Masked Heiress The Hacker Queen

Chapter 1 – The Hacker Queen’s Challenge

The soft glow of multiple monitors flickered in the dimly lit apartment, casting eerie neon reflections across the metallic furniture. The hum of machinery filled the air as Lyra Xian cracked her knuckles, her fingers dancing over the holographic keyboard at lightning speed.

Lines of code flashed before her icy blue eyes, her expression calm and composed. She wore a sleek black hoodie, the edges of her silver hair peeking out as she leaned forward.

"Almost there..." she whispered to herself, her lips curling into a smirk.

On the largest screen, the firewall of Vaughn Industries was displayed—a fortress of digital security, unbreakable to the average hacker. But Lyra was far from average.

She was Shadow Ghost, the world’s most elusive hacker.

Her fingers moved faster, a flurry of commands executing at her will. A red warning popped up on the screen:

Unauthorized Entry Detected. Security Breach in Progress.

Lyra chuckled. "Too slow, Vaughn Industries."

Within seconds, the digital fortress crumbled, revealing layers of encrypted data. Financial records, private dealings, security logs—every dark secret of Ethan Vaughn, the ruthless CEO, was now at her fingertips.

She didn’t care about his money. She wanted information.

Lyra scrolled through files until she found it—classified documents from twelve years ago. Her breath hitched. This was it.

The proof that Vaughn Industries was linked to her family’s downfall.

Her heartbeat quickened as she decrypted the first few lines—only for her screen to flicker violently.

Access Denied.

The words flashed in bold red letters, followed by a taunting message:

“Nice try, Shadow Ghost. But you’re not the only one watching.”

Lyra’s smirk faltered.

Someone was inside the system. Someone fast.

A new line of code appeared, trying to trace her location. She had seconds to escape.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, activating a decoy IP while setting off a fake breach alarm to distract the intruder. The security system of Vaughn Industries went into full lockdown mode, sending alerts across all servers.

Perfect.

Lyra exhaled sharply, terminating the connection. Her screens went black, her identity secured.

But her mind was racing.

That wasn’t just some security bot. That was a person.

And there was only one person skilled enough to challenge her in real time.

Ethan Vaughn himself.

---

Meanwhile – Vaughn Industries

"Sir, the firewall has been breached!"

Inside the corporate tower of Vaughn Industries, alarm bells blared as security teams rushed to contain the chaos. Employees whispered in panic, watching as their database was being ripped apart in real-time.

Ethan Vaughn stood in the center of the crisis, his sharp gaze locked on the glowing screen in front of him. Unlike his subordinates, he remained eerily calm.

Dressed in a black tailored suit, his commanding presence exuded power and precision. A cigarette smoldered between his fingers, untouched, as he scanned the lines of code flooding the system.

"Shadow Ghost," he murmured, recognizing the hacker’s signature moves instantly.

A smirk tugged at his lips. So, the legendary Shadow Ghost had finally made a mistake.

"Trace their location," he ordered, exhaling slowly. "I want to know exactly where they are."

His cybersecurity expert hesitated. "Sir, they covered their tracks too well. Whoever they are, they knew exactly what they were doing."

Ethan’s smirk faded. “Then find another way.”

His dark eyes gleamed with challenge. This hacker—this Shadow Ghost—had infiltrated his system effortlessly.

That meant two things:

One, they were dangerous.

Two, he wanted to meet them.

And when he did, they would regret ever crossing him.

---

Back at Lyra’s Hideout