Chapter 93


    "Holy crap! You almost killed me, Abigail!" Greg narrowly dodged the scalpel.


    Abigail frowned and asked, "Greg?"


    "What do you think? Who else would be able to get into your ce?" He was still having palpitations


    after the scalpel nearly cut him. He eyed the woman incredulously, baffled that she would sleep with


    her scalpel next to her. This is twisted!


    Abigail, on the other hand, had lost all sense of sleep. "What are you doing in my house? And also, did


    you actuallye through the window? For the love of all that''s good, Greg, you have quite the


    makings of a vagrant! May I ask if you''re here to assault me or to rob me?"


    He was stumped by her question, and a sudden awkwardness hung in the air as he thought, Neither. I


    came to do neither of those things. But as for why he came in, he didn''t think there was a need to tell


    her anymore.


    "I just, uh, came through the wrong door," he offeredmely after a long pause. It was such a ridiculous


    lie that even he wanted tough at himself.


    "Hah!" A smirk tugged up the corner of her lips as she let out a sarcastic bark ofughter. "Think you


    could find the right door now, Mr. Buckley?"


    "I''ll get going right now." At that moment, Greg swore he had never been quite so embarrassed before.


    He returned home after his mishap at Abigail''s and was greeted by Alissa, who stood at his bedroom


    door with her arms crossed. She shook her head as she eyed him with mock disappointment. "You''re


    way too uncool, Daddy."


    Greg''s pride was taking a hard hit today. He shot her a withering look and asked, "What are you doing


    here in my bedroom when you should be sleeping?"


    "I can''t sleep. Can I use yourptop to y some games?" She didn''t wait for him to give her the green


    light before she scrambled into his bed and opened up hisptop.


    His brows furrowed. "You know, there''s aputer in the study that you can use."


    "Aria''s using it right now, and she has madputer skills. She''s probably talking to those people over


    at the Hackers'' Guild again." As she said this, Alissa logged onto the gaming tform and started the


    game.


    Suddenly, Greg realized that he had never told her the password to hisptop. How did she ess it?


    He took a step forward and saw her little fingers flying over the keyboard with a swiftness that belied


    her mastery. A little stunned and overwhelmed by this, he pressed, "Are you a hacker, too?"


    ke''s son, Alex Huntington, was already a force to be reckoned with. Who could have thought that I


    would have a little genius of my own?


    Alissa, however, was oblivious to Greg''s thoughts as she said inly, "I''m not really a hacker. I know


    the basics of it, but Aria''s the real master. I think she''s even part of the Hackers'' Guild."


    Greg had heard of the Hackers'' Guild. It was a self-established world organization made up of plenty of


    top hackers, but only a dozen of them were truly acknowledged by and worked for the Guild.


    Is my little Aria one of them? Eager to find out more, he asked cautiously, "When you say Aria''s part of


    the Hackers'' Guild, do you mean she''s in it for fun or if she''s actually working together with them?"


    Alissa paused, then frowned and said, "I''m not sure, but there are asions where money wille in


    for her. We''re talking about numbers like a hundred or two hundred thousand here, but we''re kids, and


    we can''t have our own savings ount. Apparently, Aria hacked into someone else''s ount and


    used it for her transactions or something like that. Oh, but Mommy doesn''t know about this, so you


    can''t breathe a word, okay, Daddy?" With that, she raised her little pinky finger to him and waited for


    him to pinky-promise to keep the information a secret.


    Startled, Greg pinky-promised her and left for the study, whereupon he saw Aria typing fervently away


    on the keyboard.


    When she was serious, she looked like a whole different person. So this is what her real life is like, he


    thought in awe as he watched her.


    Presently, Arianna looked like she was in control of everything. There was even a confident smile on


    her lips that made her little face even more dazzling.


    Greg sneaked up behind her and stared at the numbers that rolled up on her screen like a long,


    unending receipt. He was suddenly overjoyed, for as it turned out, his child really was a little genius!


    "Aria, are you..."


    He spoke softly, but it still gave Arianna a fright. She jumped and gasped, "Daddy?"


    She quickly switched tabs, and when Greg peered at the screen, he saw hispany''s secret files


    pulled up before him. As though remembering something, he muttered absentmindedly, "Thepany


    files..."


    "I was only practicing with them, Daddy! I didn''t lose any of the files. Here, I''ll restore them for you right


    away," Arianna said, blushing like she had just been caught red-handed doing something illegal.


    This was all Alissa''s fault. She had been the one who pulled up every single file there was in Greg''s


    company''s archive to prepare for a full-on retaliation in the event he was doing Abigail wrong. Arianna


    was only trying to restore these files to the archive when the members of the Hackers'' Guild popped up


    and started talking to her about an uing business deal.


    Seeing as Abigail''s birthday was fast approaching, Arianna thought this would be a good time to earn


    some pocket money and get her a present. Little did she know that she would be caught by Greg.


    Frustration welled up in her, but Greg was extremely pleased as he said, "Oh, no, don''t worry about it.


    You can go right ahead and practice to your little heart''s content! By the way, darling, where did you


    pick up all these hacking skills?"


    "Mommy hired someone to teach me," Arianna responded easily. Then, she lowered her voice as she


    added, "She said I couldn''t go out ying like the other kids because of my asthma, so she got me a


    computer to keep me upied. At some point, I started getting interested inputers, and Mommy


    decided to hire someone to teach me about this stuff. Allie and I had lessons together at first, but she


    got bored, so I was the only one who picked up hacking."


    Greg felt like he had struck gold. Abigail certainly has a way with kids! At the thought of that woman, he


    began to wonder if she was still angry with him. Suddenly inspired, he asked Arianna with glittering


    eyes, "Darling, do you think you could help me with something?"


    "Hmm?"


    "See, I kind of made your Mommy angry just now, so could you hack into the security system at her


    ce and let me see if she''s cooled down?"


    Arianna''s eyes widened when she heard this. "Daddy, do you have a death wish?"


    For some reason, he felt like an idiot in front of his daughter. "What do you mean?"


    She sighed exasperatedly. "You don''t actually think my Mommy wouldn''t know if someone hacked into


    the security system, do you?"


    "But you''re a good hacker, aren''t you?" he urged, staring at her in confusion.


    She was rendered speechless by this. She had never seen Greg look so helpless before, not to


    mention so adorably naive. With another sigh, she pointed out, "Daddy, you do know that geniuses


    don''t just naturally be the way they are, right?"


    "What?" This time, he was entirely puzzled. He wasn''t sure how the formation of geniuses had anything


    to do with what they were discussing, which, to him, was a matter of highest import.


    However, Arianna merely gave him a sympathetic shake of her head, then said, "You can ask Allie for


    help. She can hack into a system, too. I''m tired, and I''m going to bed now. Goodnight, Daddy."


    With that, the little girl pushed her chair back and leaped down from it. She did not spare Greg a


    second look as she brushed past him and into her own bedroom.


    Greg found himself left high and dry in the study, and he still couldn''t make sense of his daughter''s


    words.


    Somewhat baffled, he returned to his bedroom in a daze and ryed the same thing to Alissa, hoping


    she would take up his case. But she didn''t even consider it before she said, "No deal."


    "Why? I can pay you if that''s what you want," Greg bargained.


    She paused her game and looked at him steadily. "Daddy, are you really this clueless, or are you just


    faking it?"


    "What?"


    "Mommy is aputer genius. Where do you think Aria and I got it from? You? I probably got your


    strength and your fighting instincts, but that''s all there is." After saying this, she resumed her game.


    Greg was stumped by this new information. Is that woman aputer genius? Seriously? Isn''t she


    supposed to be a doctor?


    He was starting to think that he should have someone look into Abigail''s background. It''s like she takes


    me by surprise every day.


    Meanwhile, Abigail could not go back to sleep after Greg had trespassed into her bedroom and gave


    her an almighty shock.


    She got out of bed and pulled on a coat, then came to stand by the French windows. When she thought


    about how sneaky Greg was behaving earlier, like he was some kind of burr, she shook her head in


    exasperation. Then, she locked the window.


    They were staying in a really quiet neighborhood. As of now, there was no sign of life out there aside


    from the constant yellow shine of the street lights. The world seemed peaceful without the hustling and


    bustling of the daytime.


    As she stood by the French windows and stared out at the night view, she couldn''t help thinking of her


    mother and what kind of person she might be.


    Abigail didn''t have much of an impression of her own mother, even when she was a child. Now that she


    knew her mother was alive and she had information about her, she was terrified. She wondered if her


    mother hated her and if that was why she had never visited in all these years. She wanted to know if


    there was some other reason for her absence.


    Jonathan had mentioned that she was living a good life right now. But if that were the case, why didn''t


    she ever look for me? Abigail thought bitterly.


    The questions mored and snowballed in her mind. She didn''t know if her mother had ever remarried


    and started a new family or if her mother simply didn''t want to acknowledge her existence.


    The anxiousness that came with these thoughts made sleep evade her, and it wasn''t until the first light


    broke that she realized she had stayed up the whole night by the window.


    She stretched and rubbed her aching shoulders, then put on a change of clothes so she could head out


    for breakfast. However, she had only just thrown open her front door when she saw that Greg was also


    leaving his house.


    There were pale shadows under his eyes, and the full-body yawn that escaped him was proof of his


    sleepless night.


    "Did you stay outst night like the hooligan that you are?"


    "For your information, I was on my best behavior," he replied with self-deprecating humor. Then, he


    stretched and asked, "Where are you off to?"


    "To get breakfast," she said as she made her way to her car.


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    "Forget that. I''m making breakfast in a bit, and you''re wee to join us," he offered. After that, he


    cracked his neck to loosen it.


    Abigail thought about how Emma had waited for her outside themunity gates not too long ago and


    paused in her tracks. Changing her mind about grabbing breakfast outside, she said, "Okay, then." She


    spun on her heels and crossed over the yard to Greg''s ce.


    He was admittedly surprised by her agreement to his offer. It seemed as if she had stopped talking to


    him about owing favors and money these days.


    He followed her back into his own house, by which time the servants were still asleep.


    Abigail staked out a seat on the couch, and Greg noticed that her eyes were red-rimmed. "Rough


    night?"


    "I couldn''t sleep."


    "Then try to get some shut-eye before breakfast. What do you feel like having?" He rolled up his


    sleeves so he could get to cooking.


    Abigail wasn''t sure what was happening to her. She had had a tough time falling asleep in her own


    ce, but her head was growing heavy now that she was at Greg''s. "Whatever''s fine. I''m going to the


    girls'' room to take a nap," she mumbled as she stood up from the couch.


    "Go up to my room instead. The girls are sleeping soundly now; I don''t want you to wake them up."


    She did not object to this and obligingly went into his bedroom, and she dozed off as soon as her head


    hit the pillow.


    It was only then that he remembered he had left his pajamas on the bed. He hurried into his room to


    retrieve them, only to find that Abigail had fallen asleep.


    He wouldn''t judge her for her sleeping posture, but he was baffled to see her hugging his pajamas to


    sleep. Frowning, he made to pry the clothes out of her arms, but the woman had a vise-like grip that


    made the task all the more challenging. Just as he was about to double down on his efforts, his phone


    rang.