’t care. I’ming with you.”
Ethan’s POV:
“Any update on finding those attackers who were after you in Cloud City?” I asked, keeping my eyes on my tablet as Alexander entered the room.
“Not good news,” he replied, wincing as he took a seat. His wound was clearly still bothering him. “Our security team tracked their trail to Cloud City, but then lost contact. Our men haven’t reported back since.”
I stopped scrolling through my emails. “Interesting.”
“I’m worried about that girl,” Alexander admitted. “If those attackers found her – the one who helped me escape – she could be in serious danger because of me.”
“The girl who saved you,” I considered the implications. This situation was escting. “I think it’s time I paid a visit to Cloud City myself.”
“Uncle, that might not be necessary-
“1
“She saved your life, Alexander,” I said firmly. “That makes her a friend of the Haxton family.” My tone left no room for argument. “I’ll handle this personally and ensure she’s protected.”
Alexander looked concerned. “Just… be careful. She’s just a normal high school student. Thest thing she needs is someone like you showing up and turning her life upside down.”
6:57 Tue, Sep 16
The next day, I sat in the back of my Maybach. We were parked half a block from a decidedly unremarkable residential area. I’d been waiting patiently, observing the neighborhood.
“Mr. Haxton, that’s her,” Connor, my assistant, suddenly indicated a teenage girl walking with a boy who moved with a noticeable limp.
I leaned forward slightly, studying the pair through the tinted window. The girl looked utterly ordinary–nothing about her immediately suggested she’d be capable of helping my injured nephew escape professional trackers. Perhaps Alexander had exaggerated her involvement.
Then something unexpected happened. As if sensing my scrutiny, she suddenly turned, her gaze cutting directly to my window. Though I knew she couldn’t possibly see through the heavy tint, her eyes seemed to lock with mine for a moment that stretched ufortably long.
An electric scooter zipped past, momentarily breaking our connection. The boy with the limp quickly moved to shield the girl, a protective gesture that seemed instinctive.
“Jade, what’s wrong?” I heard him ask.
The girl held my invisible gaze for another moment before turning away. “Nothing,” she said. “Let’s
go.”
I took out my phone and snapped a quick photo. Something about her awareness had caught my attention. I watched the pair continue down the sidewalk, noting how protective the boy seemed toward her. “This is… her boyfriend?”
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