The Master Programmer-Chapter 184: The Burly Betrayer 2

"And that money and advice you gave me after everything happened… was it just a way to ease your conscience? To give your little nephew some chump change while you pocketed millions? Dirty money?!"

Ivan opened his mouth to protest, but Jason raised a hand to silence him. "Save it. I don’t need your excuses. I trusted you once, Uncle Ivan. That was my mistake."

Jason’s technique was subtle but devastating. He paused after key accusations, giving Ivan no time to mount a defence. His tone varied—cold when stating facts, sharp when delivering accusations—keeping Ivan off balance. By framing his betrayal as a personal failure, Jason shifts the guilt squarely onto Ivan’s shoulders, making him even more emotional and guilty.

"Jason, listen," Ivan began, but his voice cracked under the weight of his guilt.

Jason smirked, his eyes glinting with triumph. "No, you listen. If I ever see you again, I’ll destroy you. If you have even a shred of decency left, you’ll stay out of my way."

With that, Jason turned and strode out of the office. Ivan slumped back in his chair, beads of sweat forming on his brow. His trembling hand reached for the phone.

If Jason meant what he said, he was going to go down. He had to do something.

After all, he was a key witness and if he was outed by the Crosses in a moment of desperation, everything would go to shit.

Damn it...

Everything he built. Everything he stood for. All of it was riding on this moment. He needed to make sure to give himself time and moments to deal with the situation.

After a moment the other end of the line picked up and he began speaking into it. "Frank," he whispered. "We have a problem."

— Meanwhile, outside the Office Building —

Jason didn’t look back as he exited the building. Since his "Uncle" was so useless, then he might as well look for a different option… as for better options, why not pick one that looked promising?

Jason got into his car in the next moment, and as it revved into life, he drove off speedily. He headed across town to a rival law firm, one known for its ruthlessness and disdain for Ivan’s practice.

The receptionist, a striking blonde in a fitted suit, led him to a private conference room. "Mr. Cross," she purred, her red lips curling into a smile. "Ms Sinclair will see you now."

She knew who this was, after all, he was now known as the Director of Reno Ventures, and a rich person, whose money’s origin was unknown. But from the car he drove, she could tell that he was a man of class. And men of class deserved very special attention.

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Jason entered the room to find Ms. Sinclair seated at a sleek glass table. Her long legs were crossed, and her fitted pencil skirt accentuated her curves. Her piercing green eyes locked onto Jason as she smiled.

"Jason Cross," she drawled, her voice smooth as silk. "The son of the Cross Family… you look just like your father, you know…" She said in a bit of a sad reminiscence.

"You know my father?" Jason said as he sat down.

"Knew him? I almost became your mother at one point haha! But that was a long time ago… Never mind all that, tell me… To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Mother?! Jason shook his head. It seemed his father was a very famous handsome young man at some point.

Jason placed the folder on the table and leaned forward, his confidence palpable. "I have something that could make your career… and destroy Ivan’s."

Ms. Sinclair arched an eyebrow, her interest piqued. She opened the folder, her red-painted nails flipping through the pages. A slow smile spread across her face as she closed the folder and leaned back in her chair.

"Well, Mr. Cross," she said, her voice laced with intrigue. "It seems you’re making a comeback."

Jason’s smirk deepened. "Let’s call it justice."

The two locked eyes, the air between them charged with anticipation. But before Ms Sinclair could respond, Jason’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and frowned.

The message was brief but chilling:

[Jason, we know what you have.]

[The Documents... And the Neural Flux Pill... We’re not the only ones who want it.]

[What do you think will happen if we spread your connection to it?]

[Do not push us to a corner.]

Jason’s grip on the phone tightened as his jaw clenched, but he had a smile on his face as he did that though. He felt no fear of this. All he felt was excitement. Ms Sinclair noticed the shift in his demeanour.

"Something wrong?" she asked, her tone light but her eyes sharp.

Jason slipped the phone back into his pocket and straightened. "Nothing I can’t handle," he said, his voice steady. "Now… let’s talk about how we’re going to make this happen…"

Ms SInclair smiled. "Okay, then Mr Cross… So this is how we’re going to go about this so that this ends as quickly as possible..."

Jason listened to everything she was saying, even adding some insights of his own just to move things forward, and at the end of it, Ms Sinclair found herself extremely impressed with Jason’s expertise and business ability.

They were going to take this to court, and then ask for a plea agreement. That was the opportunity Jason was looking for to make sure that he took back everything plus a bit more, and if he did that he might even leave them with nothing. There was no way Jason was going to lose this. But as he left the law firm and stepped into the night he received another message.

[Jason you will regret this.]

Regret? The only thing Jason partially regretted was sharing blood ties with those kinds of people. Other than that, Jason regretted nothing. He was a man of action, purpose and wisdom. He knew what to do and how to do it.

[Try me.]

After sending that message, Jason got in his car, knowing that things were only going to go uphill from there. The Cross family wasn’t going to let him walk away with their secrets… and neither was Ivan. He must have told them. That proved his connection to them.

But Jason was not afraid. He wanted to see just what they were going to do to him.

Jason drove into the road, a smirk on his face, even while knowing that things were going to get messy from now on. But still. He was not too worried. He had Jack in his back pocket. With that man working for him, then he was going to win.

The original will was with the lawyers, and he had a copy with him just in case, poised to wreak havoc on the remnants of the Cross family. But Jason had no time to dwell on their impending ruin. Today was about smoothing things over with Troy. And about finding out what was really going on with the women in his life.

Troy had helped him out in the morning with Emily’s situation and now Jason had to go over to grab Emily from that man’s hands before he forced Emily to become some geisha girl who was belly dancing and doing body shots or something. But just as he was heading over, something happened.

A notification buzzed on his phone, drawing his attention. Marcus, the man Jason had tasked with looking into Mia’s sudden aloofness, had delivered an update:

[Mia’s parents are trying to set her up with a family associate.]

[Lunch meeting at La Belle’s, 1 PM.]

[What should I do boss?]

Jason’s smirk faded as he leaned against his sleek black sedan. A surge of irritation rippled through him.

What the hell, Mia...

Mia, the fiery, brown-haired receptionist who had once melted under his touch, was being paraded before another man. How annoying…

Her parents had better make sure to give him an explanation for this kind of bullshit.

But still, there was a complication. Was Mia worth the effort and investment? As far as Jason was concerned she was not really in it for the long haul. Or rather she had not really stated the possibility of her having any real intentions to develop the relationship she had with Jason.

Was it really okay for Jason to invest in her like this?

He clenched his jaw. He was overthinking it. It was not about her anyway. Jason had never been the type to let something—or someone—he’d claimed slip through his fingers. Since she was his now, she had better be his for the rest of her life.

Thinking this far, Jason smirked. He knew what he was going to be doing right now. Luckily, he was not so far from La Belle’s.

[It’s okay.]

[Tell Troy I’ll be visiting him.]

[I’ll handle the rest on this side.]

After sending those messages, Jason hit the gas, the engine growling as it devoured the city streets.