All Chapters of From Useless Son-in-Law to Hacker King: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
10 chapters
The Birthday Humiliation
Lucas Grant stood outside the Wright family mansion, staring at the iron gates. He was late. Again. Through the windows, he could see everyone seated around the dining table. Grandmother Eleanor at the head. William and Clara. Robert with his girlfriend Jessica. Uncle Thomas. All dressed in expensive clothes, celebrating. And then there was Lucas. Standing outside in a cheap suit. Holding a small wooden box. The bus had broken down six blocks away. He'd run most of the way. Lucas took a breath and pushed through the gates. The moment he opened the front door, Clara's voice cut through the air like a knife. "You're late." His mother-in-law stood in the entrance hall, arms crossed. "The bus?" Clara's lip curled. "You took the bus to your grandmother-in-law's seventy-fifth birthday?" "I don't have a car." "Of course you don't." Clara walked toward the dining room. "Try not to embarrass us more than you already have." Lucas followed her inside. The dining room went quiet whe
The Blame Game
The dining room exploded into chaos. William paced back and forth, phone pressed to his ear. "I don't care if it's Sunday, get back to the office NOW!" Clara sat frozen in her chair, face pale. "This can't be happening." Uncle Thomas stood by the window. "Ten million dollars. Where are we supposed to get ten million dollars?" Robert was already on his feet, taking charge like he always did. "Everyone calm down. Panicking won't solve anything." "Calm down?" Clara's voice pitched higher. "Our company is being held hostage!" "Which is why we need to think clearly." Robert pulled out his phone. "I have a contact at CyberShield Security. They handle this kind of thing." William stopped pacing. "CyberShield? They're expensive." "Dad, our entire company is encrypted. This isn't the time to worry about cost." Robert was already dialing. Lucas sat in his corner, watching. Grandmother Eleanor looked confused. "What's happening? What's an encryption?" Nobody answered her. Robert steppe
Morning Routine of Humiliation
Lucas woke up at 5 AM. No alarm. His body just knew. Three years of the same routine had trained him like a dog.The room was dark. Cold. His bedroom used to be a study before he moved in. Just enough space for a single bed and a desk. The master bedroom was down the hall where Naomi slept. Alone. They hadn't shared a bed in three years.Lucas sat up, rubbed his face. He could already hear the house starting to wake. Footsteps above him. The heating system kicking on. The distant sound of the coffee maker someone had set on a timer.He got dressed quickly. Jeans. Plain shirt. Nothing fancy.Then he went downstairs to make breakfast.The kitchen was empty. Lucas moved through it like he'd done a thousand times before. Eggs. Bacon. Toast. Coffee. Orange juice. Everything laid out on the dining table by 6:30 sharp.Because if he didn't, Clara would have something to say about it.At 6:32, Clara came down the stairs.She walked right past Lucas without a word. Sat at the table. Picked up
The Family Meeting
Lucas heard the voices before he even reached the living room.Raised. Desperate. Angry.He stood in the doorway and took in the scene. William slumped in his armchair like someone had physically beaten him, his shirt wrinkled and untucked, tie hanging loose around his neck. The man looked like he'd aged a decade overnight. Clara sat on the edge of the sofa, a tissue clutched in one hand, her other hand twisted in her lap. Uncle Thomas stood by the window with his back to everyone, shoulders rigid.Robert paced. Back and forth, back and forth, like a predator in a cage.Naomi sat alone on the loveseat, staring at the coffee table like it held answers. She hadn't even changed out of her work clothes from yesterday. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, makeup smudged under her eyes.Nobody acknowledged Lucas when he entered. He took his usual spot near the door, close enough to hear but far enough away that they could pretend he wasn't there.William cleared his throat. "CyberS
The Question
Clara collapsed back onto the sofa, sobbing into her hands. "She's going to destroy us. Her own stubbornness is going to destroy this family."William sat in silence for a long moment, staring at the door Naomi had slammed. Then he spoke quietly. "Robert. Call Marcus. Tell him we're seriously considering his father's investment. But give Naomi some time to process this.""Time?" Clara looked up, mascara running down her face. "We don't have time!""We have thirty-six hours," William said. "If Naomi doesn't come around by tomorrow evening, then we make the decision for her."Robert pulled out his phone and walked toward the study, already dialing.Lucas slipped out of the room. Nobody noticed. They never did.He found Naomi in the hallway, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. She looked completely drained, like someone had pulled all the energy out of her body and left just a shell."Naomi," he said softly.She opened her eyes. "What?""Thank you. For not giving up on me."Na
The Bet
Morning came with the sound of shouting. Lucas woke to voices drifting up through the floorboards. Angry voices. Desperate voices. The family was already awake, already fighting about what to do next.He checked his phone. 9:47 AM. He'd only slept three hours after staying up until dawn working on Victor's encryption.But it had been worth it. He had what he needed now.Lucas got dressed and went downstairs. The voices got louder as he approached the living room."—absolutely insane if you think I'm going to just sit here and wait!" Clara's voice, shrill and panicked."What other choice do we have?" William sounded exhausted. "We gave Naomi until tonight to decide.""Tonight? We have twenty-four hours left! Twenty-four hours!"Lucas stepped into the doorway. The whole family was there. William looked worse than yesterday. Clara's eyes were red and puffy. Uncle Thomas stood in the corner. Robert sat scrolling through his phone.Naomi sat on the sofa, arms crossed, jaw set. She looked l
THE Delivery
At 5:30 PM, Lucas stood in the living room.The whole family had gathered again, drawn by the approaching deadline like spectators at an execution.Robert kept checking his watch. "Thirty minutes, Lucas. Where's this miracle money?""It's coming," Lucas said calmly."Right," Robert smirked. "Sure it is."Clara sat on the sofa, arms crossed. "I can't believe we're wasting time on this nonsense."William said nothing, just watched Lucas with that same unreadable expression.Naomi stood by the window, not looking at anyone.The minutes ticked by.5:40 PM.5:45 PM.Robert pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Marcus. This was a waste—"The doorbell rang.Everyone froze.Robert lowered his phone slowly.Lucas walked to the door and opened it.A man stood there in an expensive suit, carrying a metal briefcase. "Delivery for Lucas Grant.""That's me.""I need you to sign here, please." The man held out a tablet.Lucas signed. The man handed him the briefcase and left without another word.Lucas
Ghost in the Machine
Lucas locked his bedroom door and sat down at his desk.The encrypted laptop screen glowed in the dark room. His counter-hack was still running, still probing Victor's defenses, still mapping every vulnerability in the encryption.He had the backdoor. He had the kill switch. One command and all of Wright Industries' data would be restored.But he couldn't use it. Not directly.If Lucas just magically recovered the data, William would ask questions. Robert would ask questions. They'd want to know how. And Lucas had no answers that wouldn't reveal everything.He needed a different approach. Something that looked accidental. Like luck. Like CyberShield stumbling onto something they'd missed.Lucas pulled up the malware structure on his screen. Victor's work was brilliant, he had to admit. Layers upon layers of encryption, false trails, dead ends designed to frustrate anyone trying to break through.But Victor had one weakness. Pride.He'd left his signature all over this attack. Little f
Exposed
A loud knock on the door interrupted them. "Lucas!" Robert's voice, urgent. "Get out here. Now." Lucas opened the door. "What?"Robert's face was pale. "The hacker. He sent another message. You need to see this.".They rushed downstairs. The whole family was in the living room, gathered around William's laptop.William looked up when Lucas entered. "He sent an email twenty minutes ago. To the company's main address.""What does it say?" Lucas asked, though his stomach was already sinking.William turned the laptop so everyone could see.The email was short:**TO THE WRIGHT FAMILY:****I SEE YOU FOUND SOME MONEY. IMPRESSIVE. BUT DID YOU REALLY THINK I'D TAKE IT AND LEAVE?****THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT THE RANSOM.****YOU HAVE SOMETHING I WANT. AND I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL I GET IT.****12 HOURS REMAINING.****-V**"What does he mean?" Clara asked, her voice shaking. "What does he want?"Lucas felt cold. He knew exactly what Victor wanted.Him.Victor had never intended to take the money and lea
ZERO Returns
Lucas sat alone in his room, door locked, the world reduced to the glowing screen in front of him.His fingers moved across the keyboard with practiced ease. Muscle memory from years ago, coming back like he'd never stopped. Lines of code scrolled by, algorithms executing, digital pathways opening.This was who he really was. Not the useless son-in-law. Not the invisible ghost haunting the Wright mansion.Zero.The name felt strange in his mind after three years of burying it. Three years of pretending it didn't exist. Three years of being nobody.But tonight, he had no choice.Lucas pulled up the malware structure on his main screen. Victor's work stared back at him, layers of encryption wrapped around Wright Industries' data like a digital fortress.Beautiful, in a way. Victor had always been an artist with code. Where other hackers brute-forced their way through systems, Victor built elegant solutions. Sophisticated. Complex. Almost poetic in their construction.But Lucas knew Vict