The Strong-Willed Sean O'Connor

CHAPTER 7

Fuu…

Sean ended the call with a sharp exhale. He slammed the phone down, crossed his legs, and folded his arms as he stared out the window.

He shouldn’t have answered—it was inevitable. But she would’ve just kept calling. What a drag.

At that moment, the car came to a halt. Victor stepped out and opened the back seat for him.

“We're at the company now, Mr. O’Connor.”

Sean gave a nod and stepped out, following Victor into the building. The lobby buzzed with activity, but something felt off.

“Security team,” Victor muttered, pushing through a door into a high-tech control room.

Inside, the techs were frantic, eyes glued to their monitors.

Greg, the Chief Security Officer, turned toward them. “Mr. Stroud, you’re finally here. We’re under attack. Someone’s hacking into our systems—origin unknown.”

Victor didn’t panic. “How long until you lock them out?”

Greg’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “A few minutes... but we may already have a breach.”

A young woman sprang from her seat. “Since you’re here, elder brother, is there anything you can do?”

It was Abrill Stroud, Victor’s younger sister—a cybersecurity student at one of the top universities. Despite her skills, she was no match for the hacker attacking their database. She had tried everything. Nothing worked.

She turned to Victor. “Did you bring the expert who can handle this? Most of the people here can’t do a thing. No improvements either.”

The experts stiffened, taken aback by her bluntness.

Victor ignored the tension.

One of the experts, a man in his forties, turned, his face red. “We’re doing everything we can! You think this is easy? This isn’t some university project, miss!”

Abrill stepped forward, unfazed. “And yet here you are—getting crushed by a hacker you can’t even trace.”

Murmurs rippled through the room.

The expert sneered. “Big talk for a student. You think you could do better?”

“I know I could,” Abrill snapped. “If I had better tools—and if half the team wasn’t busy covering their failures!”

The man’s fists clenched. “Listen here, you little—”

“That’s enough,” Victor cut in sharply, pissed that the experts were arguing with his sister—especially since she was right. “I brought someone to handle this.”

He gestured to Sean. “This is Mr. O’Connor. He’ll be taking over.”

Heads turned toward Sean. Even those farther away stood up, curious to see the man bold enough to take over.

“Mr. O’Connor?” Abrill raised her brows, locking eyes with him.

She knew most of the top experts in cybersecurity but had never heard of him. Still, there was something about his calm, steady presence that made her pause.

‘Was he really capable of handling this?’

“Do you really mean what you said about him taking over?” Greg asked, eyes wide.

Like Abrill, he knew the industry. He understood that handling a breach wasn’t just about knowledge—it was execution under pressure. A known expert would’ve been safer.

“Yes. He’s taking over,” Victor said firmly.

Abrill frowned. “I’ve never heard of him. If he’s really that good, he’d be famous—someone like that wouldn’t go unnoticed.”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at. Mr. O’Connor was recommended by Mr. Calloway, and I trust his judgment. He wouldn’t send someone who couldn’t do the job. So please, watch your words in front of our guest.”

Sean, the man they were discussing, stood silently, letting them talk.

Victor hadn’t seen his skills firsthand, but he trusted Richard’s recommendation.

“You!” Abrill snapped, turning to Sean. “Are you sure you can handle the hacker? How long have you been in the field?”

Sean glanced at her, unreadable. “Long enough.”

“Long enough?” Abrill echoed, taken aback by his flat tone. “Everyone here has years of experience—and none of them could fix it. Are you sure someone as young as you can pull it off?”

“Abrill, that’s enough,” Victor warned.

“Brother!” she shot back. “He doesn’t even look like he can do anything! These experts can’t fix it—what can a rookie possibly do?”

“If you keep talking like that, I’ll have to ask you to wait outside while Mr. O’Connor works,” Victor said coldly.

Abrill stiffened but didn’t respond.

“Then he should prove he can actually deal with the hacker,” she said sharply, ignoring Victor’s glare.

She refused to believe that someone unknown in the industry could outperform seasoned professionals.

“Abrill…!” Victor yelled. “I said you should—”

Sean raised a hand, silently stopping Victor. He turned to Abrill. “So, how do you want me to prove myself?”

Abrill narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Show us something. If you can detect the hacker’s location—or even a hint of it—it-within the next five minutes, I’ll step aside. But if you fail, I’ll be the one taking charge.”

Victor clenched his jaw but didn’t argue. Sean’s calm expression stopped him.

“Just that?” Sean asked.

“You can’t even do that? Afraid we’ll expose you as a fraud? If you can’t handle something so simple, leave. Don’t waste our time,” Abrill sneered.

Some experts murmured in agreement. They were tired of being pushed aside for someone they didn’t know.

Sean gave a faint, almost bored smile. “Alright.”

He stepped forward. The others parted, skepticism in their eyes.

Sean pulled a slim laptop from the table, flipped it open, and connected to the main server with a few swift keystrokes.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, windows flashing rapidly. No hesitation. No second-guessing.

Silence fell. Tension thickened.

Two minutes in, Abrill crossed her arms. “I knew it. He’s just pretending—”

“Got it,” Sean interrupted.

Everyone froze.