Chapter 117
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chapter 117
Chapter 117
The numbers on the screen jumped again.
And then-
They froze.
At first, no one noticed.
The hall was too tense, too focused on the final between Adrian and Evans Coles. Every breath felt heavy. Every second felt like it could decide everything.
But then a soft mechanical sound echoed.
Beep.
The bidding interface in front of Adrian flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the screen went dark.
At the same time, a ripple of murmurs spread across the hall.
“What’s going on?”
“My screen isn’t responding.”
“The system froze!”
Inside his booth, Adrian calmly looked at the black screen.
Kai frowned. “The system crashed?”
Across the hall, Evans Coles also noticed it.
His screen had frozen as well.
The hostess’s expression changed immediately. She raised her hand.
“Please remain seated. There seems to be a temporary technical issue.”
Several attendants rushed toward the control desk.
The giant display at the front of the hall began to flicker.
Numbers disappeared.
Then reappeared.
Then disappeared again.
The murmurs grew louder.
“This is the final round and the system crashes?”
“What kind of bank is this?”
“Is someone interfering?”
Evans’s eyes narrowed.
He slowly stood up.
This kind of thing did not happen by accident.
Not at this level.
Not at this moment.
He looked in Adrian’s direction.
Adrian was still sitting quietly, his posture relaxed, his face calm, as if none of this concerned him.
Too calm.
Evans’s gaze turned colder.
At the control desk, the technicians were sweating.
“We’re losing data synchronization!”
“The bid records are unstable!”
“The internal verification channel is being blocked!”
The manager hurried over, his face dark.
“What happened?”
One of the technicians swallowed. “Someone is trying to force access to the core system.”
The manager’s expression changed.
“An external attack?”
“Yes… and it’s not weak.”
The hall was starting to get restless.
The hostess quickly spoke into the microphone.
“Everyone, please stay calm. The bank will handle this immediately.”
But her voice could not fully suppress the growing unease.
Evans stepped out of his booth.
“Interesting,” he said coldly. “Your system chooses this moment to fail?”
The hostess looked at him. “Mr. Coles, please return to your seat. We are handling this.”
Evans smiled faintly.
࿄་ཚེ ་ ཇ ཚེ ཛ F ྂ
“I hope you are.”
Inside the control room, the atmosphere was suffocating.
The manager’s phone rang.
He looked at it.
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His hand tightened.
The Coles.
He hesitated for a second, then answered.
“Mr. Coles…”
Evans’s voice came through the line, calm but heavy with pressure.
“I don’t like accidents,” he said. “Especially not during important moments.”
The manager wiped his sweat. “We are investigating, sir. It seems someone is attempting to breach the system.”
“Find out who,” Evans said. “And find out now.”
The call ended.
The manager turned to the technicians.
“Lock everything down. Trace the source.”
“We’re trying!”
Then, suddenly, one of the technicians froze.
“I found something…”
“What?”
“There’s… a forced inquiry request inside the system.”
The manager frowned. “From where?”
The technician hesitated. “From… an internal authority channel.”
The room went silent.
“Internal?” the manager repeated.
“Yes. Someone used a high–level identity to request a deep verification on a specific account.”
The manager’s eyes darkened.
“Which account?”
The technician looked at the screen.
“Adrian’s.”
At the same time, back in the auction hall, the lights flickered slightly.
The big screen at the front changed.
A line of words appeared:
System verification in progress. Please wait.
The crowd erupted.
“Verification? What verification?”
“Is the bank checking someone?”
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“Is this about the supreme card?”
Sophia, standing among the spectators, felt her heart jump.
Her fingers slowly clenched.
It’s starting…
Catherine’s face turned pale.
Elena looked confused and uneasy.
Kai leaned closer to Adrian. “They’re checking you.”
Adrian nodded slightly. “I know.”
“You’re still calm?” Kai whispered.
“There’s nothing to panic about,” Adrian replied quietly.
Across the hall, Evans watched the screen, his eyes sharp.
His lips curved int
Let’s se
and silent.
reen changed again.
card authority…
ying identity binding…
rifying transaction history…
The technicians were holding their breath.
The manager’s palms were wet.
Even Evans was watching carefully
Finally-
The screen flickered.
New words appea
Verificatio
- er.
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The hall went completely silent.
For three full seconds.
Then
It exploded.
“What?!”
“No abnormality?!”
“So the card is real?!”
“That means…”
Sophia’s face turned white.
Her fingers trembled.
Impossible…
In the control room, the technician stared at the screen in disbelief.
“It… it’s clean. Perfectly clean.”
The manager slowly exhaled.
Across the hall, Evans Coles’s smile disappeared.
For the first time, his expression truly changed.
His eyes fixed on Adrian’s booth.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if trying to see him again for the first time.
Inside his booth, Adrian calmly looked at the screen.
Nothing changed on his face.
But Kai could feel it.
The air around them had shifted.
Evans no longer looked at him like a competitor.
He was looking at him like a mystery.
Like a threat.
The hostess took a deep breath and spoke again.
“The system has been restored.”
“The auction will continue.”
But everyone knew-
Something fundamental had already changed.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
