Chapter 78
“Fernando, hand over Laney!”
“Fernando-!”
The secret laboratory echoed with Eddy’s voice, his crazed shouting from the conference hall blaring through the massive monitors, cutting through
the tense air.
“Professor, if Mrs. Simmons doesn’t leave now, we won’t be able to hold them off much longer.” Felipa burst into the office, not finding anyone in sight. She hesitated only a second before pushing through to Fernando’s private lab in the back.
“Felipa, Felipa!” Blanche called desperately, pounding on the side of the containment pod.
Felipa rushed to the sound, quickly hitting the release and helping Fernando out of the pod. “Professor, what happened? Why were you-?”
Fernando steadied himself, then immediately reached in to help Blanche. Disheveled, Blanche hurriedly smoothed her dress and hair, trying to regain her composure.
“It was a misunderstanding,” she said crisply, clutching the retrieved chip. Without another word, she strode toward the hidden door they’d used to
enter.
Fernando hurried after her.
Blanche avoided his gaze, embarrassment coloring her cheeks. “You weren’t like this before. You always said your life-your talents-were meant to serve your country, that you’d never let personal feelings get in the way.”
Back at the base, his admirers had been legion-eager, relentless. He’d always refused them, and once, he’d even made a declaration in front of them all: that his life, gifted as it was, would be dedicated to his country
and nothing else.
Blanche couldn’t accept that the once-noble Fernando had so suddenly changed.
Remembering what he’d just said, she thought he sounded like a lovesick
fool.
“I didn’t realize how I felt about you back then,” Fernando replied, his tone so natural and matter-of-fact that Blanche was at a complete loss.
“Laney, give me a chance.”
“I’m better for you than Eddy-”
“Just let me leave,” Blanche cut him off, her voice firm.
She glanced at the display in the lab’s main hall. Eddy’s eyes blazed with fury; if he couldn’t find her soon, he might just tear down the entire
building.
Fernando followed her gaze, his dark eyes smoldering with anger.
He remembered once asking why she’d wanted to become a white-hat
hacker.
She’d told him her mother’s dying wish was to see her live freely, chasing her own dreams-even if it meant hardship, as long as she was passionate about it.
She said that every time she manipulated the network, it felt like she was reaching out to her mother in the distant heavens, drawing just a little closer.
How much must she have loved Eddy, Fernando wondered, to give up that chance to be closer to her mother, to surrender her freedom and her dreams.
The realization that she still loved Eddy left Fernando’s eyes dim with
sorrow.
Chapter 78
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to let go. Someone like Eddy didn’t deserve a woman like Laney.
To keep Laney by his side, forcing her to endure more pain-there was no respect in that. It certainly wasn’t love.
“Fine. But remember-I mean every word,” Fernando said, pressing his thumb to the biometric lock. Blanche barely waited for the door to slide open before hurrying out.
Watching her retreat, Fernando was suddenly swept back to six years ago, remembering when they’d first met.
He’d been trapped-danger closing in-when suddenly, a soft, confident young woman’s voice came through his earpiece. Her laughter, bright as silver bells, still echoed in his mind.
“Professor Reese, don’t worry.”
“With me here, you’ll get out safely.”
“See that window ahead? Jump out-now.”
“You have five seconds. After that, the whole building goes up in flames.”
He’d never imagined he’d have to trust his life to a woman who sounded barely twenty.
“Five… four… three… two… one…”
But he’d obeyed her without hesitation.
The moment he leapt through the window, she laughed-“bong!”
“Thank you, Professor! That’s another point on my performance review. Soon I’ll be able to pass the Director-General’s exam!”
He landed hard on an emergency air cushion, rescue teams swarming around him.
A moment later, the entire building exploded and collapsed behind him.
He tried to ask who she was, but only silence answered.
Later, the Director-General himself told him: the one who’d saved him was his newest recruit-a top-tier hacker who could commandeer any
network in minutes, easily the most talented student he’d brought in for years. And she’d only just turned twenty.
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