?Chapter 693:


    Without knowing why, Lawrence followed him. He was well aware that Jacob didn’t like him, but he couldn’t seem to hold himself back.


    “If, as Hugh Briggs’s daughter, she doesn’t cut it, then how about K?” Jacob threw the line out with casual ease as he neared the base’s entrance, ncing over his shoulder.


    Lawrence froze mid-step.


    A sharp unease tightened in his chest. He asked, carefully, “You mean Freya is K?”


    Jacob didn’t answer, but the look in his eyes gave him away. Lawrence’s thoughts spun out of control.


    Was this some kind of absurd joke?


    “K is practically elusive—how could Freya possibly be her?” Lawrence felt his entire sense of reality shift. “Isn’t K supposed to be a total shut-in? Always holed up indoors, glued to a screen?”


    With that kind of money behind her, why on earth would Freya ever need to hack anything?


    A girl born into that kind of wealth would’ve spent her childhood drowning in etiquette sses and piano lessons—how would she even find the time to be a hacker?


    “You’re not serious?” Lawrence asked again, wanting to be sure.


    Jacob didn’t dignify the question with a response. He walked away with long, determined strides, making it clear he had no interest in conversation. Lawrence rushed after him. He couldn’t let Jacob disappear before he had answers.


    Just as Jacob slid into the driver’s seat and reached to close the door, Lawrence swung open the passenger side and slipped in.


    “Get out.” Jacob shot him a look that could’ve frozen steel.


    Lawrence felt the chill in his bones but shamelessly stayed where he was. “Just a couple of questions. Once I understand, I’ll leave. I swear, I won’t bother you again.”


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    Jacob’s demeanor stayed icy, a wall that warned people to keep their distance.


    “So, that night… it was Freya who took you to the hospital?” Lawrence had meant to ask something else—something more direct about Freya’s identity—but that’s what ended up slipping out.


    Jacob said nothing.


    In that moment, all of Lawrence’s swirling emotions quieted.


    Everything became painfully clear.


    He had misunderstood. Jacob was still single.


    “How did you find out Freya’s K?” Lawrence tried again.


    “That’s none of your concern,” Jacob said.


    Lawrence fell into silence.


    Jacob was still as distant and imprable as ever.


    “She asked me to pass along a message—if you’re hiding anything from her and she finds out, you can forget about getting any of those custom devices you’ve been begging for.” For once, Jacob said more than expected. “And she’ll cklist you, too.”


    “That’s pretty cold, don’t you think?” Lawrence’s coolposure finally cracked.


    He could afford to offend a rich girl with a famousst name. He didn’t need her world.


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