"Oh, she didn''t own up to it at noon, so she''s definitely not going to now," Mirabe said with a shrug.


    Zane''s cheeks twitched. Was that the response he was looking for? Why couldn''t she just y the helpless act like Meg?


    Zane rubbed his forehead, deciding to drop it. He looked back up at Calvin, "Alright, if you don''t believe me, then the data records on theputer should clear things up, right?"


    Thebputers kept records for the past three months, which was why Zane felt pretty confident.


    But as soon as he said that, Mirabe gave him a quiet nce. He was almost endearingly naive.


    Calvin turned around, having already grilled Meg about the missing calction data, and just waved it off, "Go ahead, find it."


    All this fuss over a little idea.


    Calvin, trying to keep his cool, added, "If youe up empty, you''ll still need to exin yourself today, especially with Wade here to see it."


    "Of course. And when it''s proven that your student did swipe my student''s idea, what will you say then?" Zane was ready for a showdown.


    He''d already ticked Calvin off before, so what was one more time?


    Calvin hadn''t been too worried, but seeing Zane''s confidence made him narrow his eyes and nce back at Meg.


    Meg clenched her fists, speaking through gritted teeth, "The calction idea is ours; there''s no stealing involved."


    Seeing her, Calvin''s expression turned unreadable, and he just said, "Alright, let''s head to theb and let the truth sort itself out."


    With that, Calvin started to leave.


    Zane''s brow furrowed.


    From the moment Calvin and Meg walked in, they''d been denying everything, even with the mention of data backups. They weren''t fazed, like they''d thought it all through.


    Maybe the data records had been wiped!


    "Hold on," Zane called out to them.


    Calvin paused, turning back to Zane with a smirk, "What? Can''t keep up the charade?"


    "You''ve erased the data records, haven''t you!" Zane used seriously.


    Calvin sighed, rubbing his temples, "You were the ones asking to see them. Now you''re using missing records as an excuse. Haven''t you had enough?"


    Looking exasperated, Calvin turned to Wade, "Wade, weigh in here. Does it make sense for a sophomore to steal a freshman''s data?"


    Wade slowly set down his coffee, ignoring Calvin''s question and turning to Mirabe, "You know, you''ve got guts, being pushed around like this and not even fighting back?"


    Calvin was taken aback by this.


    What was Wade getting at?


    What did he mean by being pushed around and not fighting back? Before Calvin could wrap his head around it, Mirabe let out a heavy sigh. Her delicate face showed indifference, her ck hoodie sleeves rolled up to reveal a bit of her pale wrist, her slender fingers twirling lightly, "That''s why it''s tough being a bystander, even when you''re just lying low, you get caught in the crossfire."