Page 16 of My Fake Billionaire Damaged Boyfriend

“I can afford it, though.”

“It’s my personal work, Dimitri. I’ve been drilling at that system for years and I just got it to finally work for me. I can’t tell you how long I’ve stayed up past midnight fighting for it to work. I have to let it run its course and then I’ll dismantle it from your system.”

He seems upset, but doesn’t get to mention it, an incessant beeping coming from the next room. We both jump out of our spots and hurry to the desk in the bedroom, the screen displaying the gap in code with that mysterious link attached.

“Okay, this is going to be fun…” I mutter, highlighting it and watching the code read into the system. I don’t even hesitate, opening the backdoor to see what lies behind it. “What the hell is—”

“It’s a search engine?” Dimitri groans. “That’s it? That’s the fucking big secret?”

We both stare at the screen in awe, something heavy settling in my stomach while I sink into the chair. This can’t be right, but it is. It’s a damn bar with a little curser. There is no domain name, no online activity—just a search engine within the code of software that Alek sells for people to protect their data.

I hover my hands over the keys, unsure what to type into the blinking cursor. “What do you think I should do? Type more code into it? See what happens?”

“No, it can’t be that. It’s detached from the code, but still reading it from afar. It’s… it’s not a backdoor at all. It’s a one-way mirror.”

I notice his words and can tell he’s right almost instantly.

The coding that we just shifted through is still surrounding the cursor and the bar for searching something, but they aren’t interacting anymore. My software informs me there are no anomalies, like the search engine line of code we highlighted has disappeared. And yet, they still coexist.

“My head hurts,” I moan, trembling with angst and exhaustion. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Type something and see what happens.”

I give in, trying something as simple aspizza. The search engine honks a noise, and the word is ripped from the bar. I hesitate to type something else, afraid how many times we can mess up and still be able to access this thing. There is always a failsafe involved in code. It’s a virtual rabbit hole. It’s frustrating as hell, but I love every second of it.

“Here, let’s just think this over carefully, okay? What could need to be searched in this code?”

I can only shrug at first, pushing my hair off my forehead. “I don’t know. Locations of viruses, maybe loopholes in the system. It could be self-identifying problems for itself like artificial intelligence.”

“No, Alek has sworn off AI. He hates that something in his company might run things smoother than he could. It’s an ego problem, but I don’t actually disagree with him on it.”

“That’s surprising. Best friends with the enemy now?”

“Not even close, Kitten,” he warns. “Okay, try something else.”

“I don’t want it to be wrong, Dimitri. I could set off some kind of trap that would trace my system and catch us snooping in this code in the first place. I don’t need any more trouble than what we already have.”

He waves me off, thinking carefully over the options in this moment. “Oh, okay,” he says, a little lightbulb flicking on over his head. “I have the perfect idea. Type a name.”

“A name?”

“Yeah, just to see what happens. If the name has clearance, maybe it leads to another backdoor.”

“Wait, so it was a one-way mirror, now it’s another backdoor? I thought we were already inside.”

“You’re not making this any easier on me, Kitten. Just try it, unless you have a better idea.”

I shrug, about to type in a name when I realize one small issue. “I don’t know anyone’s name at work.”

“Are you serious? You’ve been there a week!”

“Yeah, but Alek has been keeping me busy, okay? That’s not my fault I haven’t been super social. I’m in tech! What point is there to be social? I already work with code all day long. I don’t need to seek out familiar minds and talk about code with them.”

“Try Alek’s name then.”

I give Dimitri some credit, and try his name, only to be met with the same noise. “Well, that doesn’t work.”

He goes silent while my brain wanders. I can’t help but think we’re close to something big, but I don’t know how to get there. Until then, I type in my name for fun, both of us inching back in horror as the screen changed to a dark page of text that builds into the biggest portfolio I’ve ever seen.

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