Nathan’s P.O.V.Ethan Croft.Just hearing that name was enough to make my jaw clench.I had known him for barely two days, yet he had already ruined one of the most important nights of my life.A nobody…. An orphan with two siblings to take care of.Harmless on the surface, but deep down…I stared at his slumped shoulders as he continued working on his assignment.I knew that he was keeping vigilance on me.The way a mother keeps vigilance on her naughty child.The way a guard keeps vigilance on the cruelest criminal inside the cell.He was literally giving so much attention to his so-called gut feelings.Gut feelings my a**.I had all his information, but it became a waste the second he stopped me from going out tonight.[sage1: What did it suppose to mean, sage? You know how important this deal is to us?]I groaned in frustration, glaring at the boy’s back who ruined tonight for me.[me: I can’t come, and that’s it. Send someone else to finish the job.]I replied and threw the phone

Ethan’s P.O.V.“If you have something to ask, ask like you always, Iris. I am still your brother.” I said to Iris, who had been stealing glances at me throughout lunch.I felt a squeeze in my chest when she stiffened.I missed my sister, who yelled at me, whined whenever she felt wrong, and talked nonstop if she had something to tell me.She was still silent.I sighed and looked at Walter.He was also looking at Iris worriedly.I put down my spoon and took Iris’s hand in mine.This time, she didn’t flinch like she started doing after my rebirth.“No matter what I do in the future, or what I did in the past, Iris, I will stay your brother forever,” I said to her in a serious tone.Her fingers trembled slightly in my grip.Her eyes were still lowered.“I know what I did has scared you, Iris, but this is the real world. I don’t care what happens to me, but I will never let anyone hurt you two. Not on my watch.” I continued but paused when her lips quivered.I could see tears hanging on h

Third Person’s P.O.V."Everything is under control, Mr. Dickson. You don't worry. No one will get a whiff of your dealings in that casino. You have our words." Brandon replied to someone over the call, sounding patient, but I could see his face changing color from red to black.I didn't feel pity for him, though. For the past three weeks, things haven't been going well with our operations.He almost threw his phone on the desk after finishing the call.“We lost billions in just two weeks, boss, and we still don’t know what exactly happened in those three casinos.” Brandon, my deputy, spoke to me in a pissed tone, going through some data on his laptop.I didn’t pay attention to him but continued looking at the recording of the previous three cyber-attacks on three of my casinos.They weren’t that big, but they were still worth millions.My fingers continued drumming at the edge of my desk softly.For the past five days, I had watched these recordings to understand the pattern and also

Ethan’s P.O.V. (Continued)The system screen took the worst time to appear in front of me.[the countdown begins]It announced in a cold and mechanical voice, and a digital clock started a slight over my head.Damn it.I glanced at the right corner of my laptop and grimaced.It was exactly midnight.For a few seconds, my fingers froze on the keyboard.I was skilled, but not skilled enough to do two totally different tasks of hacking and erasing traces at the same time.Not when the person opposite to me was that man with rings.Not when a timer was ticking right over my head.Once again, I was in a dilemma about what to do first.The man was now searching for the footage, too.If I leave this right now, I will be caught by him, and then he will turn the world upside down to find me.If I leave the mission right now, the system will punish Iris.It felt as though someone had deliberately cornered me from every direction.The timer floating above my head continued its merciless countdow

Ethan’s P.O.V.My face almost fell on the toilet seat after I finished vomiting the fifth time after finishing the mission.No strength was left in my body by now.Still, I used the last ounce of strength to flush the toilet but saw stars in front of my eyes.So, instead of trying to get up, I moved away from the toilet seat and lay down on my back.I must have looked pathetic lying on the bathroom floor, but I didn’t care about the image.I only wanted to catch my breath and to regain some strength so that I could get up.“The last four minutes were so intense that my head started spinning in the end.I managed to finish the mission, but not on my own.But with the help of that User-Z.Now I was facing the backlash of using the system’s help to finish the mission.Means using those codes.Nothing comes for free, and the system proved it in its weird way.I didn’t open my eyes when I heard the bathroom door open.“Give me a few more minutes, Mr. Campbell. I need to clean up.” I said t