Regretted Rejection : Wrath of the Moon novel Chapter 29

Bella had a sad smile when the call with Maya disconnected. She sat back in her chair and contemplated the day she met Ryder. The past rose up like a treasured memory in her heart and everything that happened on that particular day played in her head like a video.

#start of flashback#

A few years ago, Bella worked part time as a hacker for the Council and Dylan had contacted her for the purpose of getting information on one of the vampire of Xia clan in Asia. He was suspected to have set up a network of human trafficking in the guise of clan activities.

Bella had read up on the case file that Maya gave her. Maya was visiting with another person named Ryder Callum who she claimed to be an expert in hacking. Bella had a smirk on her lips. She had been in the field for quite some time now and she had never heard of this person. "Even if this 'Ryder' goes by a fake name, would his results still be better than me? Maya is bringing him unnecessarily." Bella said to herself.

"We will see whose presence is unnecessary." a voice said to her. She turned around quickly and saw a handsome man standing behind her booth. His eyes were sparkling and there was a delicious scent coming off of him. At first, Bella felt that it was her vampire side showing up finally. She leaned in closer for a better sniff.

The man took a step back and raised his eyebrows at her. Bella blushed pink to the roots of her hair. Ryder however didn't gave another look at her and sat down in the booth. Maya joined them and immediately noticed the tension in the air. Ignoring them she started briefing up on the case history.

Bella too started noting down the points that she would have to take care of. She understood that the person she would be targeting online was a creep of the topmost category. He not only was involved in human trafficking but also in organ stealing. All the money he gained from his illegal activities was involved in gaining power in the vampire clan that he was a part of.

The money was used by him to gain favour from the old leaders. Not everyone in the clan knew where he got his money from but there were a few who knew it and turned a blind eye towards it. Bella's job was to find out who all were involved. Ryder was supposed to help her find them but since he heard her dissing him, he wasn't that keen on helping her.

He said, "Since you deem me unnecessary, then should we have a small bet between us?"

"Bet? What kind of bet?" Bella asked quizzically.

"Let's see who amongst both of us can find maximum number of criminals in an hour. Whoever finds the most criminals, wins." Ryder said smirking.

"What does the winner gets?" Bella asked a small smile playing on her lips.

"Whatever the winner says, loser will have to accept for a total of 24 hours." Ryder said irritated by her confidence.

After about an hour, Ryder confidently leaned back in his seat and said that he found all the perpetrators inside of the clan.

"How many did you find?" Bella asked calmly.

"I found three people other than the main criminal who have directly profited from the criminal activities. This means that they have good amount of knowledge of the activities going in the clan." Ryder said.

"I see." Bella replied, her face solemn, without a smile.

Ryder smirked after seeing the smile disappear from her lips. "So... I take it that I won? I will see you tomorrow sharp at 7:00 am in the morning for your punishment loser." he taunted her.