h4Chapter 25: Bad To Worse/h4

Ewan was absorbed in thoughts until the beep from the coffee machine went off.

With renewed focus, he collected the ready cups of hot ck coffee and briskly walked to his home office—where he and Sandro had spent the whole night in, working and trying to find a way out of the pit Athena and Zane had dug for him.

Ewan rxed his hold on the cups when their hot temperature became unbearable on his knuckles.

Once he handed a cup to Sandro, his assistant bowed his head in appreciation.

He continued to watch, appeased thereafter, when Sandro let out a happy sigh after a sip of the coffee.

"You still make the best coffee, Ewan. The only unfair thing is that you won’t show me how to do it."

Ewan chuckled softly. "Not me. Not any special recipe. It’s just the quality of the machine."

Sandro scoffed and shook his head. "Your new lie? Thest time, you mentioned it was magic transferred from your lineage."

Ewanughed, the hurt in his chest abating a little.

Not giving Sandro a response, he sat down near his friend, in between a pile of documents.

Just then he heard movements in the house.

Fiona must be back from wherever she had gone to. He thought, picking a file.

But he didn’t actually care to know where she had been. He wasn’t ready for her tantrums this early morning. He wanted to resolve this matter first.

Aboutst night, he knew he had gone overboard grabbing her by the neck like that.

Whatever her shorings, she was a woman, and he shouldn’t have manhandled her. His mother wouldn’t be proud of him now.

He sighed, and picked another file, noting somewhere in his mind to get her something lovely today.

For at one time in this life, she had been his savior, hence the reason he was alive today.

Thirty minutes into resolving the issues Ewan thought Athena had kick-started, he noticed a pattern with a particr presspany.

"What presspany is that? KN presspany? I have never heard of it."

Sandro peered at the system, and shook his head in disbelief.

"What’s the matter, Sandro? Do you know them?"

"I’m not sure, since I didn’t find much on themst year."

Ewan furrowed his eyebrows. "Last year?"

"Yes, they are thepany that had released the article of the hacking in ourpany then. Remember that we had suspected a spy in our midst, and had fired a lot, even without evidence. Yet we never did find out how the presspany had gotten the intel; we never found out who their source was."

A pause, where Ewan rested on the wall, and fixed his sight on the ceilings.

"I did a personal investigation. What I found out was that the presspany had no physical location—only an online presence—and they have a huge following. I also found out that they didn’t report every news, except the hot ones; hot truths that threaten the copse ofpanies and governments."

A pause.

"I found no report on their workers, backgrounds, or whatever. Once, I even hired hackers to break into their system, but they couldn’t get past the surface. They had met a blockage of sorts, and a warning." Sandro sighed, looking at the article Ewan had brought up on hisptop.

"Obviously they are behind this instant spread of news, and it’s the reason why we can’t totally buy the silence of other presspanies. All those I met and spoke with, mentioned convincing the KN press first. It’s known as unshakable now. Last year’s attack had suddenly been taken down, we can only hope for the same now."

Ewan drummed his fists on the hard floor, causing Sandro’s chest to ache; he wasn’t ready for his friend to rpse into the coping mechanism again.

"Sandro, I hate leaving my life to chance. You know I have never been that kind of person."

Sandro nodded. But there was no choice this time around.

The same moment, Ewan received a call.

"Hello Suarez, what’s the update? And please don’t waste my time, get straight to the point."

Sandro sat up straight, and gestured that the phone be put on loudspeaker.

Ewan obliged.

"I’m sorry sir, I won’t waste your time. Thetest update is that the hackers contacted us. They are demanding money to stop the matter, to clear the rubbish, and also to stop the press..."

Ewan and Sandro exchanged furtive nces. This could only mean that the KN media was working together with the hackers.

That would exin a lot!

"How much are they asking for?"

A pause.

Sandro sighed perceptibly. The money must be huge.

"They are asking for two billion dors."

A thick silence descended in the room.

What could be heard only was the deep heavy breathinging from both the two males in the room, and the third male on the other side of the phone. Itsted for a full minute.

"Two billion dors? That would create significant damage to thepany." Sandro finally spoke.

Ewan was too rippled with shock and anger at the turn of events.

Suarez concurred. "I told them, Mr. Sandro, but they threatened to hack into our storage unit if we don’tply."

Ewan inhaled sharply. Things were going from bad to worse. The only way to turn the tides was to convince the hackers.

"Can you patch the call to me? Can I speak with them?"

"Hold on, sir."

A shuffling ofwork and feet.

"Here sir, you are patched in."

Ewan took his lips in, and centered his mind. He was talking to his attackers.

"Hello, I’m Ewan Gietti, CEO of the Giettipany. Can you state your name, and why you are attacking mypany?"

No response greeted him, except static.

Ewan looked at Sandro. His assistant and friend shrugged his shoulders.

"Were you hired by Athena Caddell and Zane Patterson?"

Silence greeted him again.

Ewan was angry now. "Why did you agree to the transfer of call when you won’t speak!"

Static greeted him still.

He decided to wait it out. He didn’t have to wait long.

"You are a bad man, and you will pay for your crimes."

He heard some struggling in the background, even cusses, before the line went dead.

But that wasn’t what stopped Ewan cold.

What made him immobile for a minute was the voice he had heard. It was a child’s voice.

Was that a tactic of the hacker to disarm him?

"Ewan, I think you should call Zane’s father. Let’s hear what he would say. These people are bent on toying with us."

Ewan nodded soberly to Sandro’s advice. He was still hung up on the voice that was familiar, yet his mind was too full to remember where he had heard it.

Howbeit, he grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

Zane’s father answered immediately. "I just wanted to call you now, Ewan. Come to my house as soon as possible!"