Love Began with the First Meeting

"Shut up!" Ximena roared at him. Her voice still was hoarse because of what she had been through, but it seemed like she didn't care. "Aunt Freya," she said once again, looking at the older woman in front of her. "You said... You mean to tell me... What did you mean when you called me your daughter!"

"Ximena, I..." Freya could not finish her sentence because she began weeping again. Her heartbreak was palpable. "Please stop asking... Just please don't ask..." she cried and shouted. "It's all my fault, all my fault... Oh..."

Breathing heavily, gritting her teeth tightly, and clenching her hands into fists, Ximena walked towards slowly. Her footsteps were heavy, as if her feet were made out of lead. She continued until she stopped in front of Freya. Looking at her, Ximena felt sadness wash over her when she saw the tear stains that covered the old lady's face, which was wrinkled, as if she had been fighting a battle for years.

Slowly, she stretched her arms to embrace Freya. At the same time, her tears began flowing from her eyes. "Aunt Freya, Aunt Freya... Please tell me. Was what I heard just now true? You're only my aunt. Right? Am I right?" Her voice was sad, questioning and desperate. Amidst her sobs and questions, she began tightening her hold of Freya without her noticing.

Freya could do nothing but weep, neither saying yes nor saying no.

Despite the emotionality of the situation, Aaron couldn't help but frown tightly. Furrowing his eyebrows, deep lines started to appear in his forehead. As much as he wanted to solve the issue via cerebral means, he understood that there were many complicated emotions that would hinder carrying those means out.

Ken came in big strides and he was surprised to find that the door was open. Then, when saw the weeping and embracing mother and daughter duo and the frowning Aaron inside the room, he was able to guess roughly what was going on.

Seeing that Ken arrived, Aaron took one last look at the two ladies crying on each other's shoulders and then turned around and walked towards him. As Aaron came closer to him, Ken quickly raised his cellphone with the intent of showing Aaron what was on it. As Aaron read through, his eyes narrowed, and they became filled with murderous rage.

"Hugo was a member of 'Y', the well-known international hacker group. After a big operation, he was chosen by the leader of the group as the scapegoat and then was imprisoned," Ken expounded, giving more background to the information that had been found. "Because of that, he survived the immediate destruction of 'Y'."

As he heard that, Aaron's brain began forming plans. Although he didn't witness "Y" at its peak, he had heard about this hacker group almost every time the topic of hackers was mentioned. In the world of hackers, they were considered legends, a group that everyone looked up to. Most hackers hoped they would be admitted by "Y" but failed. Only hackers with top skills were qualified to be admitted to the group. Once they had joined the group, they would have the chance to take part in the world's most exciting hacker attacks. Now it turned out that Hugo was a member of 'Y', which meant that he, indeed, was a master hacker, as he passed the rigorous admittance criterion of 'Y'. That explained why the staff of the Security Bureau of QY Island could not do anything to disable, or even trace, his hacking programs.

While Aaron was thinking, the image on the screen of the cellphone suddenly changed. The phone began having spots all over the screen. Curious, Aaron looked at the screen closer and more carefully, and he found that every spot was a letter Y. These small Ys then gradually gathered together and made up a big Y.

"Get in touch with him," Aaron ordered in a low and deep voice, which sounded terrifying. "Let he put forward any condition."

That statement surprised Ken, and it clearly showed in his eyes. But after a few moments of digesting his directive, he understood what Aaron was trying to do and said, "Yes, Your Highness!"

The mother and daughter hadn't stopped weeping yet. Holding each other in each other's arms, they were still in a stalemate, with one keeping on asking questions and the other one refusing to admit anything. Aaron turned his head to look at them. Despite wanting to, he had nothing in him that would alleviate the pain they were both feeling. All he knew was that he had to try his best to change the end of the story.

Without hesitation, he walked out of the study. After saying a few words to the butler, he left the manor, and headed straight to Leng's Corporations. Unsurprisingly, all the computers used in Leng's Corporations had been controlled by Hugo too. None of the technicians of the company could do anything to restore the system. In the end, Aaron couldn't do anything but let everyone take the day off. Despite the situation, everyone was still very surprised at this decision. But everyone obliged and in only half an hour, everyone was able to vacate the building.

Aaron told the security personnel to switch off the power supply in the building except for the top floor. After they had done that, he also ordered them to take the day off.

After everyone left, Aaron finally strode at his office at the top floor. After sitting down on his desk, he took a deep breath and opened his computer. His hands were already placed on the keyboard, anticipating the three-second system start-up, during which he could change into DOS interface to prevent Hugo's virus from spreading. After entering DOS interface successfully, without any time to think, Aaron typed a string of characters at rapid rate. Focusing on the computer screen, he squinted slightly and held his breath. He didn't relax until he heard a "ding".

His phone was on his desk. Now the interface of the computer had been changed into "Y". Hugo was able to control the computer after he used the special program to contact XK for five minutes.

It was so quiet in the big office that it seemed somewhat weird. At the moment, there was no one besides Aaron in the whole building. Well, to be fair, everything seemed weird.

He took a cigarette case out of his pocket and picked up a cigarette from it. After lighting up one, he took a long drag from it and then puffed the smoke. As the smoke curled upwards and spread in the air, he got lost in his thoughts. Now, he knew clearly that he could do nothing but wait.

The sense of being unable to do anything made him feel upset. Leaning against his chair, he closed his eyes. The cigarette between his fingers continued to burn, and the sparks coming out from him seem to mirror his internal struggle.

All of a sudden, his cellphone rang, breaking the quietness. Immediately, Aaron opened his eyes, sat up and stretched his hand to pick up the call.

"Mr. Brian Long!" Aaron greeted Brian in an unprecedentedly urgent voice.

At the other end of the line, Brian was furrowing his eyebrows. His eyes were fixed on the screen of a computer that was now connected to the server of QY Island. Seeing the "Y" floating on the screen, his face was colored with confusion. Many years ago, Ryan had used this hacker group to attack the oil exploration system of Sun Island in order to force Shirley and Richie to part. He had heard that from Wing. He hadn't expected that he would see this logo again after so many years. "How long can you hold him back?" he asked in a completely apathetic voice, going straight to the point.

"One day at most," Aaron answered. He could not help but sigh silently, because this one day factored in that he would be able to get in touch with Hugo. Finally giving up and considering the possibility that he would not be able to get in touch with Hugo as soon as he had hoped, he added, "Well, two hours at least."

Hearing his answer, Brian said, "I will contact you later." After saying that, he hung up the phone. His fingers slid around on the screen of the cellphone, but finally the screen was covered by "Y"... "Truly a top-tier hacking program, ' he thought.

He threw the cellphone aside and switched to his laptop. While his fingers were flying over the keyboard, typing strings of character, instructions began being sent out. After a short while, an instruction came back... Because of the incident that had happened in Sun Island many years ago, Richie had established a hacker group under XK Intelligence Agency. He had done it as soon as he had taken over the organization. With the development that came with time, the hacker group under XK Intelligence Agency played an increasingly important role in the society.

They were Aaron's only hope. ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐