“Now that you have your own children, I heard that Jane is expecting twins. It’s such a joyous occasion. Shouldn’t you invite your mother to celebrate together?” Mike had ulterior motives for calling them over.
Jane interrupted, “Even if you invite her over and have her stay in the old mansion, aren’t you afraid of gossip from outsiders? You’re an old man living alone in the mansion with her.”
Jane’s words left Mike speechless, and his face lost its luster.
“I always thought you had a good temperament, so I wanted to discuss everything with you. But why do you speak so rudely?” Mike remained the same as before and didn’t seem particularly happy about Jane’s pregnancy.
He was just slightly more polite than before.
Jane stood up, ready to leave, and Patrick quickly stepped forward to support her.
“Grandpa, it’s your business if you want someone to come over. You don’t need to discuss it with us. If she comes back to the country and treats us the same way, then don’t blame me for sending both of you overseas.”
Patrick was ruthless and never left any room for compromise.
Mike had experienced this side of him before.
Watching their departing figures, Mike let out a long sigh.
He had gained nothing but frustration, and Jane was feeling uneasy.
“What does your grandfather mean by this? Is he planning to bring her back and oppose us again?” Jane had forgiven Beatrice for all the harm she had done, as long as she stayed overseas and didn’t cause any trouble.
But she didn’t expect Mike to appear out of nowhere and twist things around.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let her come back.”
“I hope so.”
The conversation ended on an unhappy note.
The next day, Patrick went back to the company early, leaving Finley and Anthony to take care of Jane.
Jane couldn’t fall asleep all night and kept thinking about the matter.
It made her feel extremely depressed and uncomfortable.
At that moment, the event organizers called.
They directly connected the call to Jane.
“Ms. North, we sincerely apologize. We really didn’t know that person was your disciple, and it was indeed an internal matter of the company. We hope you can delete that comment.”
The organizers’ tone seemed even more firm, appearing as if they were apologizing to Jane, but in reality, they wanted her to submit to them.
Just hearing their voices made Jane feel annoyed, so she hung up the phone without even responding.
Then she opened her computer and saw the apology statement released by the organizers.
They shifted all the blame onto internal management and didn’t take any responsibility. They even disregarded the final outcome.
Furthermore, they were willing to reissue the award to Anthony.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
The knocking at the door interrupted Jane’s thoughts.
“Come in!”
Anthony entered with a worried expression. “The organizers said they wanted to give me the award directly, but I refused.”
Jane gave him a thumbs-up.
“That’s my good disciple. You mustn’t lose your dignity for these trivial gains.”
The trophy itself wasn’t important to them; what mattered was the truth.
In front of Anthony, Jane called the organizers again.
This time, their attitude was somewhat softened.
“Let’s discuss this. How about we organize a new competition? What do you think?” Jane directly presented her conditions, making them consider it.
The organizers hesitated for a while on the other end. “We also know that the whole issue was a result of our poor internal management. We admit our mistakes and have taken the trophy back from the newcomer. Let’s forget about this competition. We can release a statement and directly give the trophy to Anthony.”
They received yet another reply like this, going back and forth.
Jane’s patience was wearing thin.
“Are you sure? I think this competition is important for your company to enhance its brand and reputation. You chose that newcomer probably because of their connection with your boss. But if you offend the entire hacking community over a small competition, do you think they will let it slide?” Jane sighed and continued.
“Do you think the entire hacking community will spare you? Is it worth losing more over something so trivial?”
Jane made her point clear and added a hint of threat at the end.
“Now, you only have two options in front of you: either rearrange a new competition or let the current situation continue to escalate.”
Jane never wasted time talking to unintelligent people.
The organizers needed to consider their answer.
Jane knew that one person couldn’t make such a big decision. They needed to discuss it thoroughly before reaching a final conclusion.
She glanced at Anthony and said, “Don’t be afraid when facing such situations in the future. Challenge them head-on. I want to see what tricks they can come up with.”
Anthony nodded silently.
The two of them sat beside the computer, watching the situation escalate.
Eventually, the organizers had no choice but to agree.
They released a statement and expressed their willingness to rearrange a new competition.
They thought the matter would end there.
However, the situation took an unexpected turn with the appearance of one person.
Marion, who had been hidden for years, suddenly left a comment on the organizers’ official website.
“I’ll be the referee.”
This move received applause from all the hackers.
They all knew that Marion had been the second-place winner for three consecutive years.
Jane had been the first-place winner, and now the top three participants were joining forces. This raised concerns about the fairness of the competition and attracted widespread attention.
Even the organizers themselves hadn’t anticipated this turn of events escalating to such an extent.
Jane saw the overwhelming support on the hacker’s website.
They all came forward to support Team Jane and Marion.
“With these two, who would dare to bully us hackers?”
“Don’t think we’re just behind-the-scenes workers.”
This time, Jane gave these hackers some face.
The competition was scheduled for the afternoon, and Jane, Anthony, and even Finley hurried to the venue.
On the way, Finley complained, “Why didn’t they find a better time to reschedule this competition? Just like that, it suddenly landed in the afternoon without any preparation time.”
Jane and Anthony exchanged glances. For them as hackers, they were already used to such situations.
Upon arriving at the competition venue, they noticed that many fans were also gathering.
As they made their way to the inner area, the organizers’ representative came out to greet Jane.
They were escorted to the VIP room.
“It’s been a long time since we last met,” the representative said with enthusiasm.
“We have already met, haven’t we?” Jane replied.