“John? What happened?” Belle answered the phone quickly after seeing Frederick’s number on the screen. However, it was John who was calling and not the old De Clarion.
“Belle, are you busy?”
“No, I’m at home right now, I just woke up,” Belle glanced at the clock on her wall, it was already fifteen past ten in the morning.
“That’s good. Mr. De Clarion wants to know if you can come to the villa right now. He needs your help on something.”
Belle’s brows furrowed, “Mr. De Clarion who?” she asked.
“It’s the old De Clarion, little girl,” John told her, chuckling, as he already knew why she asked that.
According to Jacob, Belle’s been avoiding Tristan since the divorce. His son told him that they hadn’t seen the woman since she left the company.
Jacob also told him that they only happened to see her from afar. They waited outside the villa just to get a glimpse of her, as Tristan didn’t want her to see him as well.
“Alright, tell Grandpa I’ll be there in an hour.”
When John ended the call, she stretched out her body for a bit before jumping off of her bed. She then grabbed her towel and went straight to the bathroom.
After taking a bath, she just pulled a printed tee and ripped jeans from her closet, and put them on. She finished her look with her trusted sneakers and high ponytail.
Belle reached the villa in as short as 30 minutes, worried sick as to what Frederick needed her for. When she got in, John led her to the living room.
There she saw Frederick’s scowling face, chin resting on one hand while the other hand lazily taps on his laptop. The old man looked like he was almost ready to lose his patience.
“What happened?” she asked as soon as she sat down next to the old De Clarion.
Frederick didn’t even glance at her. Instead, he pointed at the screen of his laptop, pouting. “I think I’m rusty, I can’t do anything about this,” he sighed desperately.
Belle turned her attention toward the screen. From there, she can see a clear attack of ransomware. It’s on De Clarion Empire’s server.
“What’s the IT department doing?” she asked, clicking her tongue and feeling at a loss about what she was seeing.
“Unfortunately, they can’t do anything about it!” Frederick snorted, obviously mocking the company’s cybersecurity.
Belle turned the laptop towards her. She started working on it, fingers flying across the laptop’s keyboard. In just a few minutes, it was done.
“There!” She turned the laptop towards Frederick to show him the result.
“As expected of the youngest member of the White Jacks,” he said proudly, tapping the woman on the shoulder.
“Can I get some juice?” she asked Frederick, grinning. She hadn’t eaten or even drunk anything, as she was in a hurry to get to the villa.
Frederick nodded at her, “Please ask John to bring me some tea too.”
Belle quickly stood up and headed to the kitchen. “Hi John, again!” she giggled. “Can I have juice please?” she asked the butler, who was busy talking to one of the villa’s helpers.
John quickly got a glass to pour juice for her. “Anything else?”
“Ah! Grandpa wants some tea. Can I prepare it for him?”
The butler smiled and nodded. He then took the tea canister from the top shelf and prepared the cup and saucer for the tea as well.
While Belle was busy preparing, John couldn’t help but watch him with keen eyes. His stare landed on her wrist and he got curious. He couldn’t stop himself from asking her about it.
“Oh, this?” Belle stopped what she was doing and pointed at her wrist. “This is a birthmark,” she told him, grinning. “When I was seven, it was bright red. If you look at it closely, it’s like a rose petal stuck on my skin.”
She then moved her wrist closer for John to see. The middle-aged man nodded slowly, eyes narrowed on Belle’s birthmark.
He then realized that he had seen something like this in the past. However, no matter how he thinks about it, his memory fails to tell him when and where.
Jacob decided to dismiss the thought as it was making him feel frustrated. Instead, he started cleaning up after Belle, as the woman took the tea to the living room.
From time to time, the rose petal-like birthmark still pops in his mind. But he really can’t recall where and when he happened to encounter it.
“You’re really good at this,” Frederick couldn’t help but praise Belle after what she did.
He still can’t believe that Belle was able to solve it in just a few minutes. He even had a hard time figuring out the solution for two hours.
Belle smiled widely, “That’s really flattering, especially coming from someone I idolize so much,” glee and excitement were evident in her voice. “By the way Grandpa, I’ve been thinking, should I open my own cybersecurity company?”
“Hmm… You’re good at it, so why not? Maybe De Clarion could be your first client.”
“Really?” Frederick nodded at her. “I’ll try to look more into this. With the money I got from you, I can probably make my own company.”
“That’s a good idea! I can invest in it as well, if you need more funding. As you know, technology advances almost monthly, you’ll need more high-tech equipment to get the company going,” the old man told her.
Belle nodded at him. “I agree, back in Dale, although the company is rather a small one, they allot a huge budget for cybersecurity. I guess it’s really important for companies to have top-notch security, especially huge companies.”
Their conversation went on until Belle realized that it was already time for her to go home. The old man frowned, but he had no choice but to let her go.
Frederick even reminded and encouraged her regarding the company she was planning to start. He asked Belle to make sure she updates him on its progress.
When Belle was about to get into her car, Frederick didn’t forget to tell her to visit her more often. Belle agreed to his request and the old man was very happy.
In her car, Belle couldn’t help but think about what she talked to Frederick. ‘An investment from Frederick De Clarion would be great,’ she smiled, thinking.
After her conversation with the old man, she became more determined to get going with her plan. Starting her engine, she rushed home to begin her research on the company she was planning to start.