chapter1145

In the end, as if she'd finally run out of ways to fight back against the relentless trolls, Stella wiped her entire social media presence clean. She deleted every post, turned off comments, and deactivated her account.

...

The Lerman Group.

Israel felt a rush of satisfaction as he watched the victory unfold.

Ever since Stella's return, he'd felt a tightness in his chest, a pent-up frustration with nowhere to go. But now, at last, he could breathe easy again.

Everything was falling into place exactly as he'd planned, and his mood soared.

"This whole media fiasco has plunged Stella's company into a major PR crisis. If things keep going like this, she won't be able to hold out much longer."

He turned to Leonard, a glint of pride in his eyes. Fresh chapters posted on Find1Novel.net

"Leonard, this 'Q' guy was expensive, but damn, he's good. That twenty million dollars was worth every cent."

Q's fees were outrageous-Israel had hired plenty of hackers to strengthen his company's firewalls over the years, but none of them had ever charged this much. Looking at the results now, though, he had to admit-Q was worth it.

Leonard took a sip of his coffee, his tone cool and even. "Still, you have to give Stella some credit. The most sensitive files in her company were buried under layer after layer of encryption. If Q hadn't gotten curious-wondering if Stella had brought in a top-tier specialist and hadn't double-checked everything, we might've missed it altogether."

Leonard paused, then added, "That T she hired isn't bad either."

Israel nodded thoughtfully. "No wonder Stella's managed to keep herself together all this time. She actually had a contingency plan."

If they'd failed to uncover that critical piece of information, not only would Israel have wasted all that money, but he'd have gained nothing from this whole affair- except maybe making Stella's life slightly more difficult. And trying to intercept her contracts had cost him too.

But if he could bring Stella's company down for good, it would all be worth it. If he failed, though, he'd be the one left licking his wounds.

Now, though, success was within his grasp.

Excitement sparkled in Israel's eyes. With Stella defeated, he could swoop in and buy up shares of the Pearce Group. He might even get h hands on Stella's original stake. s

his

His father and older brother always thought he was reckless, but after a win like this, they'd have to see him in a new light.

...

Stella's "scandal" only grew more intense by the day. Discontent simmered within

her company, with dissenting voices growing louder and more frequent.

Of course, forcing Stella out was out of the question.

As for the hateful noise online, Stella barely gave it a thought.

When the online outrage against her reached fever pitch, Joshua reminded her it was time for the final phase of their plan.

Stella didn't know the first thing

about hacking, and she had no idea what Joshua had in mind for the

iel

next step. All she could do was keep up appearances feeding the media smoke and mirrors to throwesrael off the scent. s

After a moment's hesitation, Stella finally asked, "Joshua, how much longer will this take?"

Joshua's expression was unreadable. "Tomorrow."

Stella's eyes widened. "Tomorrow? That soon?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Tomorrow we'll close in on our side but for Israel, it's just the beginning."

Stella gazed at him, quietly trying to

guess what trick he had up his

sleeve what kind of bait could

make someone as cautious as Israel leap so eagerly into a trap? s

After all, if opportunity falls from the sky, anyone with sense would wonder if it's a setup.

She asked softly, Israel may be a jerk, but he's got a sharp business mind and he's always on guard... What exactly did you do?"

Joshua didn't bother to hide it. "I broke into Israel's company database," he said simply, "and tweaked a few things."