Chapter 66: Chapter 66 Powerful hacker
"She took the bullet?" Giovanni asked.
"Yes. One of the snipers aimed at Leonardo, but the girl ran in front of him at the last second. She was hit in the shoulder."
Giovanni hummed, running a hand through his dark hair.
The assistant continued, "She’s still at Leonardo’s estate. They’ve tightened the security. And we confirmed—Leonardo ordered a personal manhunt for the sniper who got away. Not through the mafia network, but through his private channels."
That made Giovanni still.
Leonardo never chased after small fish. He let his enemies crawl away bleeding and dealt with them later. But this time, he was personally involved.
A smirk started tugging at Giovanni’s lips.
"So cold-blooded Leo finally has a soft spot," he said, tapping the photo. "He lets his guard down for her."
★★★
And finally... Isabella felt free again. It wasn’t that she hated resting, but being stuck in bed for so long had made her restless like a little bird in a cage. Luckily, Leonardo had gotten busy with something lately—thank goodness because otherwise, he had been appearing in front of her so much these days that she felt like she’d seen him more in one week than in the last two months combined.
It had been a week since the incident, and her arm was finally healing well. The pain had dulled, and the bandage was thinner now. She still wasn’t supposed to move around too much, but today, she simply couldn’t hold back anymore.
Isabella tiptoed into the kitchen with a bright grin and a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
"I’m going to bake cookies!" she announced happily.
The head chef, who had been slicing vegetables at the counter, nearly dropped his knife. He turned to see her rolling up her sleeves, already pulling out ingredients from the shelves.
"Ma’am—please!" he rushed over, his hands flying up in panic as he watched her grabbing the flour. "Your arm! At least give yourself one more day to rest!"
"Don’t call me ’ma’am’!" Isabella pouted as she tilted her head with a playful smile. "Call me Bella! Ma’am sounds like someone old. Besides, I don’t like sitting around doing nothing. It makes me feel like I’ll forget how to breathe!"
The chef let out a helpless sigh, watching her like a worried big brother. "Miss Bella... this is the third time you tried to sneak in here this week."
"I wasn’t sneaking," she said, giggling like a child who just got caught stealing candy and with that, she clapped her hands together and declared, "Now hand me the chocolate chips. The world needs cookies. And I need the smell of warm butter and sugar to feel alive again."
The kitchen staff shared quiet glances but eventually gave in with soft smiles. It was impossible to stop her when she smiled like that.
Isabella happily stood by the kitchen counter, her sleeves rolled up and her cheeks dusted with flour as she carefully placed the last batch of chocolate cookies onto the tray. The sweet smell of warm cocoa and vanilla filled the air, wrapping around the room like a cozy blanket.
She made enough for everyone, every single staff member and guard she remembered by heart. Even the grumpy ones who rarely spoke. She even made extra for Jay Jay and Theo. Jay always deserved cookies and Theo, well, even if he didn’t let her play the guitar properly during their last lesson, he still came to teach her. That counted.
In the back of her mind, she thought about EliVFX Studio. She had messaged them saying she was sick, and they had kindly replied, "Get well soon, Bella. We’ll wait for you. Let’s meet again when you’re better." That made her smile like a soft petal blooming in spring.
Even though she wasn’t hacking much these days because of her injury, she did sneak in a few quiet moments with her friends on Hackerverse. She used voice-to-text to chat,
The timer dinged and pulled her back to the present. She carefully pulled the tray from the oven, golden-brown cookies perfectly baked and slightly crispy on the edges.
"Cookies: success," she whispered happily.
After her little cookie distribution mission, Isabella felt oddly satisfied. Even the cold-faced guards who never smiled–those men who looked like walking statues didn’t forget to take a cookie from her. One of them even gave a tiny nod. Just a small one. Barely noticeable. But to Isabella, it felt like she had cracked a secret level in a video game.
With a soft smile and light steps, she made her way back to her room.
Once she entered her room and closed the door behind her, the silence greeted her again.
Jay Jay hadn’t come to visit in days.
She pouted slightly, sitting by the window with her knees tucked up. "He’s been busy again," she mumbled to herself.
She knew he was training. It was mafia business..
She hope he is okay because he always came injured.
Sometimes his fingers are bruised, sometimes there’s bandage on his head. But he always smiled like fool and said, "I’m fine, it’s just small scratch."
She know he is lying.
Her lips pressed together as she hugged her pillow tighter.
After overthinking a lot, Isabella finally gave up lying around and pulled her laptop closer. She opened it with a sigh and started doing some small task hacking—nothing too intense, just basic stuff from a few regular clients.
When she checked her digital wallet, the numbers stared back at her.
$49,239
That was it.
Her brows furrowed a bit. It wasn’t bad, but for someone who could break through the government firewalls blindfolded, it was... kind of low.
But then again, hacking wasn’t like some magic money tree. It’s not like she could just tap a button and become rich. She never did illegal stuff for fun. She avoided dark web jobs unless absolutely necessary. If the request didn’t sit right with her gut, she would rather starve than accept it.
Most of the time, her income depended on the client’s mood and budget. If the bid was low, she accepted it anyway. She wasn’t in this game for greed.
Just for survival... and a little revenge.
And for her digital shop, she had a totally separate account.
When she opened that dashboard, her eyes lit up.
$15,238.
A proud little smile appeared on her face. She hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin as the number blinked back at her. This felt earned. Every bit of it. Slowly, but steadily.
She felt happy. Not just because of the money, but because now... she could finally pay Leonardo back.
Maybe not all at once, but step by step. She didn’t want to owe him anything...not even the ring.
It’s not like he ever asked for repayment. But still, she knew that kind of feeling. That weird, heavy guilt when someone helps you and you don’t know how to return the favor. When you’re constantly reminded that you’re relying on them.
So even when Leo scolded her, or acted cold, she never answered back. She just stayed quiet because in her heart, she felt like she didn’t have the right.
Not yet.
***
At the same time, Leonardo was quietly watching. Observing like a hawk, but without making it obvious. He had already marked a few names on his private list.
Theo.
A couple of maids.
And some guards.
People he didn’t fully trust yet.
The sniper who had shot Isabella was already caught and rotting in his private basement, tied, gagged, and nearly forgotten. But the real trouble wasn’t him. It was Pablo—the Mexican mafia boss who just wouldn’t die down.
Even though someone had crushed his base to pieces and wiped out a good part of his system, Pablo had somehow slithered his way back. He’d joined hands with some unknown mafia group. Like a cockroach crawling out of rubble, he returned stronger and smellier.
But what annoyed Leonardo more than Pablo’s comeback... was the leak.
Someone from inside the mansion was still feeding him reports. Movement details, routes, timings–everything. That’s how Pablo had known about the forest route.
But here was the problem—Leonardo had been watching each suspect closely. Had installed extra surveillance. Even monitored digital traces. But none of them did anything suspicious.
Not a single slip-up.
And that only made his gut twist more. Because either the mole was extremely smart...
Or hiding in plain sight.
"Have you found who destroyed Pablo’s base?" Leonardo asked in a cold voice, not even lifting his eyes from the file in his hand as the man entered his office.
The man straightened up and nodded with hesitation. "No, Boss... not yet. But whoever did it is a powerful hacker. It wasn’t some random attack—it was a precise strike on their core systems. Pablo must’ve pissed off someone real bad..."
Leonardo’s jaw tightened slightly, his fingers tapping the table. The room went silent for a second, only the low sound of the AC filling the space.
"If we manage to find this hacker and bring them to our side..." the man continued, a bit of hope in his tone, "we might be able to wipe Pablo out completely."
Leonardo’s eyes lifted, sharp and dangerous.
"Try again," he said flatly. "And this time, don’t come back until you find out who the hacker is."
"Yes, Boss," the man said, bowing slightly before turning to leave.
Leonardo leaned back in his chair, thoughts swirling in his mind.
A hacker who could silently destroy Pablo’s base like that? Interesting.