Chapter 20: A Glimpse of Hope

Albert stared at his computer screen in a daze. As he watched the profile named "Knowing A Person" go dark, something lit up in his heart. He had hopes that suddenly arose in his heart as he gazed at the screen. Maybe the person is Sophia.

Yesterday, he had asked his staff to notify him as soon as the account "Knowing A Person" went online regardless of what he was doing. He waited for this person to go online because he wanted to play chess again with "Knowing A Person." Immediately he was notified, this happened during a meeting, and when he logged in and saw the words "Knowing A Person" on the screen, it gave him the strangest sensation, as if the person on the other side of the profile might be Sophia. Albert had mixed feelings and pressure during these moments, but he didn't care about his mixed emotions. All he wants now is to be able to play with the person behind the account again.

Suddenly the time stopped for him by these moments. Regardless he is in the middle of a meeting, and everyone is looking at him. Albert was no master chess player, but he was still excellent. The average chess player was no match for him. Having heard" Knowing A Person" was good at chess, he had prepared himself, but still, he found he was surprised once the game had begun. He was finding it difficult and more strange… the way "Knowing A Person" played was odd, quirky, much like the way Sophia had once played. Suddenly an old memory flashed in his mind. Each movement of the person behind the account gives him a vague scene: the person he missed so much, Sophia.

It intensified his strange feeling: was it the soul of Sophia playing chess? Was it her who challenged him right now?

After ten minutes, Albert had lost. The game was over. He wanted to talk to the person and ask a few questions, if possible.

The game allowed dialogue between players. He opened the dialog box to talk with" Knowing A Person." But it was at this moment that the profile picture suddenly darkened.

She had logged off. And left him hanging in the dark again? He felt like the person behind the account he was playing with was running away.

Albert stared blankly at the computer screen. He had an impulse to try and find the person on the other end of the computer and see who it was. But at the same time, he was afraid, afraid that it would not be Sophia, but just a chess player who played like him. Doubt ran down his head.

He feared that all his hopes would come to nothing. His heart wouldn't be able to bear such pain. He'd rather fool himself that it was somehow Sophia at the other end than confront reality. He'd rather pretend that the person behind that account is the woman he cared a lot—a pang of pain crossed in his heart.

"Sophia, was it you? Give me some hint and ease this pain of loneliness that I am bearing right now," He silently told himself all these thoughts.

His subordinates in the meeting looked at each other, wondering why Mr. Pearson had been staring at his computer for so long, saying nothing. But Albert was known for his quick temper. So no one dared to ask or even move. They sat quietly. The whole conference room was silent. They waited for him to talk again and hear his instructions.

After a while, Albert noticed that he was in the conference room surrounded by people. Slightly staring them, he said abruptly, "Let's all take a break,"

The employees, finally relieved, got up, and left the room.

Only his assistant, Ryan, remained by his side, waiting for his next orders. As Albert's assistant, he couldn't leave with everyone else. His job was with his boss, and only he had an inkling about what might have just happened.

"Ryan," Albert said, "Keep monitoring this account and report to me as soon as it logs on again. Don't forget to inform me,"

Ryan was puzzled, "Mr. Pearson, why don't we have a hacker check the address? When she logs into the game server, she'll leave an IP address. We could follow this and find whoever it is."

Albert shook his head, "No. For one thing, it's immoral, and secondly, it's illegal to employ hackers to invade other people's privacy. We're not doing that. We are protecting our own privacy too, not to leak important information inside our company. Hiring a notorious hacker will be a big risk for us. We have lots of confidential information that should not be exposed to our opponents,"

Ryan was speechless. It wasn't as if they had never done that before. He was confused by the sudden change of Mr. Pearson's behavior. This was the first time he had refused to take any easy steps to ascertain the identity of the person behind the account. Ryan is aware that the company has important documents to protect with, but his suggested solution is a simpler, easier way and does not endanger the entire company's security. He quickly shook his head while following his boss, fading back. Why did his behavior change so suddenly? A question that strained Ryan's mind, and he heaved a deep sighed. Confused, he just followed him out of the meeting room. He could do nothing to criticize every decision he made. He was just a lowly assistant to Mr. Pearson. During his many years of serving him, he was well aware of his attitude. And every command Mr. Pearson made must be done correctly and abruptly.

Mr. Pearson does not like many reasons, what he said should be done immediately and without wasting time. He grew up into a luxurious life but remained low key. He chose to hide his own identity and become Sophia's assistant. Whatever his reason for staying low key, only he knows. Even his family couldn't stop him and let him make any decision he wanted.