She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 163

The next morning, Lyra walked through the front doors of the company, just like any other day.

She had been working for a while when, right at ten o'clock, the intercom buzzed. "Miss Fairchild, Quentin Pierce and York Somerset from the R&D Department didn't come in today. Their phones are going straight to voicemail. We aren't sure what's going on."

Lyra's chest tightened. She immediately dialed Quentin's number. No answer.

She tried York next. Also no answer.

She contacted York's family, only to be told he had left for work first thing in the morning.

An icy chill washed over Lyra, settling deep in her bones as realization hit her.

Rowan.

It had to be him.

The man was ruthlessly meticulous; he never let even the slightest anomaly slip through his fingers. He had suspected them before, but she had guarded them fiercely. Seeing her gloating yesterday must have been the final trigger for his swift retaliation...

Rowan Jameson was a spiteful jerk!

If he actually managed to uncover something...

Lyra grabbed her purse and sprinted out of the building like a madwoman, speeding straight toward Jameson Tech.

...

Meanwhile, inside Rowan's office.

A string of phenomenally complex encryption algorithm codes flashed across several computer screens.

This was the core underlying logic Rowan had personally helped design. The difficulty was off the charts. Even his top-tier technical team would need hours to decipher it. It was typically used for elite security penetration testing, and even his senior developers rarely passed on their first attempt.

The Chief Technology Officer frowned slightly, lowering his voice. "Mr. Jameson, this test... it's far too difficult. I'm afraid they—"

Rowan leaned back in his leather chair, watching with cold detachment.

If someone could continually predict his company's most guarded corporate secrets, and if they weren't simply stealing internal data, they would need absolute, undeniable technical supremacy to pull it off.

He tipped his chin toward Quentin and York. "Crack it, and you're free to leave. Otherwise, you won't be walking out that door today—"

A row of burly security guards stood directly behind Rowan, the very men who had dragged the engineers here.

Although Quentin and York were furious, they were smart enough to recognize a hostage situation when they saw one.

The rapid clatter of keyboards echoed sharply in the dead silence of the office.

...

Lyra bypassed the reception desk entirely, storming down the hall and shoving the door to Rowan's office wide open.

"Rowan Jameson, where the hell are you hiding my employees?!"

The moment Lyra barged in, she spotted Quentin and York. She let out a massive sigh of relief and stepped in front of them, shielding them like a fiercely protective mother bear. "Mr. Jameson, just because you lack the skills to beat us doesn't mean you get to take your bruised ego out on my team."

Rowan fixed his gaze on her. "I lack the skills?"

The CTO's eye twitched violently. In the entirety of Seaborne City, there wasn't a single living soul who could crush Rowan Jameson in coding fundamentals. It was obvious Quentin and York were elite developers, but when it came to pure logical processing speed, they were nowhere near Mr. Jameson's level...

Lyra crossed her arms. "I am taking them out of here right now."

Rowan watched her furious, defensive posture, and a slow, mocking brow arched upward. "Why are you so nervous?"

Lyra's chest heaved with ragged breaths. "They are just two ordinary employees! Did you really have to resort to kidnapping? Be reasonable, Rowan!"

"They are far from ordinary."

Rowan shifted his predatory gaze to Quentin, a look so sharp it made Lyra step even closer to block his line of sight.