Chapter: 734

"Ever since I came here, I've been thinking a lot about Riss," Alice confessed, fiddling with her fingers. When she had left Riss years ago, she thought she would never see him again. Yet, just a few years had passed before they reunited.

“I can't be with him anymore. It's too exhausting. He's surrounded by too many women. I'm just one more to him."

Tears gathered in her eyes, her nose twitching as she spoke.

“When he's away from me, there's no one to hold him back. He can live freely, without any constraints."

Alice remembered something Riss had told her when they met again. He claimed he hadn't been with any other woman. Alice found that hard to believe, thinking he still saw her as naive.

But she was wiser now.

As Alice shared her past, Norah realized how fickle human hearts could be.

The pair had once loved each other deeply, yet men still yearned for novelty.

Ultimately, women had to fend for themselves.

Norah gently placed a hand on Alice's shoulder. “It's good you have a plan. I just worry you might not see things clearly and do something you'll regret."

If a man lied once, Norah feared he might fabricate more lies She had heard a story about a 30-second blackout in the library. A couple, together for many years, celebrated the girl's birthday. As the girl made a wish with her eyes closed, the boy was busy texting a another girl who was frightened by the library's brief power outage.

Was he concerned for the other girl during those 3@ seconds, or did he imagine celebrating every future birthday with his girlfriend?

Norah wasn't sure. All she understood was that feelings would eventually fade.

Though love knew no bounds, Could it bridge the vast distances and insurmountable obstacles that lie between two hearts? She knew people could choose to give up.

She wouldn't surrender easily, but if she felt the other person might, she would gracefully retreat, avoiding further entanglement.

At her desk, Norah's mind buzzed with scattered thoughts, stirred by Alice's recent remarks.

She dismissed these baseless musings and powered on her computer.

As the computer came to life, she stretched her fingers, gearing up for more work.

Logging into her favorite hacker forum, she stumbled upon an intriguing post.

It was from Star. "Check this out? Just breached a hospital's system in Cesland, erased a file, and earned 5000 USD."

The comments were mostly complimentary. Star had secured the fifth spot on the hacking leaderboard, and many fans were praising him without reservation.

Norah enlarged a screenshot and noticed the distinctive logo of Silver Boulder Private Hospital in the corner. The image was sourced from the hospital's system.

She recalled Bryson mentioning that Kathy's medical record had been erased. Could Star be responsible for this?

It made sense now why Kathy seemed so unfazed. If Star erased the record, they disappeared forever, eliminating any chance of retrieval.