Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 416

"Wait, what? Your friend?"

Mira asked, stunned. "You mean that phone number? What's his actual name?"

"You don't even know his name? Where the hell did you get this number?"

"I just stumbled across it," Mira lied smoothly. "I heard this guy was a cybersecurity god, so I memorized it."

She had considered saying Master Ellis's people found it, but seeing Owen's intense reaction, she worried he might actually try to verify that.

"Forget about it. He's never going to work for us."

"Owen, seriously, who is he? What does he do?"

"If you don't know, keep it that way. It's better you don't."

But Mira wasn't about to drop it.

"Come on, Owen. Can you at least tell me if it's a guy or a girl?"

Owen let out a dry laugh. "Wow. You really don't even know if he's a man or a woman?

That just proves you have absolutely no connection to him. Stop digging, Mira. Just pretend you never saw that number."

His evasiveness only fueled her curiosity.

"Why? Is he some kind of fugitive? You're making him sound like a ghost."

"Ghost or not, it's none of your business. All you need to know is that he isn't going to punch a clock for our company."

With that, Owen abruptly hung up.

Frustrated, Mira aggressively typed out a text and hit send: "Jerk. You're no fun at all."

Whatever. If she was destined to meet her past-life savior, it would happen naturally. If not, then it just wasn't meant to be in this lifetime.

Regardless, the foundational plans for TitanPay were locked in.

The next morning at school, Mira and Elara Finn were practically buzzing with anticipation, waiting for the results of the State Academic Decathlon. Suddenly, Liora trudged over, looking thoroughly miserable.

"Oh. Well, that still doesn't seem like a big deal."

To Elara, true tragedy was not having money for rent or going to bed hungry.

She studied relentlessly just to secure a high-paying job so she could survive.

Romantic heartbreak felt like an incredibly privileged thing to cry about. Why was Liora making such a scene over a relationship that wasn't even hers?

Mr. Harth finally walked into the classroom, radiating absolute triumph. The moment Mira saw his beaming face, she knew the state results were incredible.

After the class stood for the morning greeting, Mira immediately raised her hand. "Did I take first place?"

"Yes, you did. First in the entire state," Mr. Harth announced proudly. "The principal will be presenting your awards out on the field shortly."

The rest of the class leaned in, eager for the details.

"Mr. Harth, how many individual first-place titles did I get?"

Mira pressed.