Chapter 493 Pacifying the Child
Aaron got a reply pretty quick, and both he and Sam straightened up in front of the computer.
Aaron bit his lip. "How should I answer this?"
After a bit, Aaron figured the guy must've logged off, or maybe he realized Aaron had tracked his IP and bailed to avoid getting caught.
Just when Aaron was about to throw in the towel, the little hacker actually replied.
Aaron's palms were all sweaty. He'd never been this freaked out before. After all, he'd been through a lot in the business world, faced all kinds of crap, but this was a whole new level of nervous.
"Aaron, you gotta reply."
"I don't know what to say."
"Just chill and sweet-talk him a bit. If you come on too strong, he'll ghost you."
"You sure that'll work? What if he thinks I'm a pushover?"
"Look at how I chatted with him earlier. I buttered him up a bit, got him talking, and it bought us time to trace his IP and get the info we needed."
Aaron thought for a sec and typed: [I'm not scared; I just wanna chat.]
Sam jumped in, "Aaron, you can't say that. It'll make him suspicious."
Aaron freaked out. "Then what should I say?"
"Wait and see what he says first."
Charles got cautious and replied: [What do you wanna talk about?]
Aaron thought for a moment and replied: [Why do you want me out of Philly? Are you from here?]
[None of your business. Just get out of Philly. Now.]
[No way. I can't leave right now. I got important stuff to do here.]
Sam facepalmed. "Aaron, I told you to sweet-talk him. Why'd you just flat-out refuse? That's not gonna work."
"Then what should I say?"
"Say something like, 'You're really smart, but I can't leave Philly right now. I gotta finish something important first, then I'll go.'"
Aaron frowned. "Isn't that basically what I said?"
"Not even close. Ask your secretary if you don't believe me."
Aaron looked at his secretary, who hesitated, not wanting to piss off his boss.
"Just be honest," Aaron said.
The secretary nodded. "I think Mr. Ross's way is better. The person on the other side is a kid. You can't talk to them like you do with adults. You gotta be more gentle."
Sam shrugged. "See? Told ya."
Aaron sighed. "So how do we fix this? I suck at talking to kids."
"Aaron, you're used to being the boss, always in command. But kids are different, especially since the little hacker is your own kid. You gotta be gentle."
Aaron pushed the keyboard towards Sam. "If you can help me get my kid back, I'll do whatever you want."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Alright, from now on, I'm the boss."
"Fine, just get my kid back."
Sam took over the computer and started typing: [What I mean is, you're really smart. If it weren't for something super important, I'd be out of Philly tomorrow and never look back.]
Charles was about to shut down the computer, fuming from the previous message, but Sam's new message caught his eye.
Charles, feeling smug, typed back: [Good that you know your place.]
[I don't know what I did to piss you off, but you gotta cut me some slack. I have a reason to stay in Philly.]
Charles saw this and had a hunch why Aaron wanted to stay, which is why he hacked his computer to force him out.
Charles typed: [Why should I cut you any slack?]
[If you give me a break, I'll do whatever you want.]
Aaron frowned at Sam's reply. "Is this really okay? It sounds so weak."
"Aaron, you worried about looking like a wimp?"
Aaron was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, kinda."
He'd never been this submissive to anyone, let alone begging for a break. Even in life-or-death situations, he never showed weakness.
"Feeling humiliated is part of the deal. You're trying to coax a kid, and it's your own kid. Imagine a cute little girl who looks just like Lillian."
Aaron pictured a little girl who looked like Lillian but with a colder vibe, and his expression softened. If it was Lillian, maybe coaxing her back wouldn't be so bad.
"Aaron, you don't think it's a little boy on the other side, do you?"
"Sort of."
He figured it was a boy, which made it awkward. He thought boys didn't need this kind of coaxing.
"Twins are rare, and boy-girl twins are even rarer. So, I bet Susanna had twin girls, with Lillian being the older one and the younger one being more fragile."
Aaron thought for a moment and nodded. "You might be right."
With that, Aaron took the keyboard back. "I'll handle it."
Imagining a little girl who looked like Lillian on the other side made it easier for Aaron.
Aaron typed: [If you agree to my condition, I'll do anything you want. Deal?]
Charles thought, 'I don't need anything right now.'
Charles replied: [My condition is that you leave Philly immediately.]
[I can agree to anything else, but not that. I need to stay in Philly.]
[If you stay in Philly, you might not even keep your life.]
He'd heard Edward sent assassins after Aaron, scaring him into buying a plane ticket to leave overnight, but Aaron cleverly stayed in Philly. This puzzled Charles.
Wasn't Aaron afraid of the assassins?
Aaron calmly replied: [But staying in Philly is more important than my life.]
