Three Years Later
Chicago, USA
In a café in the heart of Chicago, a woman is intensely focused on her laptop. She's so immersed in her work that she doesn't notice someone approaching her table.
"Starley," When she hears her name being called, Starley looks away from her laptop and searches for the source of the voice. She finds her college friend, Lia Turner, standing before her table, staring at Starley in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me right now?"
"What?" Starley asks, confused.
"You know how hard it was for me to find you a blind date that fits your type. And here you are, just waiting while opening your laptop?"
"Is there something wrong with that?" Starley replies, not seeing the problem with waiting for her late blind date while working on her laptop.
Lia sighs and sits down across from Starley. "Everything is wrong, Starley. Why would you bring a laptop to a blind date?"
"I always keep my laptop in the car."
"And since when do you wear glasses, Starley?" Lia asks again.
"They're anti-radiation glasses. I just bought them," Starley answers nonchalantly.
"Glasses and a laptop on a blind date? You really look like a workaholic woman," Lia says, shaking her head.
"Besides, he's thirty minutes late, so I might as well open my laptop," Starley says.
"He showed up thirty minutes ago, but he left when he saw you waiting and working on your laptop," Lia replies.
Starley rolls her eyes and says, "What's wrong with him? Why is he scared of seeing his blind date opening a laptop? Tell him I rejected him. I don't like cowardly men," she says dismissively. Lia stared at Starley for a moment before speaking again.
"Honestly, sometimes I wonder about you, Starley. You're such a wild woman who hates following rules, but at the same time, you're a computer nerd. It's really a confusing combination."
"You forgot I'm a college student, I'm busy working on my degree," Starley replied smoothly.
"Oh, come on, you just graduated. How long are you going to stay single? Your friend Selene just gave birth to her second child, and you haven't had a boyfriend in three years," Lia said, sounding very chatty.
Selene was Starley's childhood friend. Last year was tough for Selene, as she became a single mother and faced various problems. Fortunately, she married the father of her child, Lucian Blackwell, and recently, Selene gave birth to their second child.
As for Lia and Starley, they had only met when they entered college, and they became close friends. Since Selene became a wife and mother, Starley could only take her to a bar or party at dawn. So, usually, Starley would be the third wheel between Lia and her boyfriend. And Starley wasn't interested in a serious relationship with any man.
'This is all that guy's fault, Starley thought.'
Starley looked at Lia and said, "So, what about you? You've been dating Noah for six years, and he still hasn't proposed to you." She took a sip of her coffee.
That question felt like a hard blow to Lia. Feeling defeated, she replied, "He's busy."
"Did he promise to marry you?" Starley asked. Lia and Noah had broken up and gotten back together so many times that it was almost uncountable.
"He's proud. Besides, we're still young. I don't understand why we need to rush into marriage," Lia replied. Starley smiled smugly as she heard Lia's answer.
"Precisely. So now you understand why I'm not rushing to find a boyfriend, right?"
"Finding a boyfriend and getting married are two different things. Date, Starley. Break a lot of hearts and enjoy your youth," Lia exclaimed.
"And I'm hearing this from a woman who's been stuck with one man for six years," Starley replied, sounding bored. Suddenly, Lia's phone rang. It was her manager. Lia said she had to take the call for a moment. Then, she walked far enough away to answer the call.
Starley looked back at her laptop. She was thinking about ideas for developing a communication app she had created three years ago. This app had originally been a gift for that guy, but because of what had happened, it was never given.
Since then, Starley has never touched the app again. It wasn't developed and remained as an ornament in her laptop. But it felt like such a waste for a high-security communication app like this to be left untouched. She had intentionally created this app for high-ranking officials, governments, and other secret agencies. Of course, it was costly and couldn't be sold publicly—only a few important people had access to it.
And if Starley developed it again, the app could be sold for an even higher price.
Why had she never thought of that? But suddenly, there was a voice in her head.
'Maybe because this app always reminds you of that guy.'
And suddenly, her heart fluttered slightly. Starley sighed. It seemed like she needed a break. She closed her laptop and put it back in her laptop bag.
Not long after, Lia returned and said, "Starley, you should see this," handing her her phone. Starley was confused when she heard Lia's voice sounding panicked.
"What's going on?" Starley asked as she took Lia's phone. Then she read the headline of the news article on Lia's phone.
'Official website of Bellamy Corp hacked.'
Below is a screenshot of the hacked Bellamy Corp website. The whole screen was black, with red text reading:
"Hacked By Hatstone! This is a warning! I will not stop until my demands are met. You must understand what this means, Bellamy. The website is fully taken over by Hatstone until the demands are fulfilled. Trying to take it back from Hatstone is futile. Wait until January 30th, 10:00 P.M. If you don't want your company's secrets exposed."
Hatstone. Starley knew that name very well. Hatstone was the name of a hacker group that was famous and feared by many organizations worldwide.
In the hacking world, there are terms like white, black, and grey hat. White hat refers to hackers with good intentions. Black hat refers to hackers who commit criminal actions. Grey hat is in between, neither fully good nor fully bad.
As for the hacker group Hatstone, they were untethered and able to change roles depending on the situation they faced. They remained solid and unwavering, unbreakable, as hard as stone in all circumstances.
The identities of Hatstone members were highly secret, and many even said that world leaders protected Hatstone. Although there was no concrete evidence, there were plenty of rumours that Hatstone had helped politicians reach their current positions by selling enemy intel to them at a high price.
"I have to go back to the office. My manager called and told me to come back because of this issue," Lia said. Lia worked at Bellamy Corp, Starley's family company.
"I'm coming with you," Starley said immediately. Lia nodded, and then Starley and Lia quickly went to the Bellamy Corp building in Starley's car.
When they arrived in the lobby, they saw many journalists already there. Starley handed her car keys to a valet attendant, and then she and Lia passed by the journalists, who seemed to be waiting for Starley's father or brother.
The entrance was guarded by security, which prevented the journalists from entering the building. When Starley and Lia reached the entrance, the security guards immediately recognized them and allowed them to join.
The journalists watched Starley and Lia curiously as the security guards let them in. Fortunately, Starley's face could have been more well-known among the journalists. Starley and Lia quickly headed to the elevator, which took them to the eighth floor.
When the elevator doors opened, phone ringtones filled the floor. The office looked chaotic. Everyone seemed to be busy. As Starley was about to speak to Lia, she noticed that Lia was nowhere to be found. Lia had disappeared.
Not long after, another elevator door opened, and she was face to face with her older brother, Nathan Bellamy. Nathan looked shocked to see his sister there and stepped out of the elevator.
"What are you doing here?" Nathan asked, confused. Since Starley graduated with a degree in computer science, she had never joined the family company. Starley seemed interested in something other than working for the family business; she just wanted to have fun, Nathan thought.
"I'm here to help," Starley answered casually. Nathan sighed heavily and walked ahead of Starley.
"This isn't a playground, Starley. Go home, don't go back alone. Just take my driver," Nathan said, looking stressed. Nathan's assistant, walking behind him, didn't say a word. But Starley didn't listen to others, so she followed Nathan and his assistant without saying anything.
Eventually, they arrived in a room with computers and about twenty people. Everyone appeared to be very busy with the screens in front of them. A man was standing by himself, seemingly supervising them, who looked like the manager. When the man saw Nathan had arrived, he approached him.
"Mr. Bellamy, we're currently trying to regain the website, as you instructed, but it may take some time," the manager said.
"How long do you think it will take?" Nathan asked.
"Our opponent is Hatstone. It could take a few days or, if we're lucky, one day.
Nathan sighed, then asked, "Is it possible to resolve this in less than 24 hours?"
"We're still working on it, sir," the manager replied. He then continued explaining where they were in the process. Starley needed to pay more attention to their conversation. She preferred to walk around and look at the screens of each person working there.
Then she stopped behind a nerdy-looking guy. His glasses were round and huge, and his hair was styled in a bowl cut with bangs. But Starley noticed that this nerdy guy seemed to be the only one who really understood what he was doing compared to the others. Eventually, Starley just focused on watching the nerdy guy.
The nerdy guy seemed to sense Starley's intense gaze and turned to look at her. They stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds before Starley spoke up.
"Don't mind me. Go ahead, keep going," the nerdy guy blinked but said nothing. He then returned his focus to the screen in front of him. After about twenty minutes, Nathan's assistant approached Starley.
"Miss Starley, your driver is waiting for you downstairs," said Nathan's assistant. But Starley was still focused on the nerdy guy's screen, so she ignored the assistant.
"Something seems off," Starley shouted in the quiet room. All eyes immediately turned to her, including the nerdy guys.
"Move aside for a second," Starley told the nerdy guy. Nathan approached Starley.
"What are you going to do, Starley?" Nathan asked, sounding frustrated with his sister not listening to him.
"I just want to help him, he made a mistake," Starley replied, pointing at the nerdy guy.
"What?" Nathan exclaimed, confused. The nerdy guy was also unsure of what to do, but he eventually stood up, allowing Starley to sit in his place.
Starley continued to correct the nerdy guy's work. Nathan, the nerdy guy, Nathan's assistant, and the manager all silently watched Starley work while the others returned to their tasks.
After fifteen minutes, Starley pressed the last button and said, "Done; the website has been reclaimed."
Everyone in the room was shocked, staring at Starley in disbelief. The manager immediately approached Starley's computer to check if it was true.
"Miss Starley has successfully reclaimed the website from Hatstone, young master," the manager exclaimed to Nathan, looking amazed and still unable to believe that Hatstone had been defeated in such a short time by the young woman from the Bellamy family.
Nathan seemed shocked, not knowing that his sister was an expert in this field. Starley responded to her brother's surprised look by raising an eyebrow and giving him a smirking smile.
"I told you I'd help," Starley said casually. The nerdy guy earlier stared at Starley with wide, sparkling eyes as if he had just found his idol.
"Since when could you—" Nathan sighed, then continued his sentence.
"Forget it. You and I need to talk privately later," he said to Starley.
After that, Nathan looked at everyone in the room and said, "Everyone who has witnessed this, I ask for your cooperation in not telling anyone about this," Nathan's voice was firm.
"If anyone in this room spreads the word that Starley was the one who successfully reclaimed the website, be prepared to be removed from here," Nathan said sharply. He was serious with his words.
Starley's skill could be a blessing for this family or a curse for her safety.
…