James rose to his feet. His face was an unreadable mask as he ascended the staircase, Wyatt watched his boss disappear, with panic setting in. He slumped against the armrest of the couch, muttering, “This is it. I’m done for. I feel like I’m about to be exiled to the frontier.”


    Curtis noticed Wyatt’s look of despair and frowned, especially after hearing him earlier. emphasize that “James. Ignoring his own wounds, Insisted on escorting Ms. Mirabe back to her hotel first.


    H


    “The surveince footage from the night market was tampered with, but I’ve managed to restore it. From the angle, it’s clear the target wasn’t the boss. It was Ms. Mirabe,” Curtis stated icily.


    Wyatt’s head snapped up in surprise. “No way, Ms. Mirabe’s just a regr student. Why would anyone target her? Besides, this is her first time in Riverdale.”


    Unconvinced batt’s disbelief, Curtis opened the surveince video on hisptop and ‘slowed it down. “Take a look.”


    After the section showing the collision was yed, Curtis added, “The assant’s objective was crystal clear: Ms. Mirabe. And judging by his moves, he’s had some training. He tried to cover his tracks, but he left plenty of slip–ups.”


    Wyatt scratched his head, still struggling to digest the revtion. “I just can’t see it being Ms. Mirabe.”


    Curtis felt like smacking some sense into Wyatt, who seemed bewitched by that girl. Taking a deep breath to calm his irritation, Curtis asked patiently. “You think it’s impossible, yet the evidence suggests otherwise. How much do you really know about Ms. Mirabe?”


    “…” Wyatt started to respond.


    But Curtis cut him off, pressing on, “Okay, so you say she’s just a regr student. But why. would a so–called regr student be targeted by someone with dubious intentions? Have your really thought about that?”


    Wyatt touched his nose and murmured, “That’s because she’s with the boss<b>.</b>”


    “Are you letting a single box of incense cloud your judgment of her?” Curtis shook his head, exasperated.


    Sure, the Incense <b>of </b>Calm was priceless, but considering James‘ stature, was he really someone to be swayed by such a trifle?


    “It’s not about blind trust. Besides, I checked her background. She’s just a girl raised by her grandma in the countryside, innocent and unblemished except for a melodramatic family history,” Wyatt insisted, speaking from his gut feelings.


    Sometimes he found Mirabe mysterious, like where she got the incense or how she suddenly turned her poor academic record around and became the talk of the school. But none of that


    seemed to point to her being problematic.


    “Forget it, I might as well be talking to a wall. Just… try to be more vignt.” Curtis advised and closed hisptop, standing up to leave.


    Wyatt touched his nose again, perplexed. Curtis had seemed to take a liking to Ms. Mirabe, so why the sudden suspicion because of tonight’s events? Even Niki and Knox, who were shrewd old foxes, wanted to take her as a student. She couldn’t be someone with ulterior


    motives.


    Plus, Mr. Hammond from Parkside High School had nothing but praise for her. She’s a top student, and she mighte from a humble background, but to the average Joe, she was a rising star with limitless potential.


    Shaking his head, Wyatt decided not to dwell on Curtis‘ thoughts. Instead, he pulled out his phone and sent Mirabe a text.