The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 163

The Heiress He Underestimated

Chapter 163 Clara Vs The Worm

41

Finished

Frost gave a sharp nod. “Anderson, Cheng, with me. We secure the lobby terminal for Ms. Evans. O’Malley, Russo, you take the stairwell to the sixth floor and contain the threat. Non- lethal force preferred, but do what you have to do to stop that data destruction.” He looked back at Clara. “Stay behind me. Do exactly what I say.”

They moved into the building like a well–oiled machine. Frost and his two agents cleared the lobby with a professional efficiency, their weapons up, eyes scanning. Clara followed, her heels clicking on the marble floor. She felt strangely calm. Maybe it was the absurdity of being in a cocktail dress during a paramilitary operation. Maybe it was because Frost was between her and any possible danger.

They reached the security desk. The guard there looked terrified but handed over access to the terminal. Clara sat down, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She bypassed the standard login and went straight to a command prompt, typing in a string of characters Elera had made her memorize during a particularly paranoid phase.

ACCESSING OFFSITE NEXUS… CONNECTED.

OVERRIDE PROTOCOL ALPHA–OMEGA INITIATED.

NING FOR MALICIOUS CODE… FOUND.

OLATING AND FREEZING WORM PROGRESSION…

On the screen, a progress bar appeared. It moved slowly.

45%… 50%…

Upstairs, there was a sound of shattering glass and a shout.

Frost didn’t flinch. “Status, Clara?”

“It’s working. The worm’s progression has slowed. But it’s not stopped. I need to physically reconnect the primary server to the off–site backup to force a clean data restore. That means someone has to get into that server room and plug in a hardline.”

Frost spoke into his comms. “O’Malley. What’s your status?”

“Two people and they are professional. They’ve barricaded the door. We’re preparing to breach. They’re armed with sidearms and what looks like… a microwave emitter? For frying electronics from a distance. Nasty.“.

“Breach my mark,” Frost said. He looked at Clara. “Can you guide someone through the

COM

ocess over comms?”

15:48 Mon, Apr 6

Chapter 163 Clara Vs The Worm

“If they know which port is which.”

Finished

Frost nodded. “Anderson, you’re with O’Malley. Cheng, you stay here and protect Ms. Evans.” He pulled a small, ruggedized tablet from his gear and handed it to Clara. It showed a schematic of the server room. “Mark the port.”

Clara studied it, her mind working fast. She circled a connection hub on the diagram. “Here. It’s a dedicated fiber–optic line for emergency backup. It should be bright yellow. They just need to unplug the corrupted line and plug in this one.” She handed him a specialized cable from the security desk’s emergency kit.

Frost took it. “O’Malley, you copy? Bright yellow port. Swap the lines.” He looked at Clara one last time. “Do not move from this spot.”

Then he was gone, moving toward the stairwell with a speed that belied his size.

watched him go, then turned back to the screen. The progress bar was at 65%. The worm

ing back. “Come on, come on,” she whispered.

“Line is n

Cla

ound of a door being smashed open. More shouting and a

sound like Frost or his team.

s voice came through, tense but clear.

command. INITIATE RESTORE FROM OFFSITE BACKUP.

jumped, then started moving backwards, the corruption percentage 65%… 60%…

es are down and contained,” Frost’s voice came through, calm. “One minor injury e. The room is secure and the worm is inactive.”

out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. She slumped in the chair and on the the restore continued. The data, Elera’s life’s work and Drakonius’s hope, was safe.

。

98

1

2/22