Day Twenty...

~~*****~~

[ 2:00 am ]

*Alarm Clock Ring*

Cherry woke up at the sound of the alarm clock. She was busy with work during the day so she decided to take this time of the day as her searching hour.

She continued attacking the security system of the Syphiruz Mafia. She needed to steal information related to Phantomflake's whereabouts. She had to find her as soon as possible.

She wouldn't give up until she found out if she was still alive. Cherry took a peek from her door. The surroundings were silent and other staff in the house were still sound asleep in their respective sleeping quarters.

She closed her door and went back to her desk. Fortunately, Abigail requested Butler Li to assign Cherry in one room, no one was sharing the room with her.

She picked up her backpack and pulled out her laptop from the inside. She gently put it down on the surface of her desk and turned it on.

She logged in to her account as Black Rose. She began her search. The tap-tap sound of her fingers tapping the keyboards reverberated inside her room.

She didn't open the main light bulb in her room. Only the lights coming from the monitor and lampshade were the source of lights inside her room.

Her eyes and fingers were busy working on her laptop, decoding and running some commands. Suddenly, she encountered a website containing a suspicious message.

She saw a black envelope with a rose in the middle. It was like a clickbait message intended for her.

[ Black Rose, C'mon! Click it! ]

Cherry suspected that this message might be a trap, another hacker trying to track her location by luring her to click this virus.

Cherry contemplated for a while. She was torn between clicking it or ignoring the message. But her curiosity won over her. Since she was confident with her skills, she bravely clicked the icon.

It loaded for two seconds, bringing her to another website. In fact, it was not a website, but a chatroom.

Spade, who was sound asleep, suddenly got disturbed by the red alert signal coming from his computer. He jolted on his bed and got off, running in the direction of his laptop.

His sleepiness disappeared as soon as he saw the chat box in the middle of his computer screen. Then a notification popped up.

[ Black Rose accepted your invitation. Black Rose slid to your server. Please say hi! ]

"Great! She finally took the bait!" He let out a loud chuckle, throwing his fists in the air alternately. Then he cracked his knuckles before he grabbed the chair in front of his computer table. He settled down and stretched his arms and neck before he began typing a message.

" CHATBOX "

Spade: " Black Rose! I'm Spade. Don't be afraid. I'm not an enemy. I am here to talk to you and offer you some propositions. "

Spade didn't waste time to reveal his real motive. He didn't know whether Black Rose would listen to him or she would suddenly leave. Time was very crucial here. He had to be as honest as possible and direct to the point.

On the other hand, Cherry creased her brows as she read the message. The sender seemed anxious and desperate. Her fingers moved once again, typing her reply.

Black Rose: " What do you want from me? "

Spade: " We want a collaboration with you. Let's bring down the Syphiruz Mafia together. Work with us! We will help you get your revenge. Don't worry. We will keep your existence a secret. The Supreme Leader of the Syphiruz thought everyone from your guild died. "

Cherry fell silent for a moment. She was analyzing the pros and cons of collaborating with someone. She knew it would be a great help but she couldn't trust anyone.

She was certain that these people who were offering this proposition had ulterior motives as well. They would try to use her for their own benefits. If there was one lesson she learned from Phantomflake's ideals... then it would be... there was no such thing as FREE LUNCH.

Black Rose: " It looks like you know a lot about what transpired in the past. What organization are you affiliated with? "

At this moment, Spade was the one who fell silent. Would she agree once she found out that he was from the Red Dragon Mafia? What if this fact would make her run away from him, leaving this chatroom?

'Damn! There is no point in lying!' Spade thought to himself.

Spade: " Red Dragon Mafia "

Cherry's eyes widened when she read those three words on the screen. Damn! She stole money from that Mafia organization and they were chasing after her.

As if Spade had read what was on her mind, he immediately typed another message.

Spade: " Don't misunderstand. We were chasing after you not because we wanted to hurt you. We want you to join us and help us in bringing down the Syphiruz Mafia. "

One second...

Two seconds...

Three seconds...

Four seconds...

Five seconds...

The chatroom was silent for five seconds but Black Rose remained in the chatroom.

"Please... reply," Spade mumbled, biting his finger. He was anticipating to receive a positive response from Black Rose. After a while, he saw a movement in the chatroom. Black Rose was typing a message.

Black Rose: " I'll join you if and only if you can provide me information about Phantomflake's location and whereabouts. "

Spade's jaws dropped and his eyes went round when he read her last message. What was the meaning of this? Phantomflake was still alive? How could that be possible?

Spade: " Phantomflake is still alive??? Are you sure? "

Black Rose: " I don't know. That's why I am asking you to find it out for me. If you give me significant information about her, I will definitely join you and destroy the Syphiruz Mafia! "

Black Rose wondered if the person she was talking to was capable enough to break and infiltrate the security system of the Syphiruz Mafia. She wanted to test him through this.

She wouldn't work with them if she couldn't get any benefits from them. After sending that message, Cherry immediately left the chatroom. She already tracked his IP address. She could contact him easily if she wanted to.

Meanwhile, Spade was still in a daze, trying to absorb everything Black Rose had just said to him. If Phantomflake was still alive then he was certain that the Syphiruz Mafia was holding her captive.

He must inform the Dragon Lord first thing tomorrow. However, he didn't know whether this information from Black Rose was reliable or not. What if she was just making fun of them? What if she wanted to trick them?

*****

[ 9:00 am at Sparks Mansion... ]

Abigail just finished her breakfast when she received a call from Aiden. Both Ethan and Nathan left the mansion so Abigail was alone. Aiden was aware of Nathan's schedule so he made sure to call Abigail when Nathan was no longer at home.

"Abi! I'm on the way now to the Sparks Mansion!" Aiden declared excitedly.

Abigail could only frown deeply when she heard that. "Why?" She asked him.

"To teach you how to seduce Nathan! I'm your love coach, remember?" Aiden said matter-of-factly.

Abigail exhaled deeply. She didn't expect that Aiden would take this task seriously. But to think of it, Aiden was a well-known Casanova so he had a lot of experience when it came to seducing someone. Might as well learn from him.

"Okay. Just come. I will wait for you in the living room."

"Yes! I'll be there in five minutes!" Aiden sounded more enthusiastic than Abigail. He was more excited than her.

Abigail shook her head helplessly when the call ended. "That punk. I wonder if he could be of help."

Five minutes later... Aiden arrived at Sparks Mansion. He cheerfully greeted the maids and Butler Li whom he encountered at the entrance gate.

"I came here to see Miss Abi, please don't tell Nathan about it, okay?" Aiden requested the maids and Butler Li using his charm. He even brought them different gifts as bribes.

Butler Li just bobbed his head while laughing at him. "Master Wu is here to create trouble again."

Aiden said goodbye to them and entered the house as if he was the owner of the mansion. He waved at Abigail as soon as he saw her. With large strides, Aiden joined her on the sofa.

"Miss Abi! Are you ready for today's first lesson?" Aiden asked him right away, nudging her shoulder.

Abigail raised her eyebrow and said, "Engr. Wu, do you have a lot of free time? Don't you have work today?"

Aiden chuckled and replied, "Even if I don't go to work, my family will handle everything. Hahaha!" He laughed shamelessly.

Abigail just rolled her eyes skyward. "Okay. Let's get to the point now. What is the lesson you are talking about? What are you going to teach me today?"

Aiden playfully put on his eyeglass, pretending to be a professor. Then he stood in front of Abigail holding a pad of paper. He already wrote something on the first page.

[ Lesson Number 1: Art of Seduction ]The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0/v3l--B1n.

"Art of Seduction?" Abigail read what was written on the pad.

Aiden bobbed his head with a cheeky grin on his face then he flipped the first page to show the second page to Abigail.

[ Stripping seductively in front of your Target! Flaunt your sexy figure and beautiful assets! ]

Aiden read it out loud in front of Abigail. He even felt so proud and confident as he said those words.

Abigail: "..."