Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 15: ANDREI'S SECRET*

My birth name is Andrei Klehr. But because of my family's secret, I live by two other identities. As Bryan Walker, I was home-schooled until I turned eighteen, then I inherited the company from my father, the former CEO of Bolster. As Andrei Jansen, I went to school as any normal child, but now I work as a freelance intelligence agent and I keep a low profile.

What is your family's secret? Don't withhold any information, ok?

I must've looked like a puppy with how excited and fidgety I was.

Hey, stop interrupting. I will tell you everything. Are you that jealous that I'm the main character of this chapter?

What are you talking about? Just continue.

Basically, my family specializes in cyber-espionage.

So, you're just a hacker?

No. Just let me finish.

Unlike all the third-rate hackers, we use a special coding language called Undercode. In addition, my family, at least, is not involved in any illegal activities.

Your family, at least? Do you mean to say that Saffil and Daniel also use it?

We'll get to Saffil later but you are correct to think that there are other families involved.

Undercode is known only amongst the families that use it and very few other individuals that chanced upon the knowledge of its existence. There are 6 families that can use Undercode in America, 3 families in Britain, 3 families in Russia and 1 family in Japan.

It is an extremely special and impregnable coding language that can only be used by select members of these families. Each family has their own unique version of the code. Hacking into a program written in Undercode is practically impossible. Only a carrier of another family has even the slightest chance of achieving that. A carrier is someone with the ability to use the Undercode.

All the families thus had an unspoken agreement that they would not interfere with each other or compromise each other's programs and everyone has abided by that. That is, until a certain black market organization named, Paladin, created the Anticode, a program that can hack into the Undercode. Unfortunately, we believe that there have been various traitors from the families that have been working with Paladin to create the Anticode. According to intelligence reports, this organization is backed by the Chinese government, so they have access to a lot of resources.

Why is the Chinese government involved?

Well, three of the families in America work with the US government and use the Undercode across the cyber network infrastructure of the country. So if China were to get their hands on the Anticode, then they could hack into Undercode and cripple this country in a matter of seconds.

The US isn't the only country supported by Undercode. Several other first world countries also use Undercode. Plus, there are hundreds of private companies that use and trust the integrity of the Undercode, so they would also become vulnerable. The magnitude of the cyber catastrophe that would result is unimaginable.

So, you might be wondering how you ended up in the middle of all of this? I believe that Saffil had been working for Paladin and he may have given you a piece of the Anticode.

How do you know it's only a piece? Where is the rest of it?

All the families have been tracking down the Anticode but to make it difficult for us to find the program, Paladin has divided the program into multiple parts and saved each part on a separate device. They then gave the devices to several agents who hid them in random places. Some devices are also decoys, which makes our job even harder.

I don't know how Saffil got involved with Paladin, why he had a piece of the Anticode or why he is on the run from them now. The important thing to know is that Saffil, who had been in contact with you, likely hid a device with the Anticode in an item he had given you, and Paladin knows that. That is why they have you under surveillance. Since Paladin is a very dangerous organization, I was keeping an eye on you.

The second reason I continued to watch you was purely for my own self-interest, but first I need to tell you about Ari. She is half-Japanese, half-American. She grew up in America but she is from the Japanese family of Undercode carriers. There used to be several Japanese families but they married across their individual families and now they have all merged to form one united Japanese branch. Not surprisingly, the Japanese family's technology is highly advanced. Their version of the Undercode is superior among all the families in the world.

Although Ari is from the Japanese family of Undercode carriers, she is not an Undercode carrier. Ari is a Support code carrier. Support code carriers partner with Undercode carriers and help them with their work. The relationship of Undercode and Support code carriers is kind of like master and servant. Each family has their own Support code carriers who are expected to display the utmost loyalty to the family they sign a contract with. Ari signed a contract with the Klehr family - more specifically, me - so that is why she cannot leave my side.

My family has major influence in the technology industry, but we mainly work in the private sector. My family also has an alliance with the Triscotte family, which works with the CIA. Since my family has heavy influence in the private sector and alliances with the US government, the Japanese family approached us to form an alliance. The Klehr family gained access to Japanese technology and they acquired influence in the US economy.

To solidify the alliance, the families sent Support code carriers to work with the family heirs. I am the heir to the Klehr family, so Ari was sent to me when I was 3-years-old.

Both families have profited greatly from the alliance, so my mother decided to further solidify our connections with the Japanese family by having me marry Ari. Of course, the Japanese family had no objections. My mother, by the way, is from one of the Russian Undercode families, who married my father to forge an alliance between the Klehr family and the Smirnov family. Therefore, my marriage with Ari would solidify a three-way alliance between the Klehr family, the Japanese family and the Russian family.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my complicated family tree. You don't need to look so confused. No, there aren't any shady under-the-table deals. Playing matchmaker is just like a pastime for the adults. However, they weren't pleased when I told them I wanted to end my engagement with Ari because I had another girl I liked. Of course, my mother was furious and she wouldn't allow it.

The general practice is for code carriers to marry other code carriers and it's more strictly enforced on the family heir, which in the case of the Klehr family, is me. The family heir, especially, must have a partner who can use the highest level of Support code, as only the highest level of Support code is compatible with the Master code used by the family heir.

So, in my case, the Japanese and Russian families were very much looking forward to this three-way alliance. They hadn't complained much when I first brought up ending the engagement because they thought I would get over it once I realized I couldn't be with a random girl I liked. But, the only way I couldn't be with the girl I liked is if she couldn't use the Support code. So one day, I decided to check.

It was the day you and I met at Mount Escoffery for that photoshoot. I heard about the trip you were planning with your friends. I hid an ad about the photoshoot in a message which would pop-up on your computer at some point before that Saturday. I wasn't sure if you would actually show up though, but it was worth the risk. I attached a special device to the cameras that i used to take the pictures that could detect whether or not you were compatible with the Support code.

The result? It was positive, and even better, it had a very strong reaction. So there was no reason for me to give up on being together with you. That was just a screening device, though, so it doesn't tell us the level of Support code you can use.

So, you've been lying to me this whole time? Who was the other guy taking pictures then?

I'm sorry, but I had to find out somehow. The other guy was my uncle. We're really close and he has been very supportive. My dad too, actually; he told me that I didn't have to go along with whatever marriage plot my mother wanted. However, my mother kept trying to get me to agree to the engagement, so to show her that I was serious, I ended my engagement. I was afraid she would target you, so that's why I didn't break up with Ari immediately. That's also why I kept my distance from you after the end of first year.

What about now?

Well, it might cause some strife if I get serious about you again, but we can face that together, right?

So, in summary, there are six Undercode families in America. Three of them work in the private sector - the Klehr family (mine), which works in the tech industry, the Wimslow family works in the finance industry with Wall Street and many of the major banks, and the Shakovia family is a corporate tycoon that works across multiple sectors. The Triscotte, Albertha and Holkin families are the three families that work together with the US government. The Klehr family also has an alliance with the Triscotte family, the Japanese family and one of the Russian families.

Undercode is the most impregnable computer coding language that exists and it can only be used by a handful of individuals in these families. The coding language, known for its impenetrable security, is acquired and used by governments all over the world. It is also used by hundreds of trillion-dollar companies to support their cyber networks. So, if the Anticode is completed by the black market organization, Paladin, then they, with the support of the Chinese government, can cripple the world economy in mere seconds. Unfortunately, Daniel's brother, Saffil, gave innocent-old-you a piece of the program that makes up the Anticode, so you are being closely monitored by who-knows-what kind of people.

We only assumed that I was given a piece of the Anticode. We don't know for sure.

No, I'm sure. If the Anticode is being developed like the Undercode, then they must also be developing their own version of the Support code to be used with the Anticode. For that reason, they would also need individuals compatible with the Support code. Saffil would have had plenty of chances to screen you for compatibility with the Support code. This means he already knows you are compatible with the Support code and may have plans to bring you to Paladin in the future. Finding a random person who is compatible with the program and is not affiliated with a family is extremely rare after all.

So, how does knowing all of this affect my revenge plans involving Daniel and Michelle? I thought Daniel wasn't involved with Paladin.

We don't know for sure whether Daniel is involved with Paladin. As for Michelle, I'll get to her after a coffee break. I'm parched.

Don't just end the chapter now! I want to hear about Michelle.