Chapter 35 - Tie?

Rory didn't respond to Knox right away. With drawn out movement she picked up her spoon and ate more of the soup.

The cabbage inside of it had become cold and soggy due to being ignored; however, Rory bȧrėly noticed. Her downcast eyes were as calm as the sky before a storm but held ice within their depths.

Knox told her not to play games, which she didn't yet, calculated risks were another story. She would prefer having a bunch of information on him to manipulate this conversation more.

Normally if she didn't, she would be on the downside of the business transaction.

A wicked smile threatened to grow on her lips as they twitched ever so slightly.

What Knox didn't know is that technically, despite her records, she was just as unknown to him as he was to her.

It was a loophole and a barrier that she could exploit. If she played this right Knox would no longer be too much of a threat anymore to her or her mom.

Where did she learn Russian? Her father spoke eight languages and made her learn all of them. Her computer skills? She was making computers at the age of seven.

It was information that logically shouldn't exist if she was Rory. She highly doubted that the tech or magic of rebirth was something widely known; therefore, what did Knox really know about her?

"I'm not a very good worker so I'm going to have decline. I'm not sure why you would ever want me working for you anyway Mr. Mikhalson."

Knox's eyebrows crinkled up. Was he trying to lie? He was so devoted to his art that Knox could almost believe him. However, he couldn't shake the overlapping images of Rory and the hacker.

The aura, the arrogance, all of it was far too similar. Also, someone like him found two people interesting at the same time? Impossible. Rory couldn't fool him.

Knox pushed away his bowl and leaned over on the table. "Admit it Mr. Hynes, it was you who hacked into Cloud. After losing to me, Cloud's team was able to find where the signal came from. Trying to lie would just be stupid at this point."

Rory pinched her hand that was folded on her ŀȧp discreetly to stop her competitivity from flaring. Who exactly lost to you?! Why is it she couldn't remember that at all?

Also, if she personally didn't destroy her ŀȧptop, she might consider his bluff.

The room froze at Rory's next statement, "So what if I did?" Her lips curled up and the wicked smile that had teased her lips broke out in full. The shine in her eyes and the anticipation on her face showed her intent to tease.

Knox's momentum was paused in its tracks. He actually admitted it?

"You admit that you broke into Cloud?"

Rory decided on the best risk she could take at this point. If she continued lying it would build mistrust and eventually the paranoid CEO would likely kill her. However, what if she let him think he completely had her?

"Are you agreeing to work at Cloud then?"

What was the kid playing at? Knox felt like he was being played with again, yet couldn't figure out how…

"As I said I'm not a good worker. I don't think your company would suit me." Rory pushed aside her bowl and rested her elbows on the table. Her message was clear 'So what if I broke into Cloud! What are you going to do about it!"

Knox felt intrigued as he observed the young boy in front of him. Always so unexpected.

"What if I told you that I wasn't giving you a choice?"

"Do you intend to force me Mr. Mikhalson?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do."

Rory's eyes flickered darkly, "And how are you going to do that? Death? I only find it interesting to investigate. Torture? That's cute... The only thing I treasure are my hands. If you break those I'm not even worth the trouble coercing."

Knox payed attention to Rory closely when he brought up her mom. Based off of his research Rory should care about her the most. It was a familial relationship and they also lived in the same house for eighteen years.

The probability that Rory did not care about her was low.

Unfortunately, Knox was bound to be disappointed. Rory forced herself to not show a single emotion of her face. She was a blank slate at the moment.

"Irrelevant people."

Knox pulled out his phone and placed it against his ear, "So if I told you that I had someone positioned in front of your house since the moment you walked into the dorm ready to kill Olivia if you continued acting ignorant. You wouldn't care?"

Rory felt her heart speed up. It was a bluff, it should be a bluff. Knox should be too wary at the moment to make any major moves such as killing her mom.

Don't show anything. She was sure at the moment Knox should be doubting her origins. As long as she didn't give herself away it should be fine.

However, one thought crept into her mind. If he actually did dare to harm her mother... she didn't care if he was the CEO of Cloud or the leader of a mafia. She would find a way to destroy him.

"I will repeat myself, irrelevant people."

He looked at her thoughtfully.

"Why would you when you aren't her real son?"

Rory's heart calmed down. He took the bait.

Purposefully she allowed the panic in her heart that stemmed from him threatening her mom show on her face.

It was only for a second before she withdrew it. "What do you mean by that?"

"Rory Hynes is a waste. He failed classes and was walked over constantly. However, somehow suddenly he can take out two armed people without a drop of sweat. You aren't Rory, but if you aren't than who are you? I know you might not care about your family, but for someone like you to infiltrate the Hynes. It must be something very important to you."

What Knox said was complete logic and 50% true. It was only because of Olivia's similarities to her own mom and Rory's own need to find some warmth in the cold world that she cared about Olivia more than she should.

He had made the correct calculations, but didn't have the entire formula. Therefore, finding the true answer was impossible.

Rory didn't bother to respond to Knox as she glared at him darkly.

He gave her exactly what she wanted. An empty threat.

He could expose her to the Hynes. However, it didn't matter. She was Rory and Rory was her. They could do a thousand blood tests and the result would be the same.

"I refuse to work at Cloud are you sure there is no other way you won't reveal anything." Rory said with false hesitation. Work at cloud? She didn't have the time.

"You object working at Cloud that much? Fine, let's just have a transaction relationship."

He could sense that he had reached Rory's bottom line. Having a hacker like her in his pocket was good enough.

"Fine, if you aren't asking too much, I will be willing to offer ȧssistance." Rory jumped down from the stool and walked toward her room.

"The first request starts to tomorrow."

Rory didn't pause, "I look forward to it." She then closed her door behind her back.

Knox looked at the door with mixed emotions. Why did he feel like he didn't win that?