Evelyn knew it was her. "What's up, Erica?"
"Is my brother-in-law around? I need his help," Erica said urgently.
Matthew was on a business trip, so Evelyn was filling in for him at ZL Group, while Sheffield was at Theo Group. "No. What's going on? Something happen?" Evelyn asked.
"Yeah, someone messed with my computer. Something important is gone. I'm betting Sheffield could fix this."
"Oh, so it's about the computer. Yeah, he's the guy to call. Since you're a relative, he wouldn't mind if you called him directly. You have his number?"
Erica thought for a while. Sheffield called her the other night. So she figured she should be able to find his number in the call log. "I do. Thanks, Evelyn. I'll give him a ring."
"Okay!"
Five minutes later, Erica finally understood what had happened.
Someone hacked into her computer. They got in through the webcam, and had unleashed some malicious code on her system. It crawled through her hard drive, stealing her photos and deleting the email to Luther.
She walked back into the classroom, laptop tucked under her arm. The moment she stepped into the lecture hall, the class was over, and the bell rang.
Damn it!
Everyone had to be there to hear her explanation. An explanation does little good if there are no ears to hear it.
Erica quickly ran to the back door and closed it. Then she went back to the front door and walked into the classroom to tell everyone who was about to leave, "Everyone stay where you're at. I've found the evidence!"
A classmate expressed his dissatisfaction loudly. "So what? Why do we care anything about evidence? Let me outta here. I got things to do."
"Right! You're so weird!" another classmate shouted.
Putting the computer on the podium, Erica said loudly, "I'm going to clear my name. I don't want people dragging my name through the dirt! I didn't hand in Aaron Gao's photos, and my work was stolen. I can prove it now! Listen up, okay?"
The people who were protesting all fell silent. They knew Erica was right. They would spread it about, like any other rumor. After all, it was related to Mrs. Huo, and she was a person of interest.
Erica turned to Professor Feng and threatened him. "Professor Feng, you're our teacher. Because of this, you're responsible to the students. You could have shut this down, and you didn't. If I can't get this matter resolved right now, I'll have to report you."
She was right. The teacher couldn't sit by and watch something like that go down without stepping in. Professor Feng opened his mouth but had nothing to say back. Finally, he had to say, "Erica, if you have evidence, show it to us, then."
Then he raised his hand to the students who had stood up and said, "Sit down, class. This should be educational. Please be patient."
With Professor Feng's help, Erica plugged in her laptop, and connected her HDMI cable to the big screen. Sheffield was controlling the computer remotely, and all the photos on the computer and camera had been restored.
Erica opened the first photo she took. It was about nine o'clock yesterday morning.
The caption on the photo also included the model of the camera she was using, the T14 by Blue Sky Technology.
And the email she sent Luther was also restored. That was time stamped at two o'clock in the afternoon.
She then opened the original pictures Kaitlyn shot. The first one was three twenty in the afternoon, and the time gap was enough for Kaitlyn and Luther to arrive at Archaic Street to take photos.
After that, Erica asked Kaitlyn when she emailed Luther, but Kaitlyn refused, "I didn't bring my computer with me."
Erica wasn't going to give up. "You mean you can't get email on your phone? Come on, who doesn't do that?"
Knowing she was going to be found out, Kaitlyn bit her lower lip and told Erica, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly. I saw your homework on Luther's screen once. I'm not as smart as you, so I came up with this idea..."
When Erica released a slew of evidence to prove her innocence, everyone basically knew that she was in the clear. But still, when they heard Kaitlyn admit it herself, they couldn't control themselves. The noise level in the room had gotten pretty bad.
Hearing the accusations leveled against Kaitlyn and Luther, Erica finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked at Professor Feng and asked, "Professor, I have a question. Now that we know what he was up to, can you really say Luther is the best guy for class monitor? I think we need a better role model to represent our class."
Someone immediately seconded, "Yeah, teach. I totally agree. He shouldn't have done that. We need someone else. Lucky for us, Erica's smart and knows some pretty good people. I don't think we'd be able to dodge the bullet if they decided to frame us."
"That's right, Professor Feng. How can a person like Luther be a monitor?"
Professor Feng thought for a while and announced to the class, "Don't worry, students. I need to tell the head teacher about this.
That's his decision to make. I trust he'll make the right one."
Hearing what he said, everyone calmed down.
Professor Feng packed up his stuff and left the classroom. Many students surrounded Erica and exclaimed, "Erica, you're awesome. I always thought you were a bitch, but it looks like you're the hero here."
"Those people trash-talking you were so wrong. I was wrong. I'm sorry. Can we be friends?"
Erica had always been outgoing and friendly. She was lonely in the city. She was glad so many of her classmates were willing to be friends with her. She nodded with a smile, "Sure!"
After leaving the classroom with Hyatt, Erica went to the dormitory first and waited for Kaitlyn there.
Soon, Kaitlyn showed up. Seeing Erica walking towards her, Kaitlyn knew what she wanted. Just as her cousin had told her, she kept apologizing to Erica, pretending to be weak and miserable, and promised that this kind of thing would never happen again.
She really was just over it all. Finally, Erica gritted her teeth and warned her, "This is the last time. You hear me? If you do something like this again, you'll regret it!"
"I will never do it again. I swear. Thank you, Erica."
Just like that, the matter was settled.
Matthew waited until evening, but still hadn't heard from Erica. He called Owen to ask about it, and then he realized that Erica had solved it by herself. Owen also told him exactly how things played out.
As soon as Owen was done talking to him, a name popped into Matthew's head. The remote control of Erica's laptop, the restoration of files...
Matthew knew who had helped her. He took out his phone and called Sheffield. "Do you have too much time on your hands?" he growled into the phone.
Sheffield was confused. "Not really. I'm getting busier and busier these days. Looking forward to Godwin growing up and taking my place so I can focus on being a professional gigolo."
"Well, what you do on your own time is your business. And I suggest you mind your own business, or I might just make you busier!" Matthew said coldly and hung up the phone.
'Mind my own business? When did I get involved in his business?'
he wondered. After staring at his phone for a long time, Sheffield finally figured out why Matthew was sullen. He helped Erica out and Matthew got jealous!
Matthew's technical skills were just as good as a professional hacker. The trouble that Erica ran into was a piece of cake for two men with their skills. But Erica went to him for help. He'd be surprised if Matthew weren't jealous. He wanted to be the one his wife relied on.
Shaking his head helplessly, Sheffield thought, 'Erica, I knew you'd be trouble, and I was right!" Matthew was definitely not the forgiving type. He'd find a way to get back at Sheffield for this.