Linden turned his head, surprised by Mirabe''s sudden grip on his arm, "Hey, freshman?"


    As he spoke, his fingers instinctively pressed the doorbell.


    "Senior, the person you were talking about, is it Meg?" Mirabe adjusted her bangs with an air of concern.


    Linden nodded, "Yeah, that''s right." He recalled mentioning Meg in theb just the day before.


    Noticing Mirabe''s odd expression, he couldn''t help but ask, "What? Do you two know each other?"


    With the doorbell already rung, Mirabe sighed, thinking how small the world seemed to be sometimes.


    She didn''t answer because, at that moment, theb door swung open.


    It was Meg who appeared.


    Seeing Linden, Meg was about to greet him, but her words caught in her throat as soon as she saw who was beside him.


    Her expression shifted instantly.


    What is she doing here? Isn''t she just a freshman? How does she even know Linden? And if she''s here with him, does she know I used her idea?


    The more Meg thought about it, the more her face drained of color, her mind buzzing with panic, her fingers gripping the doorframe so tightly they might break.


    Linden noticed Meg''s gaze fixed on Mirabe. Meg looked pale, like she''d just seen a ghost.


    Confused and not aware of any history between the two, Linden instinctively quieted his breathing, feeling the tension thick in the air.


    The silence was heavy.


    Finally, Mirabe broke the awkward quiet, responding to Linden''s earlierment.


    "Yeah, we''re quite familiar," Mirabe said, a yful smile tugging at her lips.


    With Linden mentioning the gic code decryption algorithm, it was obvious someone had swiped her idea.


    The moment Meg and Mirabe''s eyes met, Meg knew Mirabe was aware of the theft.


    When Meg decided to use Mirabe''s idea, she had carefully nned to avoid Zane for any data analysis, making sure to steer clear of Mirabe.


    That''s why she reached out to Linden.


    She had worked with Linden a few times before, knew he was a decent guy, exceptional in bioputing, and since he was a few years ahead of Mirabe, she figured they wouldn''t know each other.


    By all ounts, Linden was the perfect choice to help with data analysis without Mirabe getting wind of it.


    But she never dreamed Linden would actually know Mirabe.


    Knowing her was one thing, but sharing details about a confidential experiment? That was unlikely.


    But who would have thought... when he mentioned introducing a skilled


    ssmate, it turned out to be Mirabe, the one person she wanted to steer clear


    of!


    Meg felt a wave of frustration.


    She took a deep breath, telling herself to stayposed-no matter what, this experiment had to seed.


    Loosening her grip on the doorframe, Meg turned to Linden, "I''m sorry, Linden. You might not realize it, but Mirabe and I have some personal issues. So if she''s the one you brought, our research team might not be too thrilled."


    Linden frowned. He didn''t know the details of the conflict between Meg and Mirabe, but there was something about Meg''s bluntness that rubbed him the wrong way.