Chapter 5 Quietus Is Back

Liam studied Kathryn for a long moment, as if weighing a dozen thoughts at once, before finally pulling out a sleek black card. "Buy whatever you need. Don't hold back, just use it."

Kathryn blinked, a little taken aback, but she still took the card. Money was money, and right now she needed every bit of support she could get. If working with Liam required accepting his help, then so be it.

She rose to her feet. "Mr. Warren, the first stage of detox is going to be rough and very painful, actually. You should prepare yourself. I'll start the treatment the day after tomorrow."

She needed a little time to get everything ready.

Liam's eyes softened slightly. "Alright. I understand."

Kathryn offered a polite nod. "I'll head to my room now."

Liam watched her walk away, as though he was sizing up a puzzle he hadn't quite solved yet.

...

Stepping into her room, Kathryn let out a tiny sigh. The place was enormous, easily twice the size of the cramped space she had back at the Brown residence.

After a hot shower, she opened her laptop and logged into her social media.

Within seconds, dozens of notifications flooded the screen, and Kathryn started scrolling through them lazily.

Austin had written, "Where did you run off to? Come back. Jolene isn't holding a grudge about you hitting her. Why are you still throwing a tantrum?"

Isaac's message followed. "Who picked you up? Stop making everything difficult. Just return home."

Jaxton's message was the usual condescending garbage. "If you walk out now, you better not come crawling back. What kind of stupid stunt are you pulling?"

Jolene, of course, played innocent. "Kathryn, you're not seriously thinking of leaving forever, right?"

Kathryn rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt. Without hesitation, she typed one simple, satisfying reply to each one. "GET LOST." Disgusting. Every last one of them.

And because she was done with their nonsense, she promptly blocked them all. That felt even better.

Logging out, she switched to another browser and typed in a hidden URL she knew by heart.

After entering her credentials, the screen shifted into an interface she hadn't seen in months.

A metallic door slowly creaked open on-screen, covered in glowing circuitry and carved patterns.

A blood-red skull appeared in the center, accompanied by a chilling mechanical voice. "Welcome back, Quietus."

A wave of nostalgia hit her. She hadn't expected to log in here again.

The DarkNet. A place filled with high-risk tasks-information hunts, black-market auctions, digital combat, and even assassination contracts.

Only elite specialists survived here.

And Kathryn... had once been among the best.

On the DarkNet, she was known as Quietus, a phantom-like hacker genius whose identity no one had ever managed to uncover.

Her inbox instantly exploded with messages the moment her status showed as active.

She then updated her profile signature to "I'm back."

And just like that, the entire DarkNet went wild.

"Holy crap! Quietus is online again!"

"Welcome back! The entire network's been chaotic without you these past six months!"

"Quietus, your predictions were all spot on! Please guide us again. Everything's fallen apart since you disappeared!"

To them, Quietus wasn't just a hacker-she was a legend.

When she abruptly disappeared half a year ago, the DarkNet practically mourned.

But now she had returned.

And the DarkNet went wild.

Her phone rang soon after.

She answered, and an excited voice burst through. "Kathryn? You're actually back? I can't believe it!"

It was Gerard Douglas, her loyal admirer and one of the few people she trusted.

"Yes, I'm back," she said, smiling faintly. "Also, line me up some jobs. The high-paying ones, the hardest ones. I need money."

"Already on it! The top-tier bounties have always been saved just for you! I'll send everything immediately!" Gerard's enthusiasm was contagious. "But didn't you say you were retiring because you finally found your family? Then why-"

"Gerard," Kathryn cut him off gently, "I don't have a family anymore. It's just me now."

She had thought returning to the Browns would give her a sense of belonging, but sadly, they were the ones who caused all the trouble.

Gerard's voice deepened with sincerity. "No matter what happens, I've got your back."

She smiled again. "Thank you."

"Oh, before I forget... someone has been digging into your digital records," he added.

Her fingers stilled. "Who?"

"The trace leads back to the Warren Group headquarters," Gerard said, his tone turning serious.

Kathryn's eyes narrowed. So Liam had already started investigating her? Interesting.