Under the cold gaze of Mr. Jones and Dillon, she swallowed her pride. “Addy, I’m very sorry.”“That is quite alright. I will not take it to heart,” said Adina, waving her hand generously. “I still have too many things to deal with, so I’ll leave first.”She turned around on her high heels and left the study.Dillon chased after her. “Addy, won’t you stay for at least a meal?”“I already ate dinner. In fact, I rushed here right after finishing my meal. It hasn’t even had time to digest yet.” Adina smiled at her father. “Dad, you don’t need to see me out. I can go.”Dillon took two more steps forward as he did not want to part with his daughter. Although he had reunited with her, he didn’t get too many chances to actually spend time with her. He had never had the chance to shower her with fatherly affection.“Addy, please wait a minute,” said Dillon. “I bought something for you. Take it back with you.”Adina wanted to refuse politely. But Dillon had already gone to his room. He re
As soon as Duke reached home, a package was delivered. Duke glanced at the address of the sender and signed the package. Then, he entered the mansion with Adina in his arms.Adina watched him open the package, revealing a small box. He opened the box. There was a golden-black earring inside.Duke disassembled the earring and found the complicated transistor routing. “Duke, give me an hour,” said Adina. I’ll try and see what it is.”Duke nodded. He knew that Adina was good at hacking, so she would definitely crack this thing and find out what it was for.Adina took the earring into the study and connected it to the computer. Her frown got deeper, the more she studied it. This thing was a bit beyond her skill.An hour later, Adina came out of the study with a solemn face. Duke stopped his work and turned to look at her. “How is it? Did you find anything out?”“This is a communicator, and it only has a program for issuing orders. It doesn’t have the original program of the chi
“Your mommy is very busy,” said Duke gently. “Al, I will send you something later. Have a look and tell me if you can break the code.”Alden nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”After hanging up, Duke sent Alden the program used to issue orders, which was extracted by Adina.He had worked with his son before and knew how extraordinary his skills were.Adina’s talent was mainly in programming, while Alden had an incredible talent in breaking into information systems.In the Winters family’s mansion, Alden received an email.George leaned over to look. “What did Daddy send you?”Alden opened the email and frowned. “It’s a program code. Daddy asked me to try to break it.”He took the phone upstairs, took out the notebook from under the bed, and sat on the carpet with the notebook in his arms. George stood behind him, watching his brother try to break into the code.The sound of his fingers clacking on the keyboard filled the room. As he continued, his face turned solemn.After half an hour,
George glanced at the computer screen. Many thoughts flashed through his mind. He was appalled.“Al, maybe you are overthinking?”“I genuinely hope so,” said Alden. “But I think something is indeed wrong with Mommy.”George looked at him in disbelief. He turned around, took out his notebook, and tapped on the keyboard to search for more information. “The ones implanted with biochips are forced to accept programmed instructions,” read George. “They will unconditionally complete the instructions like an emotionless robot.”“They will do anything to complete the order. According to a survey, 30% of the victims killed their wives to complete the order given to them.”“The official rescued dozens of victims who had been implanted with chips. After the chips were destroyed, the victims were still found to suffer from long-term side-effects.”George raised his head. “Al, this is impossible!”Alden said in a faint voice, “We’ll find Mommy tomorrow.”George hesitated for a moment. H
Adina chuckled. “What about you? What do you think?”“Jasmine lacks real skill. If Jones Corporation is really handed to her, it will definitely go downhill in three years.”Adina could not help but smile. “Since you know that, why did you back out from the succession contest?”Daniel was silent. He would never admit that he was an idiot sometimes. “It will be fantastic if we can win, but it’ll be fine if we lose too.” Adina smiled. “You’ve been handling the resort project by yourself all this time. When the project ends, you will have learned far more than you could have imagined. It’ll be a priceless achievement in your life. With that, perhaps you can one day build another empire for the Jones family.”“Thanks for giving me this chance, Adina,” Daniel said sincerely. “Why are you thanking me? You should thank your grandpa. He cares about you, which is why he let me join the contest. Grandpa Jones loves you. You better not let the old man down.” “I won’t!” Daniel said fierc
“Your mom has a meeting later this evening. She’s too busy to accompany you.”Duke’s voice was stern, inviting no arguments.George had grown up under Duke’s strict authority, therefore he had no intention to rebel.But Alden glanced up in determination. “I just want to eat with mommy. After dinner, George and I will go home right away.”Duke frowned and was ready to protest but Adina interrupted. “Just let them stay for dinner.”She smiled and led the two kids into the house. “You two can play in the living room while I go make dinner.”She put on an apron and walked to the kitchen. The fridge was stocked with food she had bought while Duke was sleeping. It had everything she needed.While she was busy cooking, Duke talked to the kids in the living room. “Why are only two of you here? Where are Harold and Mel?”“They don’t know that we’re here,” George replied obediently. “It’s fine to come over, but why hide in the bushes?” Duke asked calmly, his gaze fixed on Alden. Du
Duke noticed it. he furrowed his eyebrows. “George, get Al and leave,” she said firmly.George was taken aback. “Daddy, we haven’t even started eating yet. Can’t we leave after dinner?”Duke pulled Adina to him. Adina’s eyes had lost all emotion. They were unfocused and looked at him icily. Alden’s heart sank.He tugged at George’s arm and said hoarsely, “Daddy, you can take Mommy upstairs. George and I will leave after eating.”Duke got up and carried Adina upstairs. He placed her on the bed and locked the door behind him.“What’s going on, Al?” George asked, his face getting paler. “Is it really what you thought?”“According to what I’ve read online, Mommy’s sudden changes are the exact same thing that happens to humans who have been implanted with the bio-intelligent chips,” Alden said gravely. “This is the result of the system issuing an order.”George’s heart felt heavy. “What should we do now?”“Since mommy chose to leave the Winters family’s mansion, it must mean that
Adina entered her study with her phone in her hand and switched on her laptop.Even though the news about Jones Corporation had been suppressed, there were still many people spreading rumors online. A number of posts were gaining public attention.Zhenny ordered the workers to work overtime throughout the night in order to boost the revenue figures. They were made to work almost sixteen hours a day. Many workers fainted on the job. Some nearly died from the shock and were being monitored in ICUs.Adina skimmed through the news. “Daniel, we have two shifts at the site. Each shift is supposed to be eight hours of work. You have to pay attention to that, alright?”Daniel had made note of everything she said. Adina looked grim after the phone call. Based on Zhenny’s manner of doing things, the petrochemical project was quite likely to deliver significant benefits in the span of a month.The resort project went off without a hitch, but they were a little late while starting off. They