Chapter 3

"Ms. Bennett, Nora's robot is suspected of using pirated code."

There were only forty-eight hours left before the state competition review.

When I rushed to the school, Grant was already sitting in the conference room. Owen had his head down, and Nora had her hands hidden under the table, her face deathly pale.

The advisor turned the laptop toward me.

"The obstacle avoidance module heavily overlaps with a commercial program online. Copying code is strictly forbidden in this competition. If confirmed, the entire team will be disqualified."

"That wasn't my code!" Nora blurted out immediately.

Grant placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so quick to deny it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"Kids get scared when they make mistakes," he said gently. "We should give her a chance to be honest."

Nora whipped her head up to stare at him.

It wasn't a look of feeling wronged—it was pure terror.

The offending code had been uploaded at 10:17 PM the night before, from Nora's account.

"Did you touch the project last night?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "After nine o'clock, my laptop stayed in my room."

"Who else had your password?"

She looked past me, straight at Owen.

Owen's shoulders instantly tensed up.

Grant quickly stepped in. "It’s Nora’s account, and it's her project. She needs to learn to take responsibility."

"Whoever uploaded it takes responsibility!"

The advisor offered to check the laptop's activity logs.

Owen suddenly spoke up, "I only looked at the demo files! I don't even know how to read code!"

Nobody had asked him if he knew how to read code.

Nora's lips parted, but in the end, she didn't say a word.

On the ride home, she stared out the window the entire time. Even when we passed her favorite ice cream shop, she didn't say a word to ask me to stop.

"That code wasn't written by you, was it?"

She dug her fingernails deep into her palms. "The account belonged to me."

That wasn't an answer.

Once we got home, she carried her laptop straight upstairs.

A few minutes later, a notification popped up on the system backend—she had changed her password.

When I pushed open her door, she frantically wiped away her tears.

"Mom, if I really did something really bad, would you still marry Grant?"

"What did you do?"

"I'm just asking what if."

"The wedding is an adult matter. It has nothing to do with you."

"But what if it's because of me?"

She stared at the seating card on her nightstand with "Dad" written on it.

"If I ruin Owen's application, will Grant not want to be my dad anymore?"

I grabbed her shoulders. "Nobody's future is your responsibility to save. Tell me, what really happened last night—"

"She needs to rest."

Grant was standing in the doorway holding a glass of warm milk, looking completely unfazed.

"I'll handle the school."

"Handle it how?"

"I'll have Nora admit it was an accidental citation error and pull out of the competition. She's young, she can try again next year."

Nora's body froze instantly.

"The investigation isn't over yet."

"Digging into it will only hurt both kids," Grant insisted.

"Or will it only hurt Owen?"

His eyes went cold for a fraction of a second.

"Claire, you're getting way too emotional."

He set the milk down and leaned over to tuck Nora in.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I'll go to the school with you to explain."

Nora suddenly grabbed my hand in a tight grip.

Grant saw it, but he just smiled.

Before leaving, he casually picked up her laptop—the one she had just changed the password to.

After the door closed, Nora's hands were still shaking.

"Mom, are you coming with me tomorrow?"

"Of course I am."

But when I rushed to the school the next afternoon, the hearing room was empty except for a signed confession statement left on the desk.