Chapter 384

Chapter 376
Gemma’s POV
Zina stares at me, her confusion written plainly across her face. Why delete it? her eyes scream.
“Just do it,” I repeat, my voice low but firm. “We’ll talk at home.”
We’re in the heart of the Bernard estate, surrounded by people whose loyalties and motives are unclear. Every extra minute we spend holed up in here invites suspicion. “When you go out, you tell them the data was unrecoverable. You don’t know who it was.”
She’s still struggling, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. I saw her shock when the face appeared on the screen. The betrayal flashes in her eyes. Who would want to protect someone who just tried to hurt them?
“Gemma,” she whispers, her voice tight with frustration, “are you really sure about this? Keeping it a secret? With everyone out there ready to help you?”
“Not now.”
I have a plan, a thread I need to pull on alone first. Pc 09: accusation is a blunt instrument. and I need a scalpel. 1
Chapter 376
20 min left
Zina lets out a long, resigned sigh. She doesn’t understand, but she trusts me. Or, at least, she defers to the fact that I’m the one who was shoved into a pool. With a few swift keystrokes, she scrubs the recovered footage from the local system, ensuring only the copy sent to my private drive remains.
When she steps out of the monitoring room, the expectant faces of the waiting group are almost painful to witness. She can’t meet their eyes. “Sorry,” she mumbles, shoulders slumping in a convincing show of defeat. “The system’s architecture is complex. Whoever did this was a pro. The deletion is permanent. I can’t restore it.”
Meredith’s face falls, her hope for a quick resolution dashed. Mikhail simply arches a brow, as if he expected nothing less from this circus.
Liam, however, is practically scandalized. “Seriously? You’re Moonlight and you got bested by some random deletion job? Did you buy your ranking online?”
His disbelief is insultingly genuine.
Zina’s head snaps up, her temper flaring. I see the outrage that I would let her reputation, the reputation of Moonlight, take a hit like this. 1
09.11 what Moonlight can do to your bank accounts. Stop slandering
“Say that again,” she hisses, “and I will personally show you 217
< Chapter 376 Jeremy pulls her back, his grip on her arm firm. “Enough, Zina.” 20 min left “Why am I ‘enough‘?” she retorts, whirling on him. “He’s the one questioning my–my capabilities!” The lie sticks in her throat. “You failed to fix it. How is that slander?” Liam fires back, genuinely disappointed. The legendary hacker he’d built up in his mind has just proven fallible. “Liam.” Cassian’s voice is a low warning, and it’s enough to make him subside, though he still looks deeply let down. Meredith turns her concerned gaze to me. “If the footage is gone… how do we find this person?” I offer a weak, resigned shrug, playing the exhausted victim. “Maybe it was just… a terrible accident. A jostle in the crowd. I’ll be more careful.” The performance makes my skin crawl, but it’s necessary. Cassian’s jaw tightens. He doesn’t buy the ‘accident‘ theory for a second, but he’s trapped. If Moonlight can’t find the evidence, what hope does he have? “I’d like to take the physical server drives for my own team to examine,” he says to Meredith, a last resort. 377 09-1 < Chapter 376 20 min leff “Of course, Mr. Blackwell,” she agrees, though we all know it’s a futile gesture. I seize the moment to look at Meredith, letting weariness seep into my voice. “Ms. Bernard, I’m exhausted. I should go home.” Her concern instantly refocuses on me. “Yes, of course. We’ll speak tomorrow.” Her eyes linger on me with that strange, intense curiosity again. Cassian moves to step forward, ready to assume the role of escort, but I lean my weight against Zina. “Zina,” I say, my voice deliberately frail, “can you take me home?” Zina, understanding the cue, nods immediately. “Absolutely, I’ve got you.” But Jeremy’s hand is on her arm again. “Ms. Marino,” he says to me, his tone polite but inflexible, “I need a word with Zina. You don’t mind, do you?” Do I mind? I very much mind. I give Zina a look that plainly says, Your call now! She’s torn. She wants to come with me, needs to hear the explanation, but Jeremy’s gaze is dark with a simmering, hurt anger. He just found out his girlfriend is supposedly an internationally wanted hacker, and she never mentioned it 477 09:11 < Chapter 376 20 min left I roll my eyes internally. So much for sisterly solidarity in the face of male displeasure. Seeing my expression, guilt floods her features. She yanks her arm from Jeremy’s grasp. “Go home by yourself,” she tells him, her voice regaining some of its usual fire. “I’m with Gemma tonight. Don’t be a child about it.” Jeremy’s eyes narrow, but he takes a deliberate step back, conceding the battle. “Tomorrow,” he states, the word a promise of a confrontation. “We will talk.” Zina takes my hand, her grip firm. “Let’s go!” “Sure you don’t want your man?” I can’t resist murmuring as she guides me toward the door. “Men are temporary,” she declares, a little too loudly. “Friendship is forever!” It’s a nice sentiment, though we both know the truth is messier. She’s choosing me tonight because the mystery, and the potential professional fallout, is more pressing than a lover’s quarrel. 89:11 Back at Urban Lane, the familiar, unglamorous clutter of my apartment is a relief. Zina fusses, handing me water, tucking a < Chapter 376 20 min left blanket around my legs. The moment we’re settled, she pounces. “Okay. Explain. It was William. We both saw it. Clear as day. Why the cover–up? He’s a psycho! All that neighborly crap was just a setup!” She’s furious on my behalf, reconstructing the past weeks with a sinister new lens. But I shake my head, sipping the water. “Think about it, Zina. What’s his motive? Before a few weeks ago, I was a stranger to him. We have no history, no business rivalry. He gains nothing from harming me randomly.” I’d felt uneasy about him, yes. But then he had offered the perfectly logical explanation of buying a property here. It had neatly explained his presence, dissolving my suspicion. But suddenly, that explanation feels like the first sinking step of a trap. He didn’t just buy a house here, he made sure to tell me about it. This wasn’t a crime of passion or petty jealousy, it was deliberate and carefully calculated. And for a calculation, there must be a reason. I need to find out what exactly it is, before I show my hand. 6/7 Adminj