Chapter 137 The Culprits
Catherine glanced at the crowd coldly before fixing her icy gaze on Bryan. The moment her gaze landed on him, Bryan reacted swiftly.
Bryan stood up abruptly. His handsome face darkened as he looked unfriendly at Elena and the others. He didn’t mince words as he said, “You think you can play a couple of tunes and dance a bit, and suddenly you’re an expert? And now you want to give others advice? When did it become your turn to instruct me?”
Elena blushed deeply at Bryan’s blunt taunt. She hadn’t expected Bryan to be so harsh. She stomped in frustration and tried to explain herself. She didn’t want Bryan to misunderstand her.
“Bryan, I…”
Before she could utter another word, Bryan raised a hand to silence her. The sound of her voice seemed to send shivers down Bryan’s spine. Annoyance was written all over his face. Bryan said, “Enough. Just shut up!”
After Elena was scolded twice in a row, although she usually had a strong composure, well up her eyes I couldn’t help but with tears.
Elena just wanted to defend Bryan. But she never imagined that Bryan would publicly criticize her. “Bryan, I was only trying to help you!”
Bryan snorted disdainfully as he looked at Elena coldly. “Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to say you’re trying to help me? You claim you’re trying to help me, but you don’t even respect the people I hold in the highest regard. Is that your idea of helping me?”
Bryan pointed a finger at Catherine as he looked scornfully at her.
“I call her Boss. Whatever she says is right. If she says my playing isn’t good enough, it isn’t. Do you really think I need your comments?”
When Bryan turned to look at Catherine, his expression changed. His eyes were filled with admiration and awe.
“Boss, your critique is spot on. My vocal teacher, who taught me guitar, said something similar before. These aspects do need improvement. And you can trust me. I’ll practice diligently later. I won’t let you down.”
“Well,” Catherine grunted. She showed no interest in the people standing beside her. She even didn’t spare them a glance. Bryan’s response was an unexpected turn of events for all the onlookers.
Regardless of whether he had intentionally praised Catherine with his previous words, his response as the person involved left Elena utterly humiliated.
Bryan effectively helped Catherine embarrass Elena. And Catherine didn’t even need to make a move to make her opponents crumble. That was the most brilliant aspect of the whole situation.
As the matter came to a close, Catherine felt tired. She slowly uncrossed her long legs and stood up. She said, “Let’s go.”
Catherine strode toward the practice room’s exit. Her presence there had been solely for Bryan’s sake. Now that Bryan had finished practicing, there was no need for her to linger.
Ronin followed closely as he noticed Catherine had gotten up. After Bryan saw Ronin’s movement, he hastily packed up his things and followed them. As a result, the others followed suit one after another, which created a bustling exodus.
Elena watched them leave with red eyes. She angrily looked at them with a mixture of bewilderment and resentment. She muttered to herself, ” What’s the deal? What’s so special about Catherine? She’s managed to enchant them all. Are they all crazy?
“That damn seductress! She’s quite the schemer!” Liana, who also glanced in Catherine’s direction, had a look of anger and jealousy in her eyes.
“Elena, all we can do now is show everyone how exceptional we are,” Liana said. Elena sneered dismissively, “Even if we’re exceptional, what good does it do us? In front of Catherine, we’ll still end up losing. Just wait and see. I won’t let her have it easy.”
After her statement, Elena angrily departed. Liana watched Elena leave and let out a cold, mocking laugh. She murmured, What a stupid woman. She’s only fit to be a stepping stone for Catherine.”
Liana had cleverly used Elena to undermine Catherine. If Elena succeeded, it would be the best outcome. Even if Elena didn’t, causing some trouble for Catherine was still a great achievement. After all, Liana did not need to intervene. She relished the situation as it unfolded.
School was out, and Catherine picked up her backpack and headed outside. Ronin quickly caught up with her and spoke hushedly at her side, “Boss, have you received any news from Arthur?”
“What kind of news?” Catherine had been focusing on her classes and spending time with Audrey recently. She hadn’t been involved in company matters during that time. Realizing that Catherine might not be aware, Ronin quickly explained the situation.
“Our company’s network has been under continuous attack these past few days. And the attackers are getting more skilled with each attempt.” Catherine raised an eyebrow at the information. She looked at Ronin with curiosity. “Oh. Really?”
Their company was a renowned tech firm in the industry, and their tech experts were top-notch hackers. It was pretty interesting that someone would dare challenge their company. Catherine asked coldly, “You haven’t tracked down the culprits yet?”
Ronin nodded reluctantly. Then he realized something was amiss. “Boss, how did you them yet?” know we haven’t caught Ronin looked at Catherine anxiously. He was worried that Catherine might punish them for their lack of ability.
He was pretty uneasy about it. He thought inwardly, “Boss asked directly like this. Has she already doubted our abilities?”
To dispel any doubt, Ronin quickly reassured her. “Boss, rest assured. We’ll work hard and do our best to catch them as quickly as possible.”
In the age of the Internet, information changed rapidly. If they didn’t catch the culprits immediately, their chances of success would diminish over time.
Catherine didn’t doubt their capabilities. However, Catherine knew Ronin very well. If Ronin had already caught the culprits, he would have been bragging about it to her. Since he was sharing this matter with her in a troubled manner, it likely meant they hadn’t been successful yet.
However, what piqued Catherine’s interest was the real motive behind these top-notch experts attacking their website. She thought inwardly, “Who could coordinate so many experts within such a short time?”
“Ronin, did they leave any information behind?” Catherine inquired.
“Yes,” Ronin replied. He became angry when Catherine mentioned it. He thought inwardly, “Those audacious troublemakers have gone too far.” He was determined to make them realize the extent of his prowess once he caught them.
“Boss, they left a challenge. They said they’ll continue their attacks tomorrow night and guarantee that they will breach our defenses.”
Catherine tilted her head and casually glanced at Ronin. Her face was exquisitely beautiful.
“So, do you need me to step in?” she asked.
Ronin chuckled awkwardly and replied, “Boss, with you leading, victory is assured. With you, we’ll easily take down these little troublemakers and show them how formidable we are. They won’t dare to challenge us again in the future.”
Catherine looked at him with disdain.” Why don’t you just admit you’re useless?” Ronin rubbed his nose in frustration. He couldn’t explain why he hadn’t been able to handle these hackers this time.
“Boss, please lend a hand,” Ronin pleaded with Catherine repeatedly. Catherine maintained her cold demeanor and replied coldly, “I’ll consider it.”
