Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 433

Riverdale, Silver Heights

Krystina walked through the front door, her heels sinking into the plush carpet. There was Ollie again, playing quietly by himself in the middle of the living room, his little toys scattered everywhere. The sight made her blood boil.

Where was her husband? He was supposed to be home with their son. Instead, he’d vanished—again.

She yanked out her phone and dialed his number, but it just rang and rang. No answer.

“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath, jaw tight. Frustration buzzed through her as she stormed into the study, ready to fire up her laptop and track him down herself.

But as soon as the computer booted up, a glaring warning flashed across the screen.

Warning! Your private bank account is under attack!

Krystina stared, stunned.

Who had the nerve to go after her account?

Her expression hardened. She dropped into the office chair and started typing furiously, launching a rapid counterattack.

But then, right as her firewall clashed with the hacker’s, she caught something off—a signal that wasn’t like any attack she’d seen before.

It didn’t feel like a hack at all. It felt like… a call for help.

Her heart raced as she leaned in. That encryption—it was Reed Cipher. Her mentor’s secret code. No one but her, her mentor, and maybe her junior apprentice should know how to use it.

Krystina quickly separated out the strange signal and started decoding.

.--....-.---..---/-...-----/--.......----/.-----/.-...----/--.----.--.

It translated to: Help me. Find my husband.

The color drained from her face. She immediately tried to trace the signal, only to hit a digital blockade—one of the toughest firewalls she’d ever seen.

“Shit,” she hissed.

She didn’t waste time—fired off a group message to her inner circle: Everyone online, NOW. I don’t care what it takes—pin down this address!

At the same time, she snatched up her phone and dialed the South Bay Fire Station.

“Hello? South Bay Fire Station? I need James. It’s urgent—life or death!”

The dispatcher double-checked, realized this was about Emmy’s disappearance, and didn’t hesitate for a second. “Don’t hang up. I’m connecting you now!”

Krystina didn’t know she was working with the military—she just knew this was her best shot at saving her junior apprentice.

Her team of pro hackers synced up with the military’s top techs, launching coordinated strikes on the enemy firewall.

But they were careful—not going all in at once. They’d push halfway, then pull back, attack again, all while Emmy did her best to buy them time from the inside.

In her bunker, Emmy could tell that someone was closing in. She dragged things out, stalling, pretending to struggle with the code.

Whenever the tech guy watching her got annoyed, Emmy would let the attackers seem to break through, acting desperate, making it look like she was barely holding them off.

Between all the digital crossfire, she even caught another Reed Cipher message coming in.

But she couldn’t risk stopping to decode it. If she slowed down, the man behind her would know something was up.

All she could do was play along, making this hacking war look like a life-or-death struggle.

Every minute crawled by.

Finally, the guy behind her spoke, his voice cold and suspicious.

“What’s taking so long? Are you stalling for time?”