After saying this, Elena Monroe opened her laptop and began tracing the private photos and the network electronic signal source of the private videos.
Line after line of green code on the computer screen flew past rapidly. Elena Monroe's fingers typed at a dizzying speed, her expression intensely focused like never before. The other two hackers were also frantically typing, but their skills and speed paled in comparison to Elena Monroe.
Very quickly, Elena Monroe had captured the one true signal source hidden in the sea of information. Her eyes lit up. "Found it."
Immediately, everyone crowded around, full of curiosity, looking at Elena Monroe's computer screen. The screen filled with lines of green code. No one could understand it at all.
"Elena, what is this?" Old man Sinclair asked suspiciously. "Who exactly is the culprit?"
But Elena Monroe's expression immediately froze. She stared at the final line of green code on the computer screen, her face turning ashen in an instant.
Outsiders might not understand, but anyone knowledgeable about hacking could tell at a glance. That final line of code represented the current location of whoever was behind this, as well as what type of phone they used and what method they'd used to remotely control the projector, making it play those photos and videos.
Elena Monroe's face turned gray as paper. Without waiting for the other two hackers to come closer to look, she immediately shut her laptop.
"No need to check anymore," Elena Monroe said loudly. "I already know who's behind this."
As she spoke, she quickly stepped forward, then without ceremony grabbed the laptops from the other two hackers.
"Elena Monroe. What are you doing?" I said angrily. "Give them back their computers."
I moved forward to snatch the computers back. But Elena Monroe had already grabbed my hand. "No need to check anymore. Because at this point—"
She paused for a moment, then raised her head, looking deeply at Dylan Monroe, who was hiding in the crowd. Then she quickly withdrew her gaze and looked at me with infinite regret.
"Sebastian, you guessed right. It was me. Everything was me."
Elena Monroe wanted to take all the blame upon herself. But the moment she opened her mouth, I'd already figured out who the real culprit was.
"Elena Monroe. Things have gotten this messy, and you're still going to cover for him?" I felt my heart bleeding.
Elena Monroe's pupils trembled slightly, but she still insisted. "I'm not covering for anyone. The one behind all this was me."
"Then why didn't you admit it at first?" I pressed. "Instead, you put on that righteous act, pretending to say you'd help me trace the electronic signal. Now the signal source has been traced, and suddenly you admit it. Too suspicious."
Elena Monroe lowered her eyes, her beautiful face filled with humiliation. She gritted her teeth, and even though she knew her reasoning was full of holes, she stubbornly said, "Back then, I was pretending. When I offered to help you trace the electronic signal, it was to hide the truth, to keep you from discovering I was the culprit. But I didn't expect you wouldn't trust me. And you arranged for two more hackers to trace the signal with me. I couldn't keep up the act anymore. Rather than wait for us to uncover the truth and have everyone publicly expose me, I might as well admit it myself. At least I'd save some face."
After hearing Elena Monroe's words, the guests all whispered among themselves.
"So it really was Elena Monroe who did this. Why do I feel like something's off?"
"I also think there's something strange about this. She seems to be covering for someone, but who is she covering for? What kind of person would make the cold and aloof Elena Monroe willingly take the fall like this?"
Hearing everyone's discussion, I couldn't help but laugh. They didn't know who Elena Monroe was protecting. But I knew. There was only one person in this world who could make Elena Monroe abandon all principles, disregard all consequences, and protect with everything she had.
"Elena Monroe, you think by taking all the blame on yourself, I'll let that person go?" I said coldly. "He humiliated me like that. You think I'll let him walk out that door unscathed?"
Pain flashed through Elena Monroe's eyes. "Sebastian, I'm begging you. Let this end here. As long as you don't pursue this anymore, I'll do anything you ask. Don't you like me? I'll marry you. We can get married right now."
Before Elena Monroe could finish, I suddenly burst out laughing. "Ha. Not anymore."
I laughed until my stomach hurt. "Elena Monroe, what makes you so confident that you think after everything that's happened, I'd still be willing to marry you?"
Elena Monroe's pupils trembled. "Sebastian, but—"
I didn't give her any chance to speak. I cut her off directly. "I stopped liking you a long time ago. You and Dylan Monroe disgusted me."
Elena Monroe raised her head, meeting my eyes full of revulsion. The disgust in my eyes was so intense that in that moment, Elena Monroe felt what it meant to have your heart cut by a knife.
How did it come to this? Her mind completely froze. Elena Monroe couldn't understand at all why I was looking at her with such disgust in my eyes.
Didn't Sebastian like her? Liked her so much that no matter how cold she was to me, I didn't care at all, still cheerfully following her around, pestering her to do this and that. Liked her so much that even though I was an heir to a fortune, I was still willing to humble myself and actively pursue her. Liked her so much that when others mocked me, called me her lapdog, I didn't care. I'd even proudly reply, "I just love Elena Monroe. She's so exceptional. Isn't it normal for me to like her?"
Clearly, I used to like her that much. But why now, when I looked at her, was there no more sparkle in my eyes? Only disgust. What exactly had happened? Why did everything suddenly turn out like this?
A stabbing pain shot through her heart. Elena Monroe suddenly clutched her chest. She had always been so capable. But now she was like a child, panicking, not knowing what to do.
"You don't like me anymore?" Elena Monroe stared into my eyes, then said word by word, "I don't believe it. Sebastian clearly liked me for so long. How can you just stop liking me like that? Is love really that fragile?"
I laughed coldly. "Believe it or not, that's up to you."
Leaving those words behind, I turned to look at Dylan Monroe. Since I already knew Dylan Monroe was behind all this, I naturally wouldn't let it go easily.