Sofia''s face went pale. She stared at Reese like she couldn''t believe what she was hearing.


    Everyone knew Reese had helped out with the de system, but she was just Matthew''s assistant, always doing odd jobs. Yet, here she was, not only understanding the code but pointing out the problem in seconds.


    Sofia shot a panicked look at Bailey and Hank. Their faces mirrored her disbelief. Her heart dropped. If Reese was really this talented, Bailey and Hank would see her in a whole new light. And if Reese asked to reopen the investigation into Marie''s ident, they might actually agree.


    Trying to steady herself, Sofia pressed her thumb into her palm, forcing her nerves to calm. She opened her mouth to say something, but Matthew stepped forward first. He nced at the code on the screen, a mocking smile tugging at


    his lips.


    "Mr. Meyer, is this what you call wless?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Vista Tech''s tform can''t even handle basic logic. There''s no way de can run on this."


    Bailey snapped out of his daze, anxiety flickering across his face. He turned quickly to Sofia. "Sofia, you can fix this, right?"


    "I... I''ll try." Sofia hesitated, then stepped up and started typing furiously. Fifteen minutes passed. Still, de refused to run.


    Reese leaned back, watching Sofia''s cheeks flush deeper with every failed attempt. She couldn''t help but chuckle. Looks like she''d given Sofia too much credit. Even this basic problem was out of her reach.


    Bailey grew more anxious by the minute. "Sofia, is it working yet?"


    "Dad, I''m trying..." Sofia''s voice cracked. She''d already switched through several different algorithms, desperate to make depatible with Vista Tech''s tform. Every time she tried, something else went wrong.


    "You''re going about it all wrong." Reese let out a quiet sigh, watching Sofia fumble. "The two systems just aren''tpatible. No matter how you tweak it, they won''t work together."


    She paused, then added, "If you can''t fix it, maybe I can give it a shot?"


    That was thest straw. Sofia snapped, her voice sharp and shaky. "Reese, stop pretending you know everything!


    "What do you even know? I''m using the best frameworks from overseas. I''ve spent a week debugging, and I still can''t find the problem. You think you can solve it after ncing at the code for two seconds?


    Bailey''s face darkened even more. He stepped closer, pointing at the ring red error on the screen, his voice tight. "Reese, Sofia''s been working with Al since she was a kid. I spent a fortune sending her abroad for training if she can''t solve this What makes you someone WFTO didn''t even finish college-think you can?"


    Hank jumped in, trying to calm things down. "Bailey''s right, Reese. Even if you


    know de better than Sofia, fixing this is real technical work.


    "You''re just making things worse. If you mess this up and we lose the partnership, can you handle the consequences?"


    Matthew''s eyes darkened as he heard them piling on, and he started to say something, but Reese gave him a quick, subtle shake of her head. He caught the spark in her eyes and just smiled, saying nothing.


    Reese looked totally unfazed. She shrugged. "Alright, if you all think I can''t do it."


    She walked over to theputer anyway, fingers flying across the keyboard. Within seconds, a new window popped up. Lines of pale blue code scrolled by, stopping on an encrypted input screen.


    Bailey started to step forward to stop her, but the window on the screen made him freeze in ce, a wave of unease washing over him.


    Sofia recognized it instantly, her voice tight. "That''s the destruction authorization for de." She''d only seen it back when she worked with the ckOak team.


    But how did Reese know how to ess it?


    Before Sofia could even ask, Reese spoke up. "Since Vista Tech''s


    tform can''t run de, protocol says we have to wipe the system data from the drive. It''s the only way to protect our core technology."