Fake heiress Real heroine

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Quinlyn’s unexpected words caught Stanley off guard, causing him to choke on his breath and cough twice. He turned to face her, his eyes locking onto her intense, youthful visage, inexplicably captivated.

With a flourish, he waved the sleek machine in the air. “You really want this?” he teased, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Quinlyn nodded earnestly, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the object of her desire.

Stanley’s lips curled into a mischievous grin, his handsome features lighting up with amusement. “Well, it’s not impossible to part with it,” he drawled, his tone laced with sarcasm.

“But do you even know how to wield such a powerful gadget? Computers are intricate beasts, not toys for kids like you”

Quinlyn stepped forward eagerly, her eyes pleading. “How do you play with it?” she asked innocently.

Stanley’s mind flashed back to the last time Harriet had fallen for one of his pranks, ending in tears. His grin widened as he beckoned Quinlyn closer and opened a coding page on the screen.

“Watch closely,” he said, his fingers dancing across the keyboard like a maestro conducting an orchestra. “Even the cool graphics you see are made up of these mysterious letters and symbols.”

Lines of code scrolled by in a blur, a mesmerizing dance of digits and letters. Finally, he hit the Enter key, and a brand new page appeared on the screen, seemingly out of nowhere.

“See, it’s simple,” Stanley said, pushing the screen towards her and leaning in to whisper with a hint of challenge. “Do you dare to try? Even a fool could understand this.

“But if you can’t, well… it just means you’re not as smart as you think. And don’t tell anyone I’m your brother anymore. Pretend you don’t know me if we meet outside, okay?”

Nearby, Archer kept wiping the sweat from his brow, well aware of Stanley’s prowess with digital gadgets since childhood. Stanley had even attended a prestigious tech program the previous year, advancing almost to a professional level in coding. This was just another one of his pranks.

Last time, Harriet had been so scared she cried, and ever since, she had gone out of her way to avoid Stanley. Thinking of Quinlyn, who hailed from the remote outskirts and might have never even laid eyes on a computer, made her plight seem even more pitiful.

noticed Quinlyn still staring at the screen, mesmerized. He gave her a gentle nudge.

I’ve lent you my precious computer. If you were truly my sister, you wouldn’t struggle with this

small frame barely reaching the edge of the desk. Watching her stretch her neck to peer

her onto the chair, watching as her fingers fumbled around, pressing keys tentatively and gazing

up and admit defeat. Then he would

computer before. She had only seen them occasionally in the hands of criminals

held the key to vast amounts of information, which fascinated her. So, as soon as she

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18 Mar

Chapter 5

her fingers were clumsy on the keyboard. She couldn’t remember where the letters were, nor did

with programming sequences,

crucial key positions, her fingers gained momentum. Her mind! wandered as she typed, exploring various combinations simultaneously, each keystroke bringing

the code she

the enter key, a pristine digital page materialized on the screen.

you conjure this from thin air?” Stanley inquired, snatching the computer to scrutinize the interface

fingers dance across the keys?” Quinlyn replied, her brow

amazement intensifying as he pored over the screen. “Everything else looks impressive,

his finger and confessed with unvarnished honesty, “I don’t recognize them all.” Her limited vocabulary stemmed from borderland communication codes; school had never been an option

was rendered speechless. He stared at Quinlyn as if she were an enigmatic visitor from another planet. In the next heartbeat, he swept her

reply was a curt, “Be quiet. He slammed the door shut, sealing off

in the gaming chair and activated four colossal surround screens, each displaying a labyrinthine code. “Take a gander at this. How much can you

symbols seemed even more intricate, their generated effects more mesmerizing, with a diverse array of patterns

a brief observation, she abruptly pointed to a line of code on the

halted and leaned in for a

Quinlyn said, moving her finger upwards. As the touchscreen highlighted it, she deleted the flawed code and swiftly typed a