Chapter 190: The Wiretap Exposed

Three days later, Rachel suddenly intercepted an important piece of information.

A major client was planning to release a new product soon, and they intended to collaborate with Supreme Creativity to design a series of concepts and launch an advertising campaign.

The creative budget for this client would reach millions of dollars.

Jimmy and Fernando took the matter very seriously. They held a meeting in Ethan's office and finalized a series of service plans for the upcoming collaboration.

Upon learning this news, Rachel immediately relayed it to her own company.

That very evening, she received a $20,000 advance payment.

It was clear the employer appreciated the information. If Rachel could gather more details, she could earn even more money.

Fueled with enthusiasm, Rachel spent a week eavesdropping and piecing together bits of conversations from Jimmy and various documents, gradually uncovering the overall picture.

It turned out Nokia was about to launch a new phone, the 3155 model. They had contacted Supreme Creativity to request a creative proposal for the U.S. market.

When Rachel first heard the word "Nokia," she could hardly believe it. After all, Nokia was unquestionably a giant in the mobile phone industry. Why would they seek Supreme Creativity for advertising?

But reality soon contradicted her assumptions. Nokia's advertising department head had already come to the company and met with Jimmy.

Using her Nokia phone, Rachel secretly photographed the individual and sent the image back to her company.

After some investigation, they confirmed he was indeed the head of Nokia's advertising department.

This corroborated everything Rachel had intercepted. Her employer promptly transferred another substantial sum of money, requesting more details about Supreme Creativity's advertising proposal.

Rachel suspected her employer had already quietly approached Nokia.

This wasn't the first or second time such a situation had occurred. Many potential clients Rachel had passed along to her employer ended up being poached in advance, causing Supreme Creativity to lose business without even knowing why.

However, Nokia's direct contact with Jimmy's office left Rachel with no opportunity to interfere.

No matter. She still had the wiretap. That night, she planned to sneak into the office to check the materials and uncover Supreme Creativity's proposal.

Night fell, and Rachel cautiously entered the office through a window. From a locked drawer in Jimmy's desk, she retrieved the proposal pricing sheet, took a few photos, and left the office unnoticed.

Back home, she received a call from her company.

"Rachel, you've outdone yourself!" her boss cheered over the phone.

"So, Bond, what's my cut?" Rachel asked, concerned only with the money.

"Once this deal is wrapped up, the employer will pay $150,000. You'll get $50,000."

"Now that is music to my ears!" Rachel exclaimed, throwing herself onto her bed. She stared at the ceiling. "Bond, when will I be done with this mission?"

"Why end it? Clients this generous don't come around often!" Bond sounded puzzled.

"But the pressure is enormous. I can't shake the feeling this is going too smoothly." It wasn't the first time Rachel felt this way. She was always worried about the consequences if her actions were exposed.

"Don't worry, Rachel. No one knows what you've done—except me. Trust me, I'll keep you safe. Oh, and let's meet this weekend."

"Why?"

"Because I miss you... babe."

"Fine, fine." Rachel agreed. It had been a while since she last saw her boyfriend. It was time to meet up for dinner.

Rachel's boyfriend owned the company she worked for. Officially, it was a business consulting firm, but behind the scenes, it operated as a commercial espionage agency.

The company was small, with each member embedded in major corporations. Other than her boyfriend, no additional staff were employed in the main office, making it more of a shell company.

Rachel, initially just a liaison, had to infiltrate Supreme Creativity personally due to their strict hiring requirements.

Fortunately, things had been going smoothly so far.

"Let's hope it stays that way," Rachel thought as she nervously made it through the weekend.

After meeting her boyfriend, the new week began, but Rachel noticed a sudden shift in the company's atmosphere.

"What's going on?" she casually asked one of the receptionist ladies, who was known for being in the know.

"No idea..." The receptionist was just as clueless. However, the hurried movements of staff and the incessant whirring of the printer suggested something unusual was happening.

Rachel felt secretly pleased, assuming her employer had successfully poached Nokia, causing Supreme Creativity to scramble for a backup plan.

But by late afternoon, she still hadn't seen Jimmy or learned what he was up to.

It wasn't until the end of the day that the company's front door suddenly swung open. Through the reflection of her makeup mirror, Rachel spotted Jimmy and Nokia's advertising head entering.

Rachel frowned. This didn't make sense. Shouldn't her employer have already secured Nokia?

Unless they decided the deal wasn't worth it and backed out?

Rachel was confused. She observed Jimmy's cheerful demeanor—it didn't seem like someone who had lost a collaboration. It looked more like someone celebrating success.

To investigate further, Rachel pretended to stay busy and remained in the office until 7 PM when everyone else had left.

As she prepared to leave, Jimmy and the Nokia representative exited his office, joined by several creative designers, laughing and chatting as they walked out together.

Rachel sent her boyfriend a text but received no reply.

Packing her things, she stepped out onto the street. Just as she prepared to hail a taxi, a black van sped toward her, stopping abruptly in her path.

"What the—?" Alarmed by the vehicle's sudden halt, Rachel instinctively knew something was wrong.

Before she could react, the van door slid open, revealing a young man with a battered, bruised face and a sock stuffed in his mouth. He groaned as he looked at her.

Tom stepped out of the van, and Rachel glared at him warily. "You're committing a crime!"

"Apologies, ma'am, but we're not criminals." A familiar voice sounded from behind her—Jimmy's.

Startled, Rachel turned to face him.

Jimmy's suit jacket was unbuttoned, his relaxed posture exuding an air of roguish confidence. "I'm just inviting you for dinner. As for him, he accidentally hurt himself and insisted on keeping the sock in his mouth. Don't believe me? Ask him."

Rachel glanced at the man in the van—her boyfriend from the weekend, now nodding frantically as if to confirm Jimmy's words.

"Damn it," Rachel muttered under her breath, realizing her operation had been exposed.

To prevent further harm to her boyfriend, she climbed into the van.

Tom and Jimmy followed, and the van drove toward Ethan's villa.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the villa.

Ethan, wearing loose cotton clothes and slightly messy black hair, appeared as though he'd just woken up.

Sitting on the couch and peeling an orange, Ethan motioned for Rachel and her boyfriend to take seats. Jimmy sat beside Ethan, while Tom stood guard nearby.

"Hello, Rachel—or should I say, Ms. Spy." Ethan broke the silence. "This is our first formal meeting."

"Hello, Ethan," Rachel retorted defiantly.

Ethan smiled, unbothered by her attitude. "And what's his name?" He gestured toward the bruised man.

Tom removed the sock from his mouth, allowing him to sputter and answer, "I'm Bond."

Rachel's expression remained stoic.

"Bond..." Jimmy chuckled. "Bond, as in Bond James Bond? Did you think we wouldn't uncover your name?"

"Uh... sorry, I didn't..." Bond's attempt to speak was interrupted as Tom delivered a hard punch to his stomach.

"Stop!" Rachel cried out, her voice met only with Bond's groans of pain.

"That's enough, Tom," Ethan waved his hand, signaling him to back off.

"Rachel, Bond, I won't waste too much time on you. From the moment you installed that wiretap, I knew about it. I let it slide because I wanted to identify your employer."

"And thanks to you, I remembered to install surveillance cameras in the office."

Jimmy opened a laptop, playing footage of Rachel's break-in and theft of the proposal.

Watching the video, Rachel's calm exterior crumbled.

There was no doubt this evidence could send her to prison.

But what frightened Rachel even more than prison was the thought of losing all her savings, leaving her penniless again—a situation she couldn't endure.

"So, what do you want?" Rachel asked, deciding to take the initiative. If Ethan hadn't called the police yet, he must have another plan.

"It's simple. First, give me your employer."

"You already know who it is," Rachel frowned.

"I'm not just asking about now—I mean every employer you've ever worked for. Surely you've kept records?" Ethan's smile was devilish.

"That's impossible!" Rachel protested. "If I do that, I'll be sued into oblivion by every major corporation!"

"Anything is possible," Ethan said, crossing his arms. "Do you think you won't already be buried in lawsuits?"

"Relax..." He raised two fingers. "I'm not looking to make enemies, only friends. Except for Crown Creativity..."

Hearing him mention their employer's name, Rachel and Bond couldn't help but press their lips together.

"Think it over carefully, Tom. Take them to a private guest room. If they haven't made a decision by midnight, call the police."

"Understood." Tom led Rachel and Bond away.

Now, only Jimmy remained in the living room.

"Ethan, what do you think of my idea?" He wore a proud smile, clearly feeling triumphant.

Ethan nodded with a smile. "Very clever, Jimmy. It seems you've become a competent manager now."

Jimmy had employed a clever trick this time. Nokia was indeed in discussions with Supreme Creative, but the collaboration was not in the United States; it was in China.

The U.S. operations had long been handed over to other companies.

So, when Crown Creative contacted Nokia to discuss U.S. business, Jimmy immediately realized which company was secretly hiring corporate spies to target them.

Crown Creative—a wealthy new competitor vying with Supreme Creative and Ogilvy for International United Media advertising channels.

They were the ones secretly poaching Supreme Creative's clients.

Fortunately, their reputation was still limited to New York and hadn't reached major clients like Nokia.

Otherwise, Jimmy's tactic might not have worked.

"But this really is Sieg's style," Ethan shrugged. "I remember back at IPG, he tried to hire corporate spies too, didn't he?"

"Exactly. Does he think we wouldn't find out?" Jimmy felt exasperated, thinking Sieg was too reliant on the same old tricks.

"Maybe he doesn't care if we find out," Ethan said, popping a peeled orange slice into his mouth. "After all, they haven't left any evidence, have they?"

"True, they've been extremely cautious."

In fact, Crown Creative had approached Bond and Rachel entirely anonymously.

Even the bank accounts used were personal and had no traceable connection to the company.

If not for a slip-up during their communication with Nokia, Ethan and his team wouldn't have been able to trace them back to Crown Creative.

And Bond and Rachel only had vague suspicions about their employer. After all, looking at where the poached clients had gone, it wasn't hard to guess who was behind it.

But guessing wasn't enough to prove Crown Creative was the mastermind.

"Sieg has learned his lesson," Ethan remarked with a smile.

"So what do we do next?"

"Simple. Use their own methods against them." Ethan glanced toward the guest rooms. "We'll see how cooperative those two are first."

Three hours later, Bond was the first to cave.

Compared to Rachel, the man clearly had less resolve.

To avoid jail and keep his assets, he agreed to Ethan's series of harsh terms and handed over all the evidence he had.

He even completely sold Rachel out, revealing everything about her and her background.

What he didn't know was that Rachel was just one door away.

Hearing her boyfriend betray her with her own ears, Rachel couldn't hide the disappointment in her eyes.

After Bond finished talking, Jimmy immediately had Tom bring Rachel out.

"I can't believe you're this kind of person," Rachel said angrily.

Bond's expression shifted dramatically, showing a mix of regret, humiliation, and resentment.

"If it were you, you'd do the same thing, Rachel. We're the same."

"No, I'm not like you!"

"Alright," Ethan clapped his hands. "I don't care whether you're alike or not. What matters now is that I need your help with something."

"Don't worry..." He held up two fingers. "As long as you do well, I'll reward you handsomely. Just follow instructions."

"No problem, sir! Whatever you need!" Bond replied eagerly, his tone subservient and his bruised face looking almost comical.

"I want to take down Crown Creative..."

Ethan revealed his plan to the two of them