"Keep them waiting; I''m busy right now," Vandiana said, gazing out the window with narrowed eyes, amusement dancing across her features.


    Moments earlier, she had found herself embroiled in a conversation that had been unexpectedly leaked by a hacker who dared to target her—Vandiana Panthera herself.


    This forced her to abruptly end the call without raising the hacker''s suspicions, a precaution her technical team had advised in their attempts to lure out the middleman.


    Having invested a hefty 10% of her profits into the cyber cell within the underground ck market, she never anticipated someone in the technical field would dare to cross her.


    Even though the attack was virtual, she had ordered her team to trace the hacker''s whereabouts, determined to unearth the identity of the audacious individual who hadunched an attack against her.


    Minutester, she received the disappointing news that her team had lost track of the assant, only able to determine he was located somewhere in Camphrian City, based on the first few numbers of his IP address.


    ''How amusing,'' she thought, a smile ying on her lips as she reflected on the irony.


    Despite having spent so much on high-end equipment and hiring top-tier professionals, someone had managed to record her call and slip away, all while operating within Camphrian City—an area where she maintained control over 70% of the local mafia.


    "I understand, my queen," a servant replied, bowing respectfully before taking her leave. She brushed off the notion of the arriving guests from a political party; after all, it was they who needed her assistance, which allowed her to prioritize her own orders without concern.


    "Lulu, have you found anything useful?" Vandiana inquired, turning her gaze toward a young woman seated on a rolling chair. The girl had her legs and arms crossed, appearing almost closed off in her oversized hoodie that obscured her face.


    A lollipop bobbed in her mouth as her fingers danced across the keyboard, painted nails of various colors gliding with precision as her eyes darted rapidly across the screen.


    "....He somehow found me early on, but it''s virtually impossible to erase every trace once awork is targeted and a firewall is breached... Ah, found it!" Lulu''s focus remainedser-sharp as she continued to navigate the screens before her, sessfully uncovering a handful of files nestled within theputer systems of the Crimwell family.


    Confident in the firewalls she had painstakingly crafted, she noted how her early alert system had detected the intrusion. She surmised that the attack was not directly aimed at them but rather executed through a gateway that exploited existing vulnerabilities within the Crimwell family''swork.


    Rather than aimlessly searching for answers, she strategically ced herself in the mindset of the intruder—the hacker who had attempted to infiltrate her system.


    Through this perspective, she grasped that the only way to record the call had likely been by breaching the Crimwell family''swork.


    The underground security measures were fortified by skilled hackers, and the firewalls had been personally designed by her, making a direct attack highly improbable.


    Being well-versed in the intricacies ofputer operations, Lulu understood that in hacking, there is often an oversight of leaving behind residual files used for remote ess or control.


    While these files might appear morphed or encrypted to the untrained eye, it was a simple task for her to reverse-engineer the hack using those remnants.


    With newfound resolve, she initiated a connection to the private servers of the Crimwell family, ready to uncover whatever secretsy hidden within.


    Her mind was racing as she considered the perspective of the attacker. He had discovered a few files, encrypted in a way that had no rtion to the business operations or the confidential matters of the Crimwell family.


    They most likely belonged to the trail of the attacker himself. As she opened one of the files, a message popped up on the screen, causing her heart to sink.


    "What did you find?" Lulu Vandiana approached the screen with her arms folded, her expression shifting from curiosity to cold intensity as she read the words disyed before her.


    :: I received your letter, Lady Vandiana, and I must decline the role of your pawn. Let''s meet another time when my position is strong enough that you might consider me an equal, not just a pawn. Your lovely, Damien Raphael ::


    "He''s ying with fire," Lulu muttered, clicking her lollipop as she pulled it from her mouth. The clear threat in the message was evident, and she understood the grim fate awaiting Damien for daring to defy her queen.


    "Hmm, so this is your choice, is it?" Vandiana murmured, closing her eyes to recall the letter she had sent to Damien the previous night after attending his wedding. She had left after Gabriel''s arrival, realizing Damien was likely to meet his end at the hands of Edward, who was widely known tomand the young man''s loyalty.


    Understanding this dynamic, she had used the opportunity to send a letter offering to help Damien reim his position as the heir of the Raphael family, should he choose to follow her.


    Fully aware of Damien''s less-than-ster reputation, Vandiana had intended to use him as a pawn in her grand scheme to seize control of the Raphael family.


    Her n involved giving him just enough scraps to keep himpliant, only toter discard him when he was no longer useful.


    But now, it seemed he had chosen to rebel rather than submissively ept what she had to offer.


    "Do you want me to call in some men?" Lulu asked, tossing her lollipop aside. She grabbed another from the pack, not quite fond of the vor of the previous one. She was eager to deal with Damien. Read thetest stories on M-VL-em|p,yr


    "Don''t. Didn''t he say he woulde meet me himself?" Vandiana replied, her characteristic resolve surfacing. She preferred to deal with those who dared to threaten her directly.


    Last night, she had found amusement in Damien''s behavior; he had acted quite differently, trying to manipte those around him, even provoking Edward and the rumored woman from the Crimwell family he had pursued for four long years.


    Seeing this as a positive shift, she decided to allow him some time to impress her. Patience, she thought, could provide valuable insight before she issued furthermands. "Send someone to bring the police chief to me and eliminate anyone who stands in our way."