Meanwhile, Sander Group also received a nice surprise from me.
An anonymous email had been sent to Samuel. In it was a detailed report about how Shane's company had been evading taxes for the past few years, as well as evidence of his involvement in unfair competition.
Even just one of these crimes would be enough to sink Shane's company.

Samuel's hands shook as he read through the report. He never would've thought that the business partner he had been so proud of would turn out to be a ticking time bomb. The moment something happened to Shane's company, Sander Group, which was deeply tied to them, would definitely also suffer severely.
He immediately called Shane and roared with unbridled fury, "Shane Johnson, just who exactly have you offended? You might have a death wish, but don't get us involved in it!"
Shane was already at his wits' end and could only try to placate Samuel in a humble manner.
Meanwhile, the instigator of all this—me—was currently lounging in my studio. Sipping on a cup of coffee, I took great enjoyment in watching their panicked reactions.
All those slanderous posts about me online were completely removed overnight.
What replaced it were posts analyzing ATech's firewall system, the Hive Protocol, which had shown surprisingly solid defensive capabilities in the cyberattack this time around.

Due to this, ATech and I swiftly became famous.
The project manager at Terrone Corporation personally called me. "Mr. Luther, I've heard so much about you. We would like your company to be fully in charge of the Skynet Project."
I ended the phone call, my smile widening with deepened amusement.
This was only the first step.

Shane, Selena, for all the suffering and pain you had caused me, I'd make sure to pay it back a thousandfold!
…
The Sanders and Shane were thoroughly thrown into a panic.
For the sake of regaining the data I had locked away and to prevent Samuel from exposing the evidence that could cause his company's downfall, Shane had no choice but to publicly announce that he was backing out of the Skynet Project tender.
This news instantly sent shockwaves throughout the business industry. Shane's company stock prices plummeted, and it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
As for ATech and me, we became the biggest winners in all this.
Just as I thought everything would continue to go smoothly, an unexpected person appeared outside my company building.
It was Selena.
Her complexion was even more pallid than before, and heavy dark circles lined the bottom of her eyes. The once proud expression on her face had now been replaced with exhaustion and pleading.
She stopped my car and asked, "Adrian, can we talk?"
Rolling down the window, I leveled her with a cold gaze. "What is there to talk about between us?"
"Please, just five minutes." Gone was her past arrogance, and she sounded like she was about to cry.
I hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end, I still nodded.
We headed to a nearby cafe. Selena sat opposite me, her hands wrapped tightly around her coffee cup as though she were trying to leech some warmth from it.
"Adrian, I know I was wrong." The first word had barely left her lips when the tears started falling. "I shouldn't have deceived you or continued to be entangled with Shane. I shouldn't have harmed you…
"I've been thinking a lot these days about how good you were to me back when we first got together. You would always give me the best that you had. I was simply too blind to see it and didn't know how to appreciate you."
Her shoulders heaved as she sobbed while speaking, making for an incredibly pitiful sight.
If this had been in the past, I would've long since relented, my heart softening.
However, after everything I had been through, all the wounds marring my heart had scarred over and hardened. I simply listened to her quietly, not saying a word.
"I know that Shane's company is just about done, and because of that, my dad's company is also suffering badly. Adrian, please, I'm begging you. Just let them go, okay? I'll give you whatever you want in recompense, as long as you stop this and have mercy on them.
"We… We can forget about the divorce and start all over. I'll give you a child, and we can be a family of three…"
At this point, I couldn't stand it any longer and let a chilly laugh spill from my lips.