Fifteen minutes passed, and Dominic's car appeared within sight.
Tiffany straightened her dress and walked towards him.
Dominic opened the door and stepped out of the car, his tall figure leaning against it as he watched Tiffany approach.
Tiffany's heart was pounding from nervousness, but she still smiled and spoke first, "Dom, I'm sorry, I lied to you."
Dominic raised an eyebrow, the coldness in his eyes dissipating slightly as he listened to Tiffany continue.
"I thought about it and decided to tell you the truth. I asked you to find Dr. Athena not to discuss academic matters, but to ask her to perform surgery for Auntie Evelyn. I know you had some unpleasantness with Uncle Gordon, and I was afraid that if you knew, you wouldn't be happy to help. I was narrow-minded about this. Dom, how could you refuse to help just because of a little disagreement? So, Dom, can you forgive me?"
The anger that had dissipated somewhat in Dominic reignited.
Was she taking him for a fool? But what he wanted to investigate wasn't about Dr. Athena.
Dominic stared into Tiffany's eyes. "Is that all you want to tell me?"
Tiffany's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded. "What else could it be? Dom... What's wrong with you? Did someone say something to you?"
Tiffany began to feel slightly uneasy.
"Do you think you have something worth people talking about? Or is there something you're afraid people will talk about?" Dominic asked with a pressing tone.
Under Dominic's intense gaze, Tiffany almost cracked, but she understood that some lies, once told, could never be admitted. She forced a smile. "Dom, what's wrong? What could I have that's worth people talking about?"
"So, you're not hiding anything from me anymore?" Dominic asked.
He gave Tiffany another chance to be honest, but Tiffany wasted it. She assured him, "No, Dom, you're acting strange tonight, but I have nothing else to hide from you."
Dominic looked at the woman in front of him, dressed neatly in black and white, with delicate makeup. Every inch of her seemed to be a disguise.
Gone was the shadow of the innocent little girl from childhood.
Disappointment filled Dominic's eyes. No more beating around the bush; he directly pierced through, "You're not IronRose at all."
Tiffany's face, as if wearing a mask, stiffened. She tried to remain calm and asked, puzzled, "Dom, what do you mean?"
Dominic said, "Jonathan said he told you about my relationship with IronRose back when I had trouble in Niagara Escarpment."
Tiffany relaxed a little, breathing a sigh of relief internally.
So, the problem lay here. She had thought she arranged everything perfectly; it was impossible for the matter with IronRose to be exposed so easily.
She turned the tables, pretending to be wronged, "Dom, just because of this, you've decided I'm not IronRose? Yes, that's right, I knew early on that you were the person I chatted with on the forum, but that doesn't conflict with me being IronRose. I didn't dare to reveal myself to you at the time because I was too young, and I liked you too much. I was afraid I couldn't control my feelings for you. But as I grew older, I found I couldn't control my feelings for you anymore."
"When I became an adult and wanted to confess to you, you were already married, so I waited for years to create an opportunity to reveal myself to you again. Dom, I've hidden it from you for so many years, which was wrong of me, but I really love you."
Tiffany took the opportunity to confess her feelings. Her eyes were fixed, filled with affection.
This explanation sounded seamless, but Dominic wasn't moved by Tiffany's passionate confession. Instead, he gave a cold laugh.
"Tiffany, I think I really need to get to know you again."
"Dom, what do you mean?" Tiffany looked at Dominic's increasingly cold gaze with confusion, feeling like she was standing on the edge of a cliff with nowhere to turn.
The sense of unease grew stronger.
Dominic didn't answer, just glanced at his watch. His fingers tapped on his wrist, and after two minutes of silence, a car approached from the distance.
As the car approached, Dave got out of the driver's seat. After a glance at Tiffany, he handed the documents in his hand to Dominic.
Dominic took the documents and looked at Dave. "You go back first."
Dave nodded, and the car quickly drove away.
Now, beside the quiet street, only Tiffany and Dominic remained.
After a lightning strike, the thunder grew louder.
Dominic handed the documents to Tiffany.
Tiffany looked at the folder wrapped in blue, instinctively feeling that the contents were not in her favor. Driven by self-preservation instinct, she took a step back.
Tiffany didn't want to take it, but Dominic was determined to make her look.
He pushed the documents forward, his voice low and irresistible. "Open it."
"Dom!" Tiffany's eyes pleaded, already showing signs of begging for mercy.
Dominic didn't soften at all, maintaining his posture and staring at her with a relentless expression.
Seeing Dominic, who seemed about to explode, Tiffany felt scared and even more aggrieved.
The reputation of Dominic, the Cold-faced Demon King, had always been known, but the previous Dominic had never treated her with such a harsh and indifferent attitude.
A tear fell, and Tiffany, feeling resistant in her heart, reluctantly took the documents and opened the cover.
Upon seeing the contents of the documents, her pupils contracted sharply. As she flipped through the pages, her face grew paler and paler. Shocked and frightened, she looked at Dominic.
Finally realizing something, she threw the documents on the ground and denied, "Dom, this is all fake."
Dominic glanced at the folder on the ground, picked it up, and, in front of Tiffany, opened it again. He took out the slips of paper inside and read their contents aloud, then handed them to Tiffany.
"These materials were found after I called you. The documents clearly show that you were in contact with hackers at the age of fifteen, and since then, you've been taking lessons from hackers."
"You participated in the second assessment of the hacker organization. I observed your techniques in both rounds. Your techniques are intricate, indicating that they were acquired through continuous practice. Combined with various other evidence, you couldn't be IronRose."
Another clap of thunder sounded, and after nearly an hour of anticipation, the rain began to fall sporadically.
In the dark night, under the streetlights, Dominic's tall and slender figure seemed to turn into a virtual line, distancing itself from the closeness they had just established.
Tiffany tried hard to grasp it, murmuring in explanation, "Dom, it's not what you think. Please listen to me."
"There's nothing to explain." Dominic coldly refused, "Past matters won't be pursued further. From now on, we're no longer friends. You can continue to stay in the lab if you want, but if you don't, you can leave."
With that, Dominic turned and opened the car door. As he was about to get in, Tiffany grabbed the hem of his clothes from behind.
"Dom, please don't do this. I didn't want to lie to you. I had my reasons."
"No reason justifies deceiving someone and assuming another's identity." Dominic pulled his clothes back forcefully and closed the car door with a strong push.
The rain grew heavier, and as raindrops fell on her face, Tiffany watched the departing vehicle with a growing sense of grievance and resentment.
Her years of planning, why did they have to fail like this?
Joining the hacker organization, she thought it would bring the pinnacle of her life, but it turned out to be the opposite.
She refused!
She wouldn't accept it!
The more Tiffany thought about it, the more unacceptable it became. Wiping away the raindrops on her face, she bent down, ran back home, pulled out a car from the garage, and followed behind Dominic.
The car stopped at a traffic light intersection. Dominic noticed Tiffany's tracking through the rearview mirror.
Dominic frowned. Even though everything had been explained clearly, Tiffany still persisted.
He could feel Tiffany's love, but that love had no boundaries and was extremely dangerous.
He didn't love her, so he had to be even more ruthless.
Although they couldn't be friends anymore, the friendship they had for so many years, like that of a sister, couldn't be completely heartless.
Dominic sighed and called Jonathan, "Your sister is following me. I'm going back to the Forest Hill now. Come and take her away."
"Dominic, you can't bully my sister."Jonathan cautioned and promptly hung up the phone, indicating he would come soon.
The rain poured down heavily. Dominic, through the rearview mirror, watched Tiffany, who had been following not far behind all along. The car could only move forward at a steady pace.
Twenty minutes later, the car entered the Forest Hill, with Tiffany still following closely.
***