The Double or more Life of the Fake Heiress (Mirabella)

Nick's hand froze on his headset when he heard the voice, and in an instant, he went on high alert. "Who are you?"

The voice was so mechanical that it was impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman. Clearly, it was altered by a voice changer.

Atlas wouldn't use something like that, so whoever was on the other end definitely wasn't one of his own.

Nick's expression darkened even more.

"The interference with the surveillance will be lifted in four minutes and fifty seconds," the voice stated again, cold and robotic, without answering his question.

Nick's brow remained furrowed, his voice low and edged with menace, "Who exactly are you? Friend or foe?"

Mirabella, meanwhile, seemed unfazed by the tension in Nick's voice. Her sharp eyes remained glued to the computer screen, which displayed feeds from the entire research institute, all appearing normal under the cameras' watchful gaze.

Leaning back in her chair with a laid-back air, Mirabella finally broke the silence, "Just someone who likes to meddle."

Nick squinted, his mind racing.

Whoever this was had easily hacked into his communicator, indicating some serious tech skills. If they were an enemy, he'd have been caught ages ago.

Pulling himself together, Nick didn't waste any more time. He slipped out through the security door. As he emerged, the infrared cameras lining the corridor didn't react at all.

Normally, they'd kick in and start a face recognition scan as soon as someone entered.

Nick hurried down the corridor toward the lab at the end, moving smoothly as if the high-tech security systems were momentarily offline.

The last lab was off-limits to most. Nick fished a card out of his pocket, which beeped when he swiped it. He then took off his gloves, pressed a prepped fingerprint cover to his thumb, and placed it on the recognition panel. A green light blinked on the lock.

The door swung open.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

Watching the surveillance screens, Mirabella raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.

Nick quickly slipped into the lab and shut the door behind him.

There weren't any cameras inside the lab, so Mirabella couldn't see what he was up to.

Time was ticking away, every second more crucial than the last.

Mirabella glanced at the countdown timer for the interference-three minutes left —and lightly tapped her fingers on the desk.noveldrama

Then Nick's voice crackled through the earpiece, "Can you help me crack a computer password?"

Mirabella straightened up, "Sure, but you need to power up the computer so I can locate the signal and hack in."

"Okay."

As soon as Nick replied, a small program on Mirabella's computer sprang to life, and she quickly pinpointed the computer's signal.

"This computer's security is top-notch. It'll take at least thirty seconds to crack it," Mirabella said, her fingers dancing across the keyboard.

Nick glanced at his watch, "Alright."

With that, he turned his attention away from the computer and moved over to a large metal safe on the left.

Nick narrowed his eyes, focusing as he gently turned the dial with a gloved hand.

He tried a sequence of numbers, which promptly triggered a red exclamation mark on the display.

Only two tries left.

Seeing this, Nick pressed his ear close to the lock, concentrating intensely as he turned the dial again.

Meanwhile, Mirabella had already cracked the computer's defenses.