Chapter 475
As Bryan recounted the scene in detail, Ronald was left completely dumbfounded. "Is this really still Aubree?" he wondered.
He’d known she’d changed, but this? At her age? Given a few more years, would she surpass him?
The thought sent an unexpected thrill through him.
Fear flickered, but it was drowned out by sheer hunger. Ronald couldn’t help but imagine, "If Aubree really comes back to our Wilson family, with everything she’s got now, what’s stopping us from dominating all of Rithol City? By then, the Turner family, the King family–everyone will have to step aside for us!"
“Aubree must come back to our Wilson family! Even if she dies, she’ll do it as a Wilson!” Ronald declared, his voice steely with resolve.
Bryan’s hands clenched into fists. How could he let that happen? If Aubree came back, where would that leave him?
His eyes grew darker. The more impressive she became, the more threatened he felt.
Alice felt just as unsettled. "Looks like Bryan was right. We can’t give Aubree any chances. If she ever decides to forgive Ronald for all these years and comes back to the Wilson family, Carmen wouldn’t stand a chance in this house," she thought.
She composed herself. “So, about what we discussed earlier… is it time to…”
The plan to kidnap Aubree and make her disappear for good needed to be put into action soon.
“Let’s wait a bit longer,” Ronald said. “Now’s just not the right time.”
He had just taken over the BeeShare shared e-scooter project, and things were only just getting off the ground. If they made a move against Aubree and everything went off without a hitch, that’d be fine. But if anything went sideways and messed with BeeShare’s development, it just wouldn’t be worth it.
Reluctantly, Alice let the matter drop.
Meanwhile, Aubree had left with Bowen.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Bowen asked, his voice full of concern as he looked at her.
He had just given her a quick once-over, but couldn’t see any visible injuries. Those interrogators had been professionals, targeting pain points that wouldn’t leave marks.
“It’s better now. Just some bruises. They didn’t dare go too far,” Aubree said. “How’s everything going with GrabCheap?”
She’d been about to head to Südlichen Strand to oversee operations when she was arrested.
“Birgitte isn’t some pushover. Even without you there, she handled everything and kept the losses to a minimum. Later, the higher-ups stepped in and took care of the rest. The hackers who attacked your servers have all been driven off. They were all using overseas IPs, so there’s basically no way to track them down,” Bowen said.
“The authorities issued a statement clarifying that GrabCheap didn’t leak user data. That helped calm the public down,” he added. “Everything’s pretty much under control now, but the losses we’ve already suffered are gone for good. The servers will need rebuilding.”
Aubree nodded. “Even if we can’t trace them, it’s not hard to figure out who’s pulling the strings. The Wilsons, the Diamondes, and the Lawsons are definitely involved.”
“By the way, Alvin reached out to me before. He said he could help reinforce our servers. I had no idea he had that kind of expertise. Pity the attack came before he could step in,” she added.
‘If only Alvin had helped us out first, maybe those guys wouldn’t have gotten in so easily,’ Aubree thought, a hint of regret flickering in her eyes.
Bowen paused for a moment, honestly surprised that Alvin was still in touch with her and even offered to help.
“Alvin does have a knack for this kind of thing, and he’s interested. He even went out of his way to find a teacher to learn from. But if he’s going to help you… Well, servers are pretty important. No matter what, Alvin’s not part of the company. Just keep your guard up,” Bowen reminded her.
He couldn’t quite figure out what Alvin was up to, but after all these years, his instincts told him there was something off. It was inappropriate to tell Aubree to watch out for Alvin, so he could only drop a subtle warning.