The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 162

Chapter 162 The Raid On Nethys

Finished

Across town, a very different kind of meeting was about to start. Clara stood in front of her closet, engaged in a serious debate. She went back to her small apartment to pick out some clothes.

“Too casual,” she said, holding up a nice sweater. “Too fancy,” she said, rejecting a sparkly top. “Too… me,” she said, looking at her usual comfy–but–presentable outfit.

Frost was picking her up in thirty minutes for their first official date, a dinner, at a restaurant. With no corporate espionage or death threats scheduled (hopefully). It felt wildly, absurdly normal, and Clara was weirdly nervous about it.

She finally settled on a dark green dress that was both elegant and had pockets (a non–negotiable feature). She was just putting in earrings when her phone buzzed. It was a notification from the Nethys Medical network monitoring system. A red flag. Unusual server activity.

Clara frowned. She wasn’t technically on duty, but old habits never died hard. She opened her laptop and logged into the secure portal. The activity was centered on the main research servers–the ones holding the Chimera Protocol data and the genetic sequences. There was a massive data transfer happening, way outside of normal parameters. It was being masked to look like a routine backup, but the pattern was wrong.

Uh oh,” she murmured. She picked up her secure phone and called the head of IT security at Nethys, a brilliant, perpetually caffeinated man named Leo.

Leo, it’s Clara. Are you running a system backup right now?”

Clara? No, our scheduled backup isn’t until midnight. Why?”

We’ve got a data siphon. Big one. Looks like it’s coming from inside the building. Can you lock it down?”

she heard frantic typing on the other end. “Holy- yeah, I see it! They’re in the primary data vault! How lid they get- never mind. Initiating lockdown protocols. But Clara, they’re not just copying, they’re deploying a worm. It’s a shredder program. If it reaches the core archives, it’ll corrupt everything. The protocol data, the patient records, years of research… gone.”

Clara’s blood ran cold. “Stop it. Whatever it takes.”

I’m trying! But it’s sophisticated. Military–grade. They’ve bypassed three firewalls already. I need to physically disconnect the server array, but the security doors to the server room are locked. From the nside. Someone’s in there.”

Call building security. Now!” Clara said, already grabbing her jacket and bag.

I am! But Clara, this is coordinated. The building’s main power just flickered. The backup generators are online, but the internal security cameras are down. This isn’t just a hack, this is a raid.”

Clara’s date–night adrenaline was instantly replaced by mission–adrenaline. She called Frost. He answered on the first ring.

“Frost. We have a problem. A physical and cyber attack on Nethys Medical headquarters. Right now. They’re inside the server room, stealing and destroying data”

Finished

She heard the squeal of tires in the background. “Address and details.”

She gave them to him, her voice crisp. “Leo says it’s a military–grade. The cameras are down. They’re

locked in the server room.”

“I’m five minutes away. Do not go there, Clara. Stay put.”

“Like hell,” she said, heading for the door. “I’m the only one who knows the research data architecture well enough to know what they’re really after. And I have the override codes for the secondary backup system that Leo doesn’t know about. Elera’s paranoid, remember? She made me memorize them.”

‘Clara-”

I’m going, Frost. You can meet me there and yell at me later.” She hung up, threw herself into her car, and ped toward the Nethys Medical building, her heart pounding with a wild mix of fear and excitement.

She arrived to a chaos. The building’s lobby was full of confused employees being herded out by security. The power was on, but the lights were flickering. Leo met her at the entrance, his face pale.

They’re still in there. Security can’t get the doors open. They’re reinforced. And we’re getting strange eedback on the thermal scans. It might be armed.”

Where’s Frost?” Clara asked.

As if on cue, two black SUVS screeched to a halt at the curb. Frost and four of his team piled out. They vere dressed in tactical gear that looked both terrifying and, Clara had to admit, kind of hot. Frost’s face vas all business.

Situation,” he barked, not at Clara, but at the building’s head of security.

Clara cut in. “Sixth floor, east wing. Reinforced server room. At least one, possibly more hostiles inside. They’ve deployed a data–shredding worm. The primary research archive is at seventy percent corruption and climbing. We have maybe ten minutes before it’s irreversible.”

Frost’s eyes flicked to her, taking in her dress and her determined expression. A muscle twitched in his jaw. You shouldn’t be here.”

Neither should they. I have the codes to the secondary, off–site backup that can initiate a remote override ind freeze the worm, but I need to get to a terminal on the secure internal network. The lobby security desk has one.

98