Chapter 4

"Mom! Are you okay?"

The moment I stepped out, Lucas rushed over, his face pale with concern.

I forced a weak smile. "Much better now."

He let out a dramatic sigh of relief, though he still chided me gently. "I told you, no regular dairy. From now on, I'm ordering specialized lactose-free milk for you. Don't touch the regular stuff again."

Nearby, Vincent walked over holding a beautifully wrapped gift box.

Inside was a dense, complex manual filled with advanced algorithmic puzzles and cryptographic challenges.

"Clara, remember how much you love puzzles?" Vincent smiled, his eyes gleaming with manufactured tenderness. "I noticed the ones at home were getting too easy for you, so I tracked down an advanced set."

I accepted it with wide, teary eyes, feigning deep gratitude while my heart turned to stone.

No commercial bookstore in this mall carried high-level mathematical ciphers. He had pre-ordered this long ago.

Even with my memory wiped, my analytical instincts remained terrifyingly sharp.

If the puzzles at home were basic algebra, this book was advanced multivariable calculus.

They were growing impatient. They wanted to force my cryptographic skills back to their peak so I could crack whatever file they were holding.

Remembering the warning on the phone, I kept my expression innocent.

I just needed to stall for one week until my ally arrived.

"Thank you, darling," I beamed. "With this, I won't be bored at home anymore!"

We finished the shopping trip, picked up a birthday cake, and returned to the villa.

After dinner, I immediately buried myself in the puzzle book.

They were thrilled, of course. Whenever I worked on the ciphers, Vincent made sure no one disturbed me, and even the ever-watchful maids gave me space.

Within a week, relying on muscle memory and sheer intuition, I completely mastered every code in that book.

I kept my progress hidden, waiting patiently for the rescue.

Two more days passed. As I sat in the study staring blankly at the pages, soft footsteps crept up behind me.

I spun around to find one of the maids trembling, looking around nervously. "Mrs. Vance... someone paid me to give you a message. His extraction team will strike tomorrow night."

"Before they arrive, you must secure the file."

"That document is the key to your future."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "He turned you?"

The maid didn't answer directly. Instead, she quietly recited the phone number from the diary.

Adrenaline surged through my blood. "Tell him I understand. I'll get the file."

At 9:00 PM the next evening, I had a lavish dinner waiting when Vincent and Lucas returned.

They looked surprised. "Clara? Aren't you studying your puzzles today?"

I smirked with deliberate pride. "I finished them. All of them."

"Really?" Vincent's voice sounded casual, but his pupils flared with raw greed. "How about I test you?"

Barely touching his dinner, he rushed to his safe and pulled out a leather-bound dossier, handing it to me under the guise of a 'test.'

The moment I laid eyes on the encrypted text, a chill ran down my spine. The algorithmic structure was intimately familiar—it was written in my own unique cipher. No one in the world could crack it except me.

"Well, Clara? Think you can handle it?"

Suppressing my trembling hands, I tucked the document under my arm. "Child's play. Give me until this time tomorrow."

I wasn't lying. I could crack it easily, but I had no intention of handing the real answers to Vincent.

Scanning the fragments of data, my dread only deepened. This blueprint held the entire lifeblood of an empire.

The following afternoon, the inside maid whispered to me again. "Mrs. Vance, he said the entire Sterling family is backing you. Once you have that file, you’ll never have to bow to the Vance family again."

At 8:30 PM, Vincent and Lucas had not yet returned.

Suddenly, heavily armed men stormed the estate, neutralizing the security guards and subduing the maids in complete silence.

I was free.

Yet I didn't run.

When Vincent and Lucas walked through the front doors, their minds were so consumed by the file that they didn't even notice the eerie silence hanging over the villa.

"Clara! How did the test go? Did you break the code?"

Vincent strode toward me, clutching an expensive bag of seafood, his smile stretched tight with anticipation.

I tilted my head, looking at him with cold amusement.

"I cracked it."

Vincent stumbled forward, his breath catching in his throat. "You did?! Where is it? Let me see—let me verify—"

His voice died.

The color drained from his face as a man stepped out from the shadows behind me.