In Love, Never Say Never

With that, I walked away and didn’t look back.

He didn’t follow us out; he had no reason to, nor did he have any need to. My attitude had been enough to make him come to his senses and realize that trying to claim custodial rights over Summer was a lost cause. If he dared piss me off, I would go to much further lengths to hide Summer away than just transferring her to another school.

While in the car, I snuck another look out the window at the café while John was busy buckling his seatbelt. “I have a weird gut feeling,” I told him, frowning. “call some of your best men from the company’s IT department over to the house.”

He silently considered the idea for a moment before taking out his phone and swiftly tapping the screen several times. After that, he started up the car engine and drove us home.

Half an hour later, we arrived at the Stovall residence, where a group of five or six nerdy-looking boys wearing glasses and a similar style of checkered shirt were already waiting for us inside.

“Mr. Stovall,” they politely greeted, bowing in John’s direction.

John made a simple sound of acknowledgment, turning to face me. “The nation’s highest-ranking graduates in the IT field this year are all here. Just tell them whatever you need from them. They might seem a little dense, but they’re good at what they do.”

I nodded, stepping forward and cutting to the chase. “Have you all brought your laptops?”

“Yes, Ms. Stovall,” the guy in the corner called out loudly. His gaze was fixed on the floor, and I could tell he was nervous from how badly he was trembling.

The rest of them weren’t faring any better; some were clenching and unclenching their fists nervously, while some were hanging their heads. I gave John a questioning glance, as if to ask, “Are you sure these guys are the real deal?”

He only crossed his arms, proudly lifting his chin in the air as if anticipating my reaction.

His self-confidence left me with many suspicions, but I had no other choice except to trust him.

Clearing my throat and taking a deep breath, I announced, “I will send some information regarding the Crest family as well as the log in details and password to my personal account to each of your smartphones I want you all to spare no expense in investigating the Crests’ criminal history or finding out anything else that will give us an upper hand over them. Got it?”

“No problem, Ms. Stovall!”

The loud bark startled me, and I turned towards the source of the voice to see the boy from earlier staring at me intensely. His attitude had changed completely from before, as if a switch had been flipped.

After holding his stare for a few seconds straight, he suddenly lowered his voice and ordered, “Let’s go!”

The rest of the boys instantly got moving, bowing before me before lining up and heading for the dining table where they had their laptops already turned on and ready to go.

In the blink of an eye, the room was filled with the furious, rapid clicking sounds of multiple keyboards.

Taking a step closer and leaning in, the once stiff boys were now all gazing intently at their screens, eyes slightly squinted as the tips of their fingers flew across the keyboard at inhuman speeds.

I nodded in satisfaction. I would have expected nothing less from John.

About ten minutes later, the guy closest to me ceased his actions and turned the laptop around to show me the screen. “It’s all done, Ms. Stovall,” he explained matter-of-factly. “All of the Crest family’s finances have now been frozen. They will not be able to spend a single cent of it unless I remove the virus.”

“Good work.” I reached out and patted his shoulder in an act of encouragement.

The words had barely left my mouth when I heard someone yell, “Something’s wrong! There’s someone trying to rewrite our program, and they’re doing it rapidly! Mine is getting destroyed!”

Everyone else instantly snapped out of their dazes and got back to work on their laptops. Their anxious expressions made even John and I feel slightly nervous.

In the following fifteen minutes, I witnessed what I could only call “utter defeat”.

The group of initially enthusiastic technicians was slowly being taken down one by one. First, their laptops were being controlled remotely, and then their firewalls were getting taken down, and so forth. In the end, I saw the laptop nearest to me completely shut down by itself, unable to be rebooted no matter what its owner tried.

In love, never say never chapter 1317

“That’s impossible. How can such a small company possess such powerful technology?”

As though dealt a heavy blow, the boys scratched their heads in defeat. It seemed like these rookies were no match for the technology the other party used to stop us.

The Crests had compensated a hefty sum because of the incident at the chemical plant. Their business was affected later on, so they couldn’t possibly have enough money to hire computer experts or solve this crisis in such a timely manner and even retaliate against us. Based on the Crest family’s connections, there weren’t many who could be behind this.

“It’s not your fault.” I grabbed my phone after some thought and went to the garden in the backyard before speed dialing Ashton.

He answered within a second.

“What is it?” As always, Ashton sounded calm and confident, as though everything was within his control.

anger, and I was sure he could tell over the phone. “You knew a long time ago that Jared

else who would be willing to shield such a despicable family like the Crests or have so much power and influence in J City, not to mention how they countered the

had done in the past, but had the audacity to hide his release from me. If I knew about it earlier, Summer wouldn’t have been

the line before Ashton replied in a low voice, “Jared

that supposed

a teacher to

Panic instantly engulfed me.

you involved in Jared becoming a teacher named Mr.

unsurprisingly, it didn’t come, but his silence was enough of

having a hard time. Who gave you the right to forgive that man in Summer’s place? Jared is a master of deception. If something happens to Summer this time, do you

again.” Ashton reassured in a firm tone, “I’ve met with Jared. We’ve been friends for decades. I

too? And then what happened, huh? Ashton, I never knew you were such a magnanimous and selfless man that you could even find it in yourself to forgive someone who crossed the

voice. “If that’s the case, I deserve to die a thousand times over

all of a sudden and silence stretched between us through

end, Ashton was the

much as you do. You’ve also seen how happy she’s become after interacting with Jared. She’s slowly getting better. As parents, we shouldn’t overprotect our children. She needs to get out there more and build her confidence to face the real world. Both of us couldn’t get Summer to open up, but Jared succeeded. It’s worth giving this a try

people to watch Jared twenty-four-seven. If he so much as poses a threat to Summer’s

was beginning to suspect Ashton was born with some sort of supernatural power because just a few simple words from him

Ashton, whatever tricks we used would be ineffectual against him because he had countermeasures for everything we threw his way. For example, I had no idea that he paid such a steep price to

say

to continue using his identity as a teacher to help Summer with her emotional struggles, but only for this. You must warn him not to expose his identity or even think about gaining custody of her. Also, I’m only giving him two years. Two years, that’s it. If Summer

get him to

forget about having it in black and white. Even if he makes a blood oath, he won’t deserve my trust. You’re his guarantor, so if anything happens, I’ll hold

probably won’t get the chance,” Ashton countered in a lighter tone, probably relieved that

right.” Women weren’t as forgiving as men and worry still gnawed at my chest. “I’m gonna be frank with you. I still don’t

disappointed.” I could hear the smile

“We’ll see.”

to joke around, I hung

saw John leaning against the glass door with his hands stuffed into his trouser

everything.” I

and I like

What the hell are you talking about?”

like him even deserve a chance? Summer can’t handle

to see John disagreeing with Ashton. Seeing how dead serious he was,

the shoulder. “When you show the same amount of concern for Kiki, then we’ll talk about

waiting for his response, I walked past him and went

had been brought forward. We chatted for a while and she had to hang up the call to board the plane. She was

next day, John insisted on sending

Jared’s tall figure was particularly eye-catching among the group of children, but he had deliberately dressed in a simple outfit. His jaw was covered with stubble, making him look

into a run toward him the moment she got down

hold Summer. Both of them were all smiles, garnering a lot of envious gazes. Of course, those who felt that way were merely outsiders.

look on his face, looking like he was only a step away from tearing down this scene. I noticed his lips moving subtly as he mumbled something under his breath. From his expression, I could

nodded at us in greeting, seemingly much

me of Ashton back then. I had seen it too many times. Thinking about the scheming mind behind the kind

at him and simply said, “I’ll have to trouble you to take care of Summer in school,

It’s my job. Besides, Summer is a very good girl.”

this scene absolutely unbearable, John’s brows scrunched together as a grim expression took residence on his face. He and Summer were still not on talking terms because of the matter about the school transfer. Unable to

love, never say never chapter

more ridiculous the older he gets. I can’t

she instantly understood. With that, she walked over to hold John’s hand and started behaving adorably. “Uncle John, will you come pick me up tonight? Can

when a little girl said such sweet words to him, especially in such

face was replaced by delight. Although he proudly

Summer, clearing his throat mechanically before saying, “It depends on your performance. If you’re a good girl, then

and made a salute gesture,

gaze abruptly softened. “Be a good girl, mm? Listen to your teachers and have fun

was an imposing man who had once raised a colossal uproar, but he was like a tamed lion in front of Summer. The cautious

he was actually overwhelmed with worry about

child, Summer didn’t understand the hidden meaning in a grown-ups’ words and took it literally. “Mm! I got it, Uncle John. I’ll make many,

away all our troubles and sorrows. Summer’s brilliant smile was immensely reassuring, and I found myself relaxing considerably.