CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 176: EVEN YOU CAN’T DO IT

There was no time to send Jude Sinclair back home, so Seraphina Sinclair drove straight to the company.

Irene Rowe was already standing at the entrance waiting, and as soon as she saw her, she hurried up to greet her: "BOSS, you’re finally here. The situation is still unstable; what should we do next?"

"We’ll talk as we go." Seraphina pulled Jude along, quickly entering the company.

Irene followed by her side, quickly recounting the events of the day.

"I’ve already blocked the information at the first opportunity. Except for a few of us executives, no one in the company knows about this. But if the other party successfully stole the files, they might risk launching their product before us, forcing us to replace our previous products."

"We can’t replace them." Seraphina’s expression turned a bit stern, and she tightened her grip on Jude’s hand.

Irene’s thoughts were aligned with hers: "You’re right. The new product has been the result of everyone’s hard work for three months. Replacing it just like that is disheartening."

This was exactly Seraphina’s concern; how could a company’s product be switched at will?

Arriving at the company’s database, Seraphina saw Austin White conducting a reverse lookup, and she went up to ask: "How is it going? Did you find out the other party’s IP address?"

"Yes, the address has been located, and I’ve gained control of their computer. However, the other party also seems to be a top hacker, so it might take some time to successfully delete the files."

"Even you can’t do it?" Seraphina’s brows furrowed.

Austin was a top-tier hacker who had never met an opponent yet. If the other party gave him trouble, they must be quite formidable.

Austin shook his head: "I can, but it will take some time."

There’s nothing Austin couldn’t achieve, even if the other person was also a master.

Austin’s words allowed Seraphina to relax a bit. Suddenly, as if she thought of something, her gaze turned cold: "Austin, are you sure the other person is a top hacker?"

"I can’t be entirely sure. Your company’s system was designed by me. For someone to successfully steal data, if not possessing ultra-high computer skills, then there’s only one possibility." Austin wasn’t foolish; with Seraphina’s hint, he quickly grasped the issue at hand.

"It’s not that you can’t breach their defenses to delete the data; it’s very likely that the system the other party is using is the one you created." Seraphina suddenly smiled, "I believe there are people out there more skilled than us, but I’ve never heard of any hacker who can match up to you."

Austin was unrivaled even among world-class companies with the strongest defense systems; he could infiltrate them. The security system he designed couldn’t just be breached casually, and it would take time to crack its defenses.

The only possibility was clear.

Irene and Austin exchanged glances and spoke in unison: "There’s an insider."

"Has anyone entered the database today?" Seraphina calmly asked Irene.

Irene nodded: "The people who entered and exited the database today were all personnel involved in this product’s development, mostly high-level executives."

"Investigate." Seraphina frowned.

"Understood." Irene’s expression was serious. If today’s matter wasn’t resolved, none of them could rest easy.

She couldn’t understand who had the audacity to steal company secrets; this was illegal.

Seraphina looked at the data on Austin’s computer, then glanced at the time, furrowing her brows even more. She sighed softly and gently held Jude’s hand: "Son, call your godmother and tell her that we might not be able to go today."

Jude, precocious as always, understood the gravity of the situation. He nodded obediently: "Okay, I’ll notify godmother now."

Rosalie Quinn answered the phone, her face full of concern: "Are you okay, son? What happened all of a sudden, do you need godmother’s help?"

"No need, godmother. I’m sure mom can handle it herself." Jude had a blind faith in Seraphina, believing she was capable of anything.

"Alright, but if you need any help, just let me know." Rosalie nodded slightly.

She hadn’t expected something like this to happen in just one afternoon, and she was worried for Seraphina.

Ever since Seraphina returned to Bayside City, there hadn’t been any good news; one trouble followed another. She even started to question if it was the right decision for Seraphina to come back.

Seraphina was busy with the tense situation, and the few executives privy to the information all bore serious expressions.

Because the news was blocked, Desmond Fairchild didn’t know what was happening on her side. Both were tied up with their respective matters, and they hadn’t seen each other since their return on the first day.

Desmond had called Seraphina, and after a brief check-in, they both delved back into their work.

Ever since Seraphina took over the Kevin Group, things had slowly settled onto the right track, and this was the first time such an incident happened. She sat in her office, her gaze passing over the list and profiles of the personnel involved in this product’s development.

Irene was beside her, providing detailed introductions. Everyone’s background was thoroughly investigated, almost uncovering their ancestral lineage.

"BOSS, these are the people involved in the product development. So far, no one seems to have any issues, and none have been mingling with other companies. Their records are clean. Did we make a wrong assumption?" Irene rubbed her brow, starting to doubt their theory.

Seraphina sat on the sofa with her arms crossed, eyes cast down. She didn’t speak, seemingly deep in thought.

Irene, seeing her unresponsive, continued: "We also checked the surveillance, and there was nothing unusual, no signs of the cameras being hacked. It seems we’ve really encountered a tough adversary this time."

With everything checked numerous times without issue, this appeared to be the only logical direction.

While, as Seraphina mentioned, finding hackers who could compare to Austin was rare, that didn’t mean they didn’t exist, right?

Seraphina still didn’t speak, leaving her thoughts unknown. Irene, feeling completely helpless, stood up to replace Seraphina’s cold coffee before closing the door and leaving the office.

On her way to the database, Irene was still pondering other potential solutions.

Engrossed in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the obstacle in front of her and bumped right into it.

"Ouch..." She gasped, rubbing her reddened nose, unhappily glaring at the person: "Can’t you watch where you’re going?"

Austin blinked innocently: "I was just standing here, didn’t move at all. It looks like you ran into me."

"Couldn’t you have moved when you saw me coming?" Irene blushed a little but then showed a displeased look.

"I couldn’t move." Austin sighed helplessly.

Irene eyed him up and down, amused: "What? Trying to take advantage of your sister?"