Alessia stood up and opened the door. Instead of Dominic, there stood Mrs. Cate with a smiling face.
Alessia was taken aback and instinctively looked behind Mrs. Cate.
Seeing her expression, Mrs. Cate seemed to have guessed her thoughts and explained, "Mr. Carter didn't come upstairs."
With that, she handed over the flowers and the box of lobsters she was holding to Alessia.
"Miss, these were just delivered by Mr. Carter. He said he's busy tonight and will message you later."
Alessia looked at the flowers and then at the lobsters, feeling that something was off.
Whether Dominic came upstairs, how busy he was, or whether he sent her a message, why should she care?
Alessia felt like she was holding a hot potato and handed the flowers and lobsters back to Mrs. Cate.
"Mrs. Cate, you can take these flowers and lobsters. I don't want them."
With that, she closed the door again.
Dominic wanted to play mind games, to control her emotions, but she wouldn't fall for it.
Alessia walked to the window and pulled back the curtain to look outside.
Sure enough, there was a man standing on the balcony across the way, dressed in a sharp suit, holding a cup of coffee, leisurely sipping and looking in her direction.
When their eyes met, he seemed to notice her too, and their gazes locked momentarily.
Alessia suddenly felt guilty and quickly pulled the curtain shut again, trying to calm her racing heart. It felt like she was caught in the act.
She took a sip of water to soothe her emotions and then heard a 'bip' as a message came to her phone.
Alessia picked it up and glanced at it. It was from Dominic.
Just five words: [Are you spying on me?]
Seeing those words felt like Dominic was staring at her through the screen.
Alessia almost instinctively threw the phone back.
"What's wrong with you? Can't I enjoy the view?" she muttered to herself, then glanced at the phone still lit up on the bed. Another notification came in.
[Okay, I'll stop teasing you. I'm busy now. I'll talk to you later!]
After receiving the message, the phone fell silent.
Alessia pursed her lips, feeling a bit embarrassed. She cautiously pulled back the curtain again to look outside.
Sure enough, there was no one on the balcony anymore.
He really went busy.
Alessia breathed a sigh of relief, but then her phone rang.
Wasn't he supposed to be busy? Is this an ambush because she didn't reply to the message?
Alessia frowned, picked up her phone, and found that the caller was not Dominic but M.
Another guess gone wrong. Alessia's face showed a hint of embarrassment as she answered the call, and M's voice came through.
"Boss, where did you go? Eagle is online, but you're invisible."
Almost forgot about the business. Alessia hesitated, "Just went to the bathroom, I'll be there in a moment."
"Okay, Boss, hurry up. I'm looking forward to seeing the two big shots online together." M sounded excited.
In previous hacker selections, although it was said that Cobra and Eagle would assess together, in reality, there was hardly a scene where the two of them were online together.
This time, everyone was prepared for either Cobra or Eagle to show up.
Unexpectedly, both said they had time, which thrilled everyone in the organization.
On the other side, in her room, Tiffany stared at the computer screen, studying Cobra's tone and waiting for Eagle to arrive.
Every recruit entering the hacker organization had a guide, and Tiffany was no exception. Her guide was a member called Mute.
A private message popped up, and Tiffany opened it to see a message from Mute.
[TiffByte, I'm so excited! To see both Cobra and Eagle online at the same time, you're really lucky, TiffByte.]
[Hehe, it's just a coincidence... But, I think Cobra doesn't like me very much. If I ask her for help, do you think she'll... help me?]
Tiffany looked at the message from Mute and sent back a message pretending to be worried, subconsciously blackening Cobra's reputation with paranoid thoughts.
Fortunately, Mute was a loyal supporter of Cobra, easygoing and didn't overthink. He comforted her without much thought.
[Cobra is always fair. She couldn't possibly dislike you. Don't worry. Don't rush to ask for help. Let's get through the test first. And we still have Eagle, right? If Cobra doesn't help, you can ask Eagle.]
Tiffany frowned at Mute's reassurance, instinctively disagreeing.
For some reason, she felt that she didn't mesh well with Cobra's aura.
However, she also understood that to stay in the hacker organization, she had to please Cobra.
Reluctantly, she sent a message back to Mute, [You're right, Mute. I might be too nervous, so I'm overthinking. I'll adjust my mindset and deal with the test.]
[Keep an eye on you. Ahh, Eagle is speaking!!!]
Mute sent an excited message, and even through the screen, one could feel his uncontrollable excitement.
But isn't he just a stinky hacker? No matter how strong he is, he can't compare to her Dom, right? Tiffany's eyes flashed with disdain, but she closed the private chat and opened the public chat.
Eagle: [Is everyone ready?]
[Ready, boss, just waiting for you!]
[Just waiting for you!]
[Just waiting for you!]
Eagle sent a message, followed by a wave of enthusiastic responses.
Eagle sent another message: [Where's Cobra?]
The screen was silent for two seconds, then everyone became even more excited.
[Wow, Eagle and Cobra are like fire and water, but Eagle actually took the initiative to ask Cobra.]
[Yeah, could it be that the bosses are planning a showdown? You know, kings never meet!]
A chorus of voices.
At this opportune moment, M chimed in: [Insider information, last night, Eagle and Cobra already dueled!]
[!!!]
[Who won?]
Another chorus of voices.
Cobra: [Eagle is my friend!]
[Ah, what does that mean? Did Cobra win?]
(Whispers)
Eagle: [Cobra is also my friend!]
What does that mean? The two legendary bosses who were known to never see eye to eye are suddenly calling each other friends overnight. This is quite a turn of events.
Indeed, something happened that no one knew about.
As everyone indulged in gossip, there were even people shipping the duo.
Tiffany watched the messages scrolling on the screen, her face growing increasingly dark.
Wasn't today supposed to be the assessment? How did it turn into a meeting between Eagle and Cobra?
Tiffany thought and sent out a message: [Senior Eagle, I'm a new member who passed the preliminary test. Please go easy on me in the upcoming assessment.]
As soon as Tiffany's message went out, it was buried under other members' messages.
Dominic glanced at the screen and happened to see this message.
He furrowed his brows slightly, thinking that Tiffany was his friend and had the status of IronRose. She must be nervous entering a new circle, so whether as a friend or a netizen, he shouldn't ignore her.
So he deliberately picked out this message to reply: [Bring out your best. You can do it!]
Her message got drowned out, and Tiffany was originally unhappy. However, after seeing Eagle's reply, she immediately perked up.
Especially under Eagle's message, there was a flood of envy from other members who were impressed that she got a reply from Eagle.
It made her feel superior.
Especially Mute, who sent her a private message again at this time: [TiffByte, you're so lucky! Eagle is known to be aloof. He actually replied to you. Looks like Eagle sees you differently.]
[Eagle aloof? I don't think so. I think if you said the same thing to him, he would reply to you too. After all, I'm a newcomer, and newcomers need to be taken care of!] Tiffany's vanity was satisfied, and she pretended to reply modestly.
[That's not true. Eagle has always been cold and ruthless. He has never taken care of any newcomers. If it were me, he probably wouldn't even look at my messages after sending a hundred of them like that.] Mute's message came back quickly after Tiffany's denial.
After Tiffany got Mute's negative answer, her vanity expanded further.
Before this, she was still considering whether to ask Cobra or Eagle for help, but now, she had decided to ask Eagle.
Since Eagle treated her differently, he wouldn't refuse her request.
Thinking like this, Tiffany opened the public chat and replied to Eagle: [Thank you for your encouragement, Senior Eagle. I will work hard. By the way, after the assessment, can I chat with you privately?]
Once Tiffany sent this message, there was a weird silence on the screen.
There was a strange awkwardness everywhere.
Unable to resist, M complained to Alessia: "Boss, what's wrong with TiffByte? Eagle just said a word of encouragement, and she turned it into him encouraging her? She's really good at patting herself on the back. I've been feeling uncomfortable with her for a long time. She even wants to chat with Eagle privately!"
Alessia looked at the messages on the screen and also felt strange. Didn't Tiffany already know Eagle privately?
Yesterday, Tiffany even asked Eagle to track her whereabouts. How did she become so polite in the public chat now, without even adding him as a friend?
Alessia was curious, but she wasn't one to meddle in others' business.
Maybe they had some other agreement privately.
She glanced at her phone and said, "Mind your own business, this has nothing to do with you."
M wasn't convinced. "Hey, boss, the organization also needs to pay attention to the character of new recruits. I think TiffByte's character is not good."
Alessia was amused by M's complaint. "Just because she said a few words, you can tell her character? Stop talking nonsense. We're a hacker organization. What character are we talking about? When you were wanted, did I ever talk about your character?"
As soon as Alessia mentioned revealing old secrets, M immediately backed down.
"Okay, boss, I was wrong, okay? I just don't like TiffByte. I'm just saying, she's too full of herself. I can't believe Eagle would pay attention to her."
As soon as M said this, he cursed, "Damn it, Eagle can't judge coffe quality. How could he agree? I can't stand it."
***