Alice held her nose, turning to Jack "You should go?


    “Alice, you''re so eager to get rid of him. Are you guilty? Afraid your poor boyfriend will find out you''re being kept?"


    Alice turned to the drunken Chloe, “You keep mentioning ''kept. You seem to know a lot about it." "Alice, stop changing the subject. You''re guilty," Chloe looked at Jack "Don''t look so upset. Alice cheated. She''s being kept by Yates, and he gave her


    and he gave her Maple Leaf shares.


    Jack''s eyes narrowed. He''d given Alice the shares.


    Chloe boasted, “A poor nurse like you will never earn that much money in your life. You''re a gigolo. But you''re good-looking. If you were with me, I''d give you more money,” She couldn''t stand Alice having her cake and eating it too, having a man devoted to her. Garrett Yates, that mama''s boy, was called back by his mother and wouldn''t even answer her calls. Chloe huped. If she was miserable, Alice wouldn''t be happy either. She''d take everything from Alice, including her man.


    "So, which is better, me?" Alice wouldn''t give Jack much money. She was the Alice family''s favorite daughter.


    “Chloe, are you crazy?” Alice pulled Chloe away and pped her. “Didn''t you get enough earlier?" Chloe sat on the ground, dazed. Alice took out her phone. "If you''re drunk and horny, go to a hotel. Don''t make a scene here."


    Chloe tried to yell, but seeing Alice recording, she scrambled up."Delete that video "Get lost, or I''ll post this on the school forum. Let your simps see your drunken antics. See you can keep your ''pure'' image."


    Chloe, sobering up, scurried away.


    Alice put away her phone, turning to Jack.“She''s drunk and crazy. I''ll get back to the dorm before curfew.” Jack nodded, watching her enter the school.


    He called Andrew Yates, his tone cold. "What did Ethan say?"


    "I was about to tell you. They seem to misunderstand me and Little Lemon. They say I''m keeping her, and Ethan tried to ckmail me. What a joke."


    Jack''s face was grim."Expose the Alice brothers'' theft of trade secrets. Make it as damaging as possible." "Understood. Little Lemon needs justice." Andrew Yates paused."As your friend, let me remind you. People will eventually discover your identity. Have you thought about exining this to Little Lemon?" As long as Alice was in Washington, she''d run into people who knew Jack. It was only a matter of time.


    Jack''s throat tightened."I know." But he didn''t know how to tell Alice. He was afraid she''d end their friendship. Everything he had with her felt stolen.


    "Think it over. The truth alwayses out," Andrew Yates said before hanging up.


    Jack rolled down his window, lighting a cigarette. He looked at the night sky, his thoughts tangled. He crushed the cigarette. His phone buzzed. It was Alice: "Are


    was Alice:“Are you home yet?"


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    He replied, “Almost.” His lips curved up involuntarily.


    Alice was in bed, sending him a picture of herself applying ointment.“My arm''s messed


    1. up. I had


    to put on a lot of bandages." Otherwise, she wouldn''t be able to move tomorrow, Jack''s eyes darkened. He replied, "I didn''t do that."


    Alice sent a string of ellipses.


    Jack threw his phone aside and drove home, in high spirits.


    Alice reread his message and sent a cartoon of a person beating someone up. been clear.


    Her message had


    The next day, Alice was woken by a phone call. She was annoyed. "Who is it?” “Alice, I didn''t expect you to be so ruthless. I confessed to everything, but why did you expose this to the media? Why destroy mepletely?" Luke''s voice


    Luke''s voice was full of grief. Alice sat up, yawning."Are you sick? When did I expose anything to the media?" "Check the gaming news. Who else would do this?"


    Luke saw the article and knew his career was over. Sponsors were calling to cancel contracts. Team members wanted to quit.


    He raged, “Alice, I admit I was wrong. Even jail, I''ll ept it. Why go this far?"


    raged, "Alice,


    Alice opened her phone and saw the article:"Alice Group suspected of stealing trade secrets; gaming industry magnate caught red-handed."


    It said Luke stole trade secrets for Ethan, without mentioning Alice''s name. But the scandal caused Ethan''spany''s stock to plummet.


    Alice replied coldly, "Believe it or not, I didn''t do it."


    "Who else would?"


    "If you believe so, then so be it. The report isn''t false." She wouldn''t exin. Misunderstandings were nothing


    new.


    "Alice, we''re even now!" Luke hung up.


    Alice sneered. But she wondered who did it. She forwarded the article to Andrew Yates."Did you do this?" She could only think of him.


    "Ahem. How did you know?" Andrew Yates was slightly embarrassed. Had she discovered something?


    "Besides you, I can''t think of anyone else. But Garrett Yates might cause trouble for would tell him.


    you." Chloe


    "Don''t worry about Garrett Yates.” Andrew Yates paused.“You know who I am?”


    "Yes, Jack told me."


    Andrew Yates:"??" Jack used his friend as a shield!


    "Little Lemon, my identity doesn''t matter. We''re friends. If Garrett Yates bullies you, let me


    know."


    Alice smiled. Garrett Yates couldn''t bully her."How did you and Jack meet? What did he do


    before?"


    Alice sensed Jack''s identity was shrouded in mystery. After her question, he remained silent. She probed, "Can''t I ask?" Was his job ssified?


    “Ahem, Little Lemon, that''s not what I meant. You should ask him. I have a meeting Gotta go!* Andrew Yates hung up, relieved. Little Lemon was sharp. He called Jack immediately, to warn him. He''d done enough— taking the fall for keeping a college student was more than enough. Alice considered Andrew Yates''s words. Jack''s past job was probably shady. Mysterious. She checked the news; the buzz had died down. Someone had suppressed it. The stock drop was probably giving Ethan a headache.


    Feeling better, she opened herputer to fix the Al issues.


    A message popped up from the ck Danielet. A message from an admin: “Someone wants to buy your firewall system from a while back. They''re offering two million to rewrite one for theirpany."


    Easy money. Alice replied: "Five million."


    The admin replied after a while:"They agreed. They want you to personally install and test it to prove it can withstand attacks, then you''ll get the rest. Plus one million annually for maintenance and emergency fixes.” Thispany was frequently attacked.


    "Okay. What''s thepany name?"


    "Confidential. You''ll find out when you go to install it.”


    So secretive. They''d made enemies. Alice didn''t press; anonymity was important in the ck Danielet. She understood. As long as they paid.


    Alice took the job. Who would turn down easy money?


    She continued coding the Al project. After lunch, she went to Maple Leaf. But there were bodyguards outside her floor. Who was here?


    The representative rushed over.“Alice, the Alices are here-your brothers. They look angry."


    Two brothers?


    As Alice approached her office, Ethan emerged.“Alice, I thought you could hide forever. You think someone protects you, and I can''t find you?"


    Alice saw Luke inside. But Andrew Yates wasn''t there.


    She entered her office, frowning."What do you want?" They came straight to the office! But Ethan now knew Andrew Yates owned thepany, so he wouldn''t dare touch it. Ethan was furious. “I''m here to settle ounts with Andrew Yates. I know you''re involved in that media exposure." He''d been humiliated by Andrew Yatesst night. The news about Chloe and Luke had dropped hispany''s stock. Alice and Andrew Yates


    were clearly connected.


    Alice smirked. "Do you have proof?"


    "Do I need proof?"


    Alice mocked him. “But you always demanded proof for anything involving me. No proof meant it was my fault, not Chloe''s. No proof meant I sWindhamed her. Now you want proof?"


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    Edhan was enraged. He pointed at her "Stop with the excuses! Besides the exposure, mypany''s firewall keeps getting attacked! Did you do that?"


    Aliceughed "Looks like you have many enemies, all vultures.


    "Who else could do this?” Ethan was ready to strike but hesitated, meeting, Alice''s dark eyes, He touched his bruised arm from yesterday,


    Alice saw him restrain himself. Violence seemed to work on him. At least he wouldn''t dare attack her again.


    Luke coughed. "Alice, Brother''s just anxious. Don''t take it to heart."


    Alice was impatient. "You''re not wee here. Leave!"


    “Alice, I won''t leave without an expression. You hacked mypany''s system. Did you steal trade


    secrets?"


    “expression, huh?” Alice opened Andrew Yates''sputer, her slender fingers flying across the keyboard. Code filled the screen, quickly hacking into Ethan''spany system. Luke was surprised by Alice''s skills. She wrote code and hacked into Ethan''s system-a highly secured system-on the fly, He hadn''t realized how talented she was. He''d underestimated her. Ethan sneered.“Alice, fix my system."


    Ethan''s secretary panicked, “Boss, the entire system has crashed. Security ispromised!” “What?!” Ethan looked at Alice."Stop! What did you do?" He thought she was fixing the system. Alice stopped, cold and


    calm."You wanted an expression?"


    "That''s not an expression!"


    "If I hacked yourpany, wouldn''t it be more significant? This is what it would look like. Get it?”


    Ethan was sweating. He shouted at his secretary, "What are you looking at me for? Get IT to fix it!" A bunch of


    idiots!


    Alice watched Ethan frantically trying to fix the problem, but it wouldn''t be easy. He came to her, his hands on


    the desk, eyes


    bloodshot.


    “Alice, fix my system! This is Alice tilted her head.“Beg me.”


    your mess!"