Hugo heard Darcy was leaving and called to ask if she wanted a ride in his car. "Your foot just healed. The bus is cramped, not good for circulation." "Thanks, but no need." Darcy declined politely. She was as cool as ever. Hugo said nothing more and hung up. Sensing his low spirits, probably due to the "breakup," Zane walked over and patted his shoulder. "Plenty more fish in the sea. Keep moving forward." Hugo was stunned for a moment, gave him an indescribable look, then lowered his eyes. "Yeah." The next day was the weekend. After breakfast at home, Darcy took the complete chain of evidence to Rhett. After looking through all the evidence, Rhett's jaw dropped in surprise.He looked up at Darcy again, his tone full of disbelief. "You alone retrieved the stolen code and data, and even mapped out the intruder's entire path?" Darcy thought for a moment, deciding it was better not to involve Jethro. So she told a little white lie. "Not me. A friend helped out—he's overseas, way more skilled than I am. He recovered the system logs from my computer, traced back the IP from the logs to the overseas IP of the attacker, and finally helped me get the code and data back. "Then, we accidentally discovered that this overseas IP user had been frequently communicating with a domestic IP user." Rhett nodded. Coming from a tech background himself, he understood what Darcy was saying. He flipped through the printed documents. "This domestic IP user is named Mia Mercer. Do you know her?" Darcy nodded. "Yes. She's a student at Quest University and also a member of the research project at the base. We've collaborated before." With over a decade of case experience, Rhett had already guessed Mia's motive. Clearly, Mia was jealous of Darcy's professional skills. So she colluded with an overseas hacker group to breach Darcy's computer and steal her soon-to-be-finished work. The evidence chain was solid. Without another word, Rhett and a colleague drove straight to the project base. At the base, everyone was enjoying afternoon tea—cake made by Mia herself. With Darcy gone for two weeks, Mia had been over the moon. She wasn't as twisted and on guard against Darcy anymore, instead focusing all her attention on Bram. Knowing Bram recently liked a cake from the campus bakery, she learned to replicate it herself and brought the finished cake to share at the base.Mia brought over two mini cakes, smiling softly, "Bram, you've been grinding all morning—take a breather. These are homemade—try one?" Bram flicked a glance at the cakes, his expression flat and unimpressed. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry right now. Just give them to someone else." During Darcy's absence, Bram had spoken less, his smiles even rarer, living each day like an emotionless coding robot. Mia bit her rosy lip and said nothing. She set the cakes back down. Her fingers were sticky—she went to the restroom to clean them. Just as she reached the door, she bumped into Rhett. Rhett and his colleague showed their badges. "Excuse me, which one of you is Mia?" Mia's heart leaped. Her back stiffened, and she shrank back into the corner in panic. Why are the police here?Was it discovered? No, impossible! I covered my tracks so well. There's no expert domestically who could trace it back to me! Darcy couldn't have found me this fast! Seeing her silent, Rhett took two more steps inside, repeating, "Which of you is Mia?" Everyone present were students with no real-world experience. Seeing the police, they were momentarily stunned. Bram reacted first, pointing at Mia by the door. "That's her. May I ask what you need her for, officers?" Rhett produced a pair of handcuffs, his voice filled with authority. "Mia, we've gotten a report. You're accused of working with an overseas hacker group to steal a classmate's research work. Please come with us!" Everyone else sucked in a sharp breath. "What? So the hack that hit our lab—the missing code and data—Mia stole them with an overseas hacker group?" "Damn, I knew it! We've never had a hacker attack in all these years. There had to be an inside job!" "No wonder she kept trying to stop Darcy from reporting it before! It was her all along. Guilty conscience, much." Bram, recovering from the initial shock, turned a cold face to Mia. "Was it you?" Though panicked, Mia knew she couldn't admit it. Without evidence, what could they do even if they took her in! "It wasn't me! Bram, you have to believe me. I didn't do it! Someone's framing me!"