Chapter Eight

Stephen Chu saw Rebecca Li as soon as he went inside the Cafe. he would have preferred not to see her, but in considering their relationship in the past, he eventually came here. Rebecca Li never got to know why Stephen Chu became apathetic to her. Since the party in Mr. Luo's house, he avoided her all the time. She was a rare chance to meet him, so she dressed up well for the visit. She looked very attractive and charming in the attire.

"Stephen, it's good to see you again." Rebecca Li stood up and said, looking glad, shy, and surprised - all the three at the same time. Hearing her words, Stephen Chu nodded without expression. With the same poker face, he caught a glimpse of her when he was lolling on the soft sofa.

Then he asked, "What can I do for you?" Stephen Chu was a person who always made firm decisions. He would never get attached to his former lover. He didn't need the love from the woman he did not love.

"Stephen, why don't you answer my calls? I miss you so much." Rebecca used her words carefully. The man in front of her was an ideal boyfriend, but he never made a commitment to her. Still, she didn't worry about that because she believed that Stephen Chu would belong to her sooner or later.

She knew that he would fell for considerate women, so she tried to be a person of generosity, tolerance, and love. She tried everything to stay with him. She was very proud to be the only woman who spent the longest time staying with him. But all of a sudden his son returned. She could not possibly imagine this to happen. Even worse, he became disenchanted with her. She began to feel frightened and hopeless, as she didn't know what's wrong with him.

"Rebecca, I thought you knew me. But I was wrong." Stephen Chu said these words in a calm voice. He avoided her because he knew what she thought of him. He didn't like manipulative women and the one who considered herself as the special girl to him.

"What did I do? Why did you break up with me? I want to know the reason. You know I can change myself for you." said Rebecca, her eyes grew moist and her lower lip trembled as she listened to his words. Her pale and shining looks attracted everyone but Stephen Chu. He still maintained his poker face without any expression. Although he was a passionate man, he was also cold on the other side. managing such a person would only hurt herself.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You are still beautiful and charming. I just lost interest in you.

Such cruel words came out from his thin lips. he didn't care about her feelings at all. His words came like a thunderbolt. Rebecca held on to her dress with unbelievable feelings, her face went very pale. It was difficult to accept the fact that she was not a special one for him. Still thinking about what Stephen just said, she caught her breath as tears filled her eyes.

"Why? Did you fall in love with your son's mother?" said Rebecca, in a shaky voice. She wanted to know which woman replaced her. Upon hearing words, Stephen Chu quickly turned serious, he looked at her with a stony, silent face. he sat very straight and said the cruel words again, "Rebecca, you have no place here. Don't think you are the only one for me. You don't deserve my love."

These harsh words made her pale face paler. Imbued with jealously and started, she would cogitate upon some means of revenge. If she couldn't get his love, no one could receive his love too. She stumbled backward at once with a terrified look on her beautiful face. But that facial expression disappeared soon after it appeared.

"Stephen, I will remember this! You'll regret the decisions you made." Rebecca said angrily. After saying these words, she ran out and soon lost in the crowds. Stephen Chu felt powerless as he rested his head on the sofa. Looking back on their relationship, he actually had a little thing for her. But he couldn't give her all she wanted. he had to destroy all her illusions about their relationship. They had a deal and each took what was needed. They were not responsible for each other as they could break up at any time, that was the deal. But she still fell in love with him.

"Hello, Mr, Chu nice to see you again. Is it destined?" A sweet voice interrupted Stephen Chu's thought. He raised his head and saw a woman with a sweet and smiling face. There was a softness in her fine and dark eyes.

"Ms. Brook. What are you talking about?" He was a little puzzled. he didn't know why this woman always said these disparaging words every time when they met with each other. "Huh? What do you think, Mr. Chu?" Claire said with a sweet smile, avoiding his provocation.

"I think you are trying to trap me. I don't remember that you have such interests, have you?" Stephen Chu caught a glimpse of her. "Mr. Chu, you are good at making jokes. Although I don't have a boyfriend, I will never have a crush on you." Claire said with a mocking smile. 'Fall in love with him? Are you kidding me? What a narcissistic person!' She thought to herself.

"Ms. Brook, are you lying." Ignoring her provocative words, he said to her with a sneer. "But you have to recognize that I'm an attractive one." He said slowly with a half-smile. It was impossible for him to make concessions. Claire gave him a sweet smile and fought back, "Mr. Chu, I don't doubt your charm. That's why you become a seducer." As a strong girl, She would fight with anyone who tried to bully her.

Stephen Chu didn't get angry but smiled, "Ms. Brook, don't be jealous. Although you don't have a chance to sleep with me, I can satisfy your sexual desire if you want." He said with a rakish and debonair look.

Claire couldn't calm down. She thought to herself, 'Unlike other men, Stephen Chu is a strong self- controlled person. he can say rude words with elegance. He's Satan in a smock!' She bit her lip and smile prettily.

"I'm afraid that you can't meet my expectation. You know I'm strict about this thing." After saying these words, she quickly left the cafe without seeing his face. Claire walked as she thought to herself, 'It's wise to leave there. I questioned his sexuality. he must be angry about this. it's too dangerous to stay with him. I don't know if he will do something bad.'

Stephen was increased in Claire's words. How dare she question his ability? He was never denigrated by other people. Although he was angry, he smiled as he saw Claire running out in a hurry. 'A paper tiger,' he thought.

Ariel's fingers moved quickly on the keyboard. He was deciphering the firewalls one by one. "Damn it! Which freak programmed these with so much complexity?" At Chu International Group, there was an air anxiety int the cybersecurity department. Since morning, someone was attacking the company's system. The programmers were trying their best to defend the attack. They were successful in blocking all the attacks but they could not trace the IP of the attacker. It was quite normal for Chu International though to be attacked by hackers, but those were all small temptations. This was the first time for them to meet a sustained attack like this one.

Yes, Ariel was attacking the system program of his father's company. He did not like that his father brought a woman to their house, even though she did not stay back. The incident made him curious. he thought Stephen would find something to make him busy so that he could flirt with other women and sleep with them discreetly.

Stephen was very depressed. Since this little guy came here, his whereabouts had always been found by him. He wondered who leaked his whereabouts to his son. No matter which woman he was dating, Ariel would call him again and again and find an excuse to fool him back. Finally, he managed to bring back beauty, but she was driven away by this little guy again. He was about to become a monk. He hadn't expected that having a son would lose so much welfare.

Ariel was very proud of himself. 'You are my mother's man. If other women want to be with you, they should first ask for my consent. Humph! Why are you such a playboy? You have no eye for beauty at all. How could you ignore my mommy who is such a beauty and instead flirt with other women?'

Ariel's finger moved faster and faster. His forehead was covered with sweat. Shit! ' Who was that freak?' he wondered. He was not let in and was fought out all the way back. The firewall he had breached was re-locked by a new set of instructions again.

Well! It was not someone else. it was his father. Like father like son! Why didn't you realize that you inherited his genes? How could you beat him? Although you were clever and talented, you were still young and naive in front of Stephen who was a big bad wolf. You could just be the little red riding hood.

Ever since the programmers reported that someone was attacking their internal program system, Stephen had been retreating step by step. On one hand, he asked the programmers to search from the IP address, and on the other hand, he made the hacker think that he succeeded and he fought back to breach his defense.

Ariel looked at his computer screen in disbelief. 'Damn it! Who is that? Why is it powerful?' "Boss we have found it. but the IP address is in our building and in Mr. Huang's office." The programmer looked at Alex in disbelief.

"What? Are you sure?" Alex became uneasy. Who was that? He was lucky that he had always been here, or he could not have proved his own innocence. So who could that be? Alex had no idea, either.

"Alex, who was in your office?" Stephen squinted. he hardly doubted Alex. But he found that someone was in his office who did not appear yet. 'Who? Your son, of course!' Alex said to himself. Suddenly his mouth was wide open and he looked at his boss in surprise. It couldn't be what he thought, could it? His boss' expression indicated that it was exactly was furious on Ariel's betrayal, 'Ariel, I have already told you to do this to me?' So the one who leaked the boss' whereabouts was not anyone else but you Mr. Huang.

Well, the evil we bring on ourselves in the hardest to bear. Alex felt trapped in this situation. Ariel was still struggling. he could not accept his failure. he was so immersed that he even didn't notice that there was a person standing behind him.

'Eh? Why didn't he fought back? Would there be any conspiracy?' "It's strange that you get in so easily, isn't it?"

"Yes! But there was a freak this time who chased me all the way just now." He answered promptly without even realizing what was happening. "What? Freak? Ariel Chu, do you know what you are saying?" Ariel suddenly realized what was happening. he was frightened by the gloomy voice near his ear. He turned back immediately and saw Mr. Chu's handsome face. 'Oh, my God! When did this guy appear?' he thought. He quickly covered the screen and said with a flattering smile.

"Daddy, are you done here with your work?" 'God! I am caught red-handed!' "What do you think? Am I done or not?" Stephen's voice sounded serious. As Stephen came to know that Ariel was attacking the system, he did not stop him. he let him in; he was keen to know what this little fella wanted to do. No one who attacked the system was the speed by Stephen. Ariel did not have the faintest idea about what happened to them. Stephen could overlook his pranks but the company's interest? Never! He tolerated his tricks on him and his dates, but he could not tolerate his lack of sense of priorities. "Daddy, I'm sorry." Looking at Stephen's gloomy face, Ariel knew that he was really angry now. he never saw his father so seriously even when he ruined his dates with other women.

"Go ahead! Tell me why did you do this?" He would do it again if he didn't know the seriousness. There was a sense of authority in Stephen's voice. "I shouldn't have attacked your system willfully just for fun knowing its consequences. I swear I won't do it again." Looking at his father's handsome face which was very serious, Ariel feeling wronged and started weeping immediately. he knew that Stephen had always been very nice to him and if he had not crossed the limits, he wouldn't have said a word. However, he forgot that Stephen was famous for his evil side.

Looking at his little white face, Stephen melted. He wanted to hold him in his arms. but he did not move and just looked at him quietly. How time flew! Ariel had been with him for almost two months now.

'Ariel has been busy with contesting me these days. This indocile little guy is around me all the time. He portraits his liking for me very much but I know what his real intentions are. In driving all the other women away from me. I wonder if his age can match his IQ.'

"Now that you know you are wrong, What should be your punishment?" Stephen's tone mellowed. "I know what to do." With these words, Ariel laid on his stomach and started to do push-ups. It startled Stephen. He reached down his hand and picked him up.

"Ariel, what are you doing?" he had no interest in the physical punishment of a child. "Didn't you ask me to do it?" Ariel asked, puzzled. "When did I ask you to do that?" Mr. Chu didn't remember saying that. "But when I do something wrong, mommy always asks me to do fifty push-ups as a punishment!" Ariel nibbled the lip and said under his breath.

Stephen was shocked. 'What a horrible woman! That is her son, not her soldier! Can such a little guy do fifty push-ups?' Well, Mr. Chu, you underestimated your son too much. Who was Ariel? He was Colonel Yang's son and had been trained in this way from childhood. It was barely a punishment for him to do fifty push-ups.

"Do you often do something wrong?" A flow of sadness appeared in Stephen's eyes. "Yes! Everyone teased me that I was a child without a father. And I fought with them for it every-time. Whenever the teacher told me about my fights to mommy, she would punish me." 'Err! It seems that I am to blame for his punishment.'

Stephen lifted up the little guy and gently rubbed his little face with a paper towel. His heart twitched. It was his cruelty to that woman that made his son suffer so much. 'But why did they never contact me even thought that know my whereabouts? Am I really that untrustworthy for them? If there hadn't been anything urgent this time, that stubborn woman would not have asked my help.' The thought made Stephen hold Ariel tightly in his arms. He thought if that woman deliberately let Ariel torture him, he must be thankful to her now. The presence of Ariel made him so happy and equally hurt for not being able to be with him till now. He kissed gently on his son's head, and his heart filled with mixed emotions of gratitude regret.

Alex closed the door gently. He had stood there listening silently. Seeing his boss in such a situation, he knew it was better not to bother him. he had worked with his boss for many years but never seen his vulnerable side like this. he knew that Stephen cared for his son who visited frequently nowadays. Stephen would drive Ariel by himself if there was nothing too important. he would not care, no matter how many women have driven away from him. He was angry today because Ariel had really crossed the limits.