Joshua walked back to his room, limping beyond belief, each step a reminder of the punishment he had just endured, courtesy of Lilian.
It was one of the harshest penalties the family could impose on those they deemed deserving.
"Guess I did deserve that," he muttered, wincing, "But still…"
He pulled a small piece of metal from his pocket and stared at it. "At least this survived."
With a sigh, he gingerly lowered his swelling butt onto the edge of the bed, his swollen body protesting every moment as he slowly collapsed his whole body on it.
With that, he stared at the white ceiling and scoffed as a dry chuckle escaped his lips.
"Another one to report to my uncle. Ha ha."
He laughed softly, feeling the redness of his butt and the wheezing pain from the earlier ordeal. He sat up from his bed slowly and reached for his laptop, determined to check what was in the USB.
Ezekiel had always been reliable to him, so Joshua trusted that he would provide some details to help him at least.
Waiting for the computer to boot properly, Joshua grabbed one of his notes and his phone to jot down things that Lilian would need and some that were only meant for him.
He inserted the USB into his computer and made sure to run a quick scan for any malware or any malicious virus that would fuck up all of his files in one fell sweep.
"Alrighty, let's get started."
_____
Meanwhile, Lilian was grinning from ear to ear as she scrolled through data filled within the USB drive she copied it from which provided her with a trove of images and information that would have otherwise taken her months to uncover.
She glanced at the USB connected to her laptop and chuckled to herself.
"Whoever thought to deliver an unknown USB drive to our doorsteps is dumb. Did they actually think that Joshua would be the one receiving it? Well sucks for them—it's me who found it. Now, let's see what's inside."
Lilian opened the file within the USB and clicked on the first document to check what it entailed.
She hummed as it loaded, but her tune died in her throat when she saw the contents that had appeared on her screen.
"What in the world?"
Her eyes widened as she scrolled through image after image, each one of Lucas, taken from different angles. Her grin grew wider as she further scrolled through the documents.
"Ha! Ha! Hahaha!"
She laughed maniacally as she stood up and jumped out of joy.
She couldn't believe that such a small drive had data filled with Lucas's photos, paired with the sensitive information about him could ruin the young man if she chose to leak it into the media.
"Oh, I hit the jackpot!"
She squealed as she sat down and took a look at the other files she had copied from the USB drive and more information about Lucas flooded her screen.
"Oh my gosh, Audrey has to know about this!"
As she dialed Audrey's number, Joshua continued to make notes of everything that was on the drive.
Once done, he deleted the remaining files, carefully making sure not to copy the files on his PC since he knew the properties of the drive.
"Better to trash this one down the drain or somewhere in the bottom of the garbage."
He safely discharged the USB drive and covered its mouth with plastic before putting it in white plastic.
Limping out of his room and down to the front porch, he quietly opened the front door, making sure that the door didn't squeak—he couldn't risk getting another punishment.
After he reached the front gate, he threw the white plastic on a pile of trash in front of the house.
He then glanced at his left and noticed a figure wearing a black hat and a black jacket.
Joshua paused and wondered, but just then he saw the hand gesture and his mouth formed a small "O" as he nodded in acknowledgement, watching the man walk away.
He looked back at the mansion and glanced at the window only to spot a figure staring back at him.
"Ah, the master of the house suddenly has eyes."
He limped back to the front door and stepped inside the house once again. Without hesitation, he made his way back to his room and shut the door behind him.
Reaching under the bed, he grabbed his phone and glanced at the notification icon, only to notice that a single message had been sent to him.
"It's okay, no worries."
He took a deep breath before unlocking the phone and opening the message which read:
[Great job, Joshua. She took the bait.]
Joshua tilted his head to the side as he limped towards the bed and stared at the screen for over a minute, confused.
He couldn't understand what it meant until it clicked within him as to what had happened earlier that day.
"Hold on. Isn't it Lilian-?" He paused as another message came in. He read it and the sudden realization made him gasp.
[We're in. I hope your acting skills are ready.]
"Damn it! I fell for it as well. Damn, that Zeke!"
Joshua cursed under his breath as he looked at Lucas's images on his phone when suddenly he felt as if pigs were squealing from upstairs.
"Wow. What is she happy about when her laptop has already been hacked? Dumb. Dumb as fuck."
Before he could dwell on the question, it was answered by another message that was sent from an unknown number.
[She doesn't. The poor princess has no idea that her computer and cellphone are both hacked. Now, we wait for her next move. As for you, be on your best behavior and follow all of her instructions - T.W.]
Joshua stared at the initials, trying to piece together what they meant and who might have been the one behind the message.
"Wait…could it be…? No, it can't be him. They wouldn't, couldn't and never will. Stellar will never use him!"
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Metro, a man sat by his desk, grinning from ear to ear. He happened to also be the one who had hacked into the cameras of the entire Chu mansion.
"Now, I have got my eyes on everything. I hope you motherfuckers are ready for messing with the wrong family."