Chapter 157 Foolish Girl

Chapter 157 Foolish Girl
Alexander turned off the lights.

My fingers suddenly felt clumsy and I opened it. Nothing looked unusual.

My lip gloss. My phone. My purse. A few personal things. Then, a faint sound.

BEEP.

I froze in surprise that I'd heard it. Alexander's expression changed.

"There."

My stomach dropped.

"That's...."

BEEP.

I hurriedly pushed everything aside. And there it was.A tiny black device no larger than my palm. A small red light blinked steadily on its surface.

I stared at it in disbelief.

"I've never seen this before."

Alexander leaned closer.

"Don't touch it yet."

I looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because we don't know what it is."

Another soft beep. I swallowed.

"How did it get inside my bag?"

Alexander's eyes moved toward the dark forest beyond the porch.

"I don't know."

His voice had lost all its playfulness. He reached for the device carefully, inspecting it without picking it up.

"Someone put it there."

My heart began pounding.

"But who?"

He looked at me.

"Iris...."

"What?"

"Think. Who has touched your bag recently?"

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. Then after a long moment of deep thinking, memory flashed through my mind.

Roanna. At the arena. Helping me with my bag while the race was ending.

My eyes widened.

"No...."

Alexander noticed immediately. "What?"

I shook my head.

"No."

"What did you remember?"

I looked down at the tiny blinking device.

"Roanna...."

His expression hardened. "You think she put it there?"

"I don't know." My voice became shaky. "She took my bag."

"When?"

"At the race."

Alexander stared at the device. Then back at me.

"Why would your friend put a monitor in your bag?"

"I don't know. Nothing actually." I wrapped my arms around myself. "She wouldn't."

I said it more firmly this time.

"Roanna wouldn't do that."

Alexander didn't argue. But he didn't look convinced either. He carefully picked up the device with the edge of a cloth.

"Whatever this is...." He examined the tiny blinking light. "....someone wanted to know where you were and what is going on with you."

A chill ran down my spine and I looked toward the moonlit forest. Suddenly, the beautiful night didn't feel peaceful anymore.

It felt like someone was watching. And somewhere far beyond the trees, a tiny signal blinked again.

Then, Alexander spoke.

"I'll find out."





GENERAL/OMNISCIENT POV:

Roanna sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at her phone. A smile kept creeping onto her face. She tried to suppress it and failed. Then smiled again.

Marc: You looked so beautiful today.

She pressed her lips together.

"Oh my God...."

She buried her face in her pillow, swinging her feet behind her. A few seconds later, another message arrived.

Marc: Are you blushing already?

Roanna immediately typed back.

Roanna: No.

Three dots appeared.

Marc: Liar.

She giggled. Her cheeks warmed some more and sshe tossed the phone beside her and stared at the ceiling. She was beginning to really, really like him. And that was becoming a problem. Because she had promised herself she wouldn't get attached so quickly. But now....

She sat up and glanced toward her laptop. The smile slowly disappeared.

"Oh."

She stared at it for several seconds. Then reluctantly reached for it.

The screen came alive and a small monitoring interface opened.

Roanna hesitated.

She knew she shouldn't be doing this. She knew it. Still....

Her finger clicked and the audio feed loaded. At first, there was only static. Then voices.

Iris and Alexander.

Roanna's eyebrows lifted and she listened.

Their voices were quiet. Too quiet, even. She couldn't make out everything, but she caught enough.

Alexander was reassuring Iris. Iris was laughing. Then there was a long silence.

Roanna frowned and leaned closer.

"Did they...." Her eyes widened. "...kiss already?"

She immediately shook her head.

"Why do I care?"

She sat back.

"I don't even like any of those guys and I hate whatever their existence stands for around here." She paused.

"Well. Not like that." Her cheeks warmed again. "Marc is different."

She smiled. Then the audio continued. She heard Iris laugh again and Roanna sighed.

"I really shouldn't be listening to this."

Her hand hovered over the keyboard. Then.... BZZZT.

The audio abruptly cut out and Roanna froze.

"What?!"

She clicked the feed. Nothing. She refreshed it. Nothing.

Her heart began pounding.

"No...."

She tried another channel. Dead. Another. Dead.

Her face slowly drained.

"Please don't...."

She hurriedly opened the recording history. Her eyes scanned the latest timestamp. Then she saw it.

DEVICE DISCONNECTED.

Roanna's mouth fell open.

"No."

She immediately replayed the final recording she was yet to listen to.

Alexander's voice came through.

"Why is there a monitor in your bag?"

Roanna's eyes widened. "Oh, shit."

She listened again. Iris's shocked voice followed.

"I didn't put one there."

Roanna slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Alexander found it."

Her heart hammered. She quickly stopped the playback and for several seconds, she simply stared at the screen, contemplating the greatest next move.

Then panic took over.

"If he found that one...." She looked at the recording archive. "...then he could find everything."

Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she opened the stored files.

Months of little recordings. Locations. Conversations. Movements. Everything she'd been able to capture.

Roanna swallowed hard.

"I am such a creep."

She began transferring the files. Not deleting them. Just moving them somewhere else and into a hidden encrypted storage account.

One folder after another.

TRANSFER COMPLETE.

She checked again. Then again.Only when she was certain the files were safely separated did she begin deleting the local copies.

One by one and all was gone.

Her breathing became heavier. Finally, the laptop displayed: NO LOCAL RECORDINGS FOUND.

Roanna stared at the screen. Then slowly closed it. After that, she sat completely still. Her heart was still racing.

"Okay. ..." She took a deep breath. "That's it."

Another breath.

"I'm done with my nonsense. Iris can take care of herself."

She nodded firmly to herself.

"No more monitoring. No more listening. No more creepy spy nonsense."

She picked up her phone. Marc's name was still at the top of her messages. Her expression softened immediately. She smiled.

"I guess I have a normal boyfriend now."

She paused. Then frowned.

"Well.... hopefully."

She flopped backward onto her bed. After a moment, she covered her face with both hands.

"I really need to stop being creepy."

A tiny laugh escaped her. Then she whispered to herself. "Seriously. Stop it, Ro."

She reached for her phone again. And completely unaware that the hidden archive had already synchronized elsewhere, Roanna smiled when another message from Marc appeared.





Far across town in the , another screen glowed in the darkness. Jackson sat alone in his bedroom, one leg crossed over the other as he watched the transfer notification appear.

ARCHIVE SYNCHRONIZED.

A slow smile spread across his face and he leaned back in his chair. Then laughed.

"Foolish girl."

His eyes remained fixed on the screen. Roanna had deleted everything from her laptop. She thought she'd gotten rid of the evidence. She thought she'd finally stopped being creepy.

She had no idea that every recording had already been copied somewhere else. Somewhere he controlled.

Jackson tapped the screen and a list of files appeared.

Iris. Alexander. Armari. The race. The house. The conversations. Everything.

His smile widened.

"You really thought you were the one watching them?" He chuckled. "No, little witch. You were only doing my work for me and you aren't wise enough to know me."

He closed the archive. Then leaned back, laughing quietly to himself.

"Really foolish girl."