Chapter 2 True Identity

Eliana remembered neither Vivian's shouting nor the officers' attempts to calm things down.

She only remembered Lucien's fist stopping two centimeters from her nose, his icy gaze stabbing into her bones like needles, "You've really been spoiled."

She couldn't remember how she made it home-only that the next day, Lucien never came to massage her legs or apply the medicine.

Then came the third day, then the fourth.

Eliana knew he wasn't coming back.

For ten steadfast years he had cared for her, but now, at last, he was weary.

Eliana lifted the thermal blanket and stared blankly at the scars crisscrossing her long legs.

That day, when the beam collapsed in the fire, she had instinctively shoved Lucien aside-and from then on, her life was bound to a wheelchair.

She had never blamed him.

It was he who had knelt by her hospital bed in tears, swearing he would care for her forever.

"Lucien, so much for your 'forever.'" Eliana murmured to herself.

Only ten years.

She had witnessed with her own eyes how his gaze on her legs shifted-from guilt and anguish, to numb indifference, and at last, to naked loathing.

The alarm blared.

It was time for the elite assembly of Anonymous.

Eliana wheeled herself into the hidden chamber and took the central seat amid the thunderous roar of machinery.

Donning her mask and adjusting the voice changer, Eliana joined the meeting and spoke slowly, "I am Regno, head of Anonymous. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to you all."

One impatient member spoke up first, "Regno, you guarded Lane Enterprises like the apple of your eye. The Demolition Squad attacked wave after wave and still couldn't breach a crack, and now you're saying you'll just leave it be? You're not toying with us, are you?"

Back then, the Demolition Squad had taken an astronomical fee from a rival group and attacked Lane Enterprises for three days and nights straight.

It should have been a one-sided battle, yet Eliana staked her life on it, holding her ground against wave after wave and even seizing the chance to cripple several of their machines.

By the end, Eliana's ten fingers were locked stiff, each twitch sending pain straight to her heart.

Had it not been for the head of Anonymous, who had stepped in out of regard for her talent, her hands would have been ruined.

She was no saint, and certainly no fool.

When she loved, she gave without reserve; when the love was gone, she turned and walked away without a backward glance.

But those who repaid her love with betrayal would have to pay it all back-with interest.

At the thought, Eliana let a faint smile curve her lips, "I never break my promises.

Not only that, I will also, in my own name, issue a challenge to all of you for an attack-and-defense match. In ten days, we will launch an assault on Lane Enterprises' firewall. The alliance member who seizes its core secrets first will be the winner."

Before Eliana could finish, a voice rose from the far corner of the hall, "What's the reward?"

Eliana almost thought she had misheard.

The most enigmatic and formidable lone-wolf hacker, Raphael, had just spoken?

Could he truly be interested in something this childish?

She stifled the thrill of hearing her idol's voice, only to feel a wave of discouragement.

Bound to a wheelchair, she truly had nothing worthy enough to offer as a prize.

"How about one unconditional favor from Regno?"

Eliana clenched her palms, slick with sweat.

Fortunately, her name still carried weight.

Raphael, in a rare show of goodwill, said, "Fair enough," and even dropped a smiley face in the hall.

It seemed this legendary hacker wasn't as impossible to approach as the rumors claimed.

As the meeting ended, Eliana was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when she noticed more than a dozen missed calls flashing on her phone.

She called back, and a young woman's tear-choked voice came through, "Is this Ms. Walker, Your brother and Mr. Lane are fighting. Please come and talk them down!"