Leo was about to say something more when a nce from Mirabe shut him downpletely. He Instantly chickened out.


    That was just how it went.


    With a silent sigh, Leo resigned himself to the fact that this would be his life now.


    Three hourster, Collins dropped the siblings off at the Davis family’s estate, and soon after, he drove away. Exhausted from the day, they had dinner and then retreated to their respective rooms.


    After freshening up, Mirabe blow–dried her hair and sat down at her desk to boot up herptop.


    She navigated to her email and downloaded the encrypted file Adler had sent her. After entering the password, the file opened – it was a PowerPoint presentation.


    She flicked through the slides with a few clicks of her mouse. The data flew by, and after a quick review, her brow furrowed slightly. It was highly confidential experimental data. Why on earth would Adler share this with her?


    –


    Sure, she had casually helped him a couple of times in the past, but it was just that casual. After all, her assessments of their experimental data were purely spective, without any real hands–on experience.


    Mirabe stared at the screen, her fingers still, lost in thought for a while before she closed the file and shut down herptop. Soon after, she stood up, lit a candle to wind down, and then slipped into bed.


    I


    The next day, on the way to school.


    Mirabe sat in the passenger seat, idly spinning her phone in her hand, the data from Adler still on her mind.


    Her gaze asionally drifted out the car window, and after passing a few traffic lights, she suddenly sat up straight. In the side mirror, she noticed a ck sedan that had been tailing them something about it seemed off.


    –


    If they were just heading in the same direction, there was no reason for it to follow so closely, especially since there had been several opportunities to overtake.


    Pondering for a moment, Mirabe looked over at Shawn and mentioned, “Dad, that car behind us seems to be following us.”


    Shawn let out a surprised “huh” and nced at the rearview mirror. His face darkened upon seeing the tail. These clowns were tailing so closely that they even got his daughter’s attention.


    Shawn turned his focus back to the road and said, “Um… probably heading the same way as us, right? This road leads to the school.”


    Mirabe took another look behind and murmured, “Maybe.“.


    Shawn didn’t say anything more. Instead, he reached for his phone from the console, slowed down the car, and sent out a text. Soon after, the car behind them sped past and left them far behind.


    Shawn tossed his phone back into the console and pointed at the disappearing tail lights. “See that car, honey? Was that the one?”


    Looking up at the sedan, Mirabe nodded, “Yeah.”


    “Ha, you see? You were overthinking it. Just someone on the same route as us,” Shawn chuckled, trying to cover up his unease.


    Mirabe didn’t scrutinize Shawn’s expression and simply hummed in agreement, deciding not to dwell on it further. Perhaps she had been overly cautious.


    Before long, they arrived at the school gates. Shawn waited until Mirabe got out of the car and entered the school, watching her until she waspletely out of sight. Only then did he pick up his phone again and made a call.