Chapter 90 You’ll Always Be My Student
Tilda had never broken a promise to Una. No matter how impossible it seemed, no matter how steep the odds – if she said she’d do it, she did.
“I told you, even if the whole damn world turns its back on you, I’ll believe you. I’ll stand right by your side. And I won’t forget the promise I made either. Tilda, you swore you’d walk away from the Jensons, live free, and chase whatever makes you happy. No more hurt. Not even a scratch.”
“I will,” Tilda whispered, and switched off her phone.
Tilda pressed her palm to her chest. She stepped to the floor-to-ceiling window. The city glittered outside, bright and alive. Even with the court case looming and her break from the Jensons final, fear never touched her. Because now she had people worth protecting – friends who never flinched, who stood unshakably in her corner.
“Maybe it’s time Andy met Una.”
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
For a moment, she hesitated. She’d been debating whether to let Una meet Andy. After all, Andy lived half his life in the shadows of the dark web. Una was pure sunlight. Bringing those two worlds together wasn’t always safe.
But then she remembered. She was part of the dark web, too. She was Queen. They were Tilda’s closest friends. They’d get along. She knew it.
She imagined it – two girls and Andy, taking trips, grabbing coffee, wandering pet stores, hitting the amusement park, wasting hours at claw machines. All the silly, ordinary joys she never had time for in her previous life. The things she let slip through her fingers.
Her chest ached at the thought, but with excitement this time.
After her shower, she was about to dry her hair and go to bed.
Click!
A sound she knew instantly. Tilda froze. The alert was from the dark web – her private inbox. She had blocked strangers long ago. Otherwise, rabid fans would have swarmed her to death. Only mutual contacts could message her. Andy was one of them, but he had her number.
The other… was the student Tilda had taken in on the dark web. He was also from Cetherland. He was ranked twelfth among all hackers on the net – DJ! Andy had Tilda’s number, her WhatsApp, and every way to reach her. Naturally, he would never need to message her through the dark web.
That left only one possibility. Tilda picked up her phone and opened the client.
Sure enough…
It was DJ!
“Master, you’re back.”
“… Yeah, I’m back. You heard the news already?”
Her eyes softened when she saw the student she had once taken on. Back then, she had only accepted him because they shared the same homeland. But his talent was off the charts. So high that even she, with her mind fixed only on finding her family and refusing to get too involved, couldn’t resist. She had taken him on, taught him a few things. The only reason he sat at twelfth was because he took on so few jobs.
As her student, he lived under the same code she demanded of herself. Never harm national security. Never betray the bottom line of humanity. Never harm the innocent. And another reason – he had only been hacking for three short years. To break into twelfth place in a den of wolves like the dark web, where the strong devoured the weak without mercy, was nothing short of genius. You could call him the cream of the crop, and it still wouldn’t do him justice.
Before she realized it, DJ had become one of her only bonds left on the net. In his third year as her student, he had asked to meet face-to-face, but Tilda refused. Getting too close to anyone in that world only brought trouble. Even Andy, the one she trusted most, had never seen her in person back then. She dragged it out, avoiding it until now.
Later, when she finally found her family, she quit for good. To protect them from the dark web’s predators, Queen announced her exit. She was gone, off the map. DJ, knowing her decision was final, had followed her lead. He quit too. That was how they had cut ties completely.
She never expected that when word of her return spread, DJ would come online and reach out again.
“Sorry, Master. Real life kept me tied up for a while. I finally cleared it and saw the news that you were back. This time… are you leaving again?”
“Not this time.”
She had left before because she feared the Jensons would get hurt. Now, she had no fear. She had no weakness left for anyone to exploit. Those years on the dark web had been her real growth, doing what she was best at. She had been far happier there than she had ever been in the Jenson Villa. From now on, she wanted it all. Friendships. Work. Every part of it. Not a single piece missing. As for family, she no longer cared.
“That’s amazing… I can talk to you again.”
Idiot. Even if we never meet in person, the bond we’ve built all these years won’t disappear. You’ll always be