The Billionaire's Intern (Maya Thompson) novel Chapter 559

Across from

over the other, leisurely sipping his whiskey

Farther down the cabin, James, Max, and Monroe occupied an entire seating section by themselves.

All three were sound asleep.

James had his head tilted back with his mouth hanging open.

Max was sprawled across two seats, hugging a pillow.

Monroe leaned awkwardly against the window, snoring loudly enough that even the cabin microphone occasionally picked it up.

Maya and Harper couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh my goodness,” Maya giggled. “They look exhausted.”

Harper, however, frowned. “And that asshole looks wasted! Look at him. How embarrassing!”

Maya slowly turned to look at her, the corners of her lips curling into a knowing smile.

“I see… so Nick’s the only one you’re paying attention to, huh?”

Harper scoffed and immediately looked away, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. “What?! Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous!”

Before Maya could tease her any further, Harper quickly cleared her throat and shifted her attention back

to the monitor

“Anyway… where are my boys?” Her eyes darted across the live feed before lighting up. “Ah! There they are.

୮

Toward the rear of the cabin, Hudson sat quietly looking down at a tablet while Cruz occupied the seat across from him, lazily scrolling through his phone.

Neither of them seemed to care in the slightest about the sleeping trio nearby.

Maya’s gaze lingered on them for a moment before wandering through the rest of the cabin, eventually finding the one person she had been looking for all along.

Even from thousands of miles away… just seeing Damien made her smile.

A thought suddenly crossed Maya’s mind. She tore her eyes away from the monitor and looked at Harper.

“… Wait. How did you even manage to hack the system? How is any of this possible?”

Harper gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest.

<Chapter 288 There’s Only One Me

“Excuse me? I did not track the aircraft.”

Maya blinked, even more bewildered.

“…You didn’t?”

25 Politz

“Nope.” Harper casually leaned back in her chair. “I authenticated myself through the aircraft’s security management system. There’s a difference.”

Maya frowned.

“…Isn’t that even more dangerous? I mean… if you can get into it so easily, doesn’t that mean someone else could too?”

“Aha!” Harper raised a finger triumphantly. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

She swiveled her chair slightly toward Maya.

“The Gulfstream itself already comes with one of the most secure avionics and network architectures in the world. But this isn’t just any Gulfstream.” She nodded toward the screen. “it’s Damien Blackwood’s.”

“…So?”

“So the Blackwoods commissioned an entirely custom security ecosystem-encrypted communications, onboard intrusion detection, network isolation… basically everything you’d expect from one of the most powerful families in the world.”

Maya slowly nodded.

“…And?”

Harper’s grin widened.

“The company that won the

contract just happened to be HLT Technologies.”

“…HLT?” Maya echoed, furrowing her brows. “Why does that sound so familiar?”

“HLT Technologies is just another cutting-edge cybersecurity company.” Harper said with a shrug.

Maya searched her memory until realization slowly dawned on her..

She remembered.

It was Jaime.

One evening, after coming home from work, Jaime had been practically bursting with excitement as he rambled on about a rising cybersecurity company called HLT Technologies. He had gone on and on about how their innovations were revolutionizing the industry and how countless major corporations were scrambling to work with them.

At the time, Maya hadn’t paid much attention. She had simply smiled, nodded, and let Jaime enjoy his little geek-out.

But now… everything was starting to make sense.

Chapter 289-There’s Only One Me

“Wait…” Maya slowly lifted her gaze to Harper, her eyes widening. “…You?”

“Bingo.” Harper snapped her fingers.

“HLT is mine.”

Maya’s jaw dropped.

Harper shrugged casually

“You already know I never wanted my entire identity to revolve around being a Takahashi. I wanted to build something that was truly mine.”

A proud smile spread across her face.

4

“So I founded HLT from scratch.”

“HLT… Harper Lin Takahashi,” Maya murmured, finally making the connection. Then, unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “If you already had your own company, why did you even work at Blackwood Enterprises?”

Harper laughed.

“Because I got bored.” She shrugged. “I wanted a real challenge. Besides, if I kept running HLT myself, it’d eventually attract too much attention-and attention is the last thing I want. So I handed the day-to-day operations over to people I trust and applied for a job at Blackwood Enterprises instead. At the time, I was just looking for something interesting to do.”

Maya looked at her.

“And the aircraft security suite?”

Harper’s lips curled into a proud smile.

“I wrote it.”

Maya stared at her in stunned silence.

“Every line of code. Every authentication protocol. Every encrypted management channel.” Harper lightly tapped the keyboard beneath her fingertips. “So while everyone else sees an impenetrable security system

“…you’re using the master key,” Maya finished.

Harper’s smug grin returned.

“Exactly.”

“So, going back to your question… Someone would have to be me to break into the system.”

She paused dramatically before flashing Maya a cheeky smile.

“And the good news is…” She spread her arms proudly. “There’s only one me!”

Maya could only shake her head, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.

* Chapter 288-There’s Only One Me

+25 Points

You’re really amazing, Harper.”

“I know.” Harper replied without a shred of humility, waving fire compliment away.

“Now, enough chitty-chat. Let’s call your boyfriend”

Harper reached for the secure satellite phone on the console and lifted the frandset to her ear. With a few quick presses on the keypad, she initiated the encrypted connection.

As soon as the call connected, she tapped a button, switching the phone to speaker. The steady sound of ringing echoed through the command center.

Almost simultaneously, the same ringtone drifted from the speakers broadcasting the aircraft’s live feed.

A flight attendant emerged from the galley and walked over to the communications console. Seeing the encrypted satellite line flashing on the display, she promptly picked up the handset.

“Gulfstream Delta Bravo Zero Zero One.”

“Hi! Could you please put Mr. Blackwood on the line?” Harper replied cheerfully.

“May I ask who’s calling?”

“It’s a secure call for Mr. Blackwood.”

Another brief pause followed.

“One moment, please.”

Handset in hand, she made her way toward Damien.

“Excuse me, Mr. Blackwood,” she said respectfully, extending the handset toward him. “There’s a secure call for you.”

Damien accepted the handset with a slight nod.

“Thank you.”

Back in the command center, Maya unconsciously held her breath as she watched him raise the handset to his ear.

“…Hello?”

9

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