HER DARK PATH

A feeling he can not ignore

Chapter 14

A Feeling He Couldn't Ignore

The morning sun bathed the university campus in a warm golden glow.

Students filled the walkways, some hurrying to lectures while others gathered beneath the trees, chatting about assignments and the latest news surrounding the mysterious Silent Killer.

Nadia arrived just before her first lecture.

As she approached the Faculty of Business, she spotted Ethan sitting alone on a bench with his laptop open.

He wasn't typing.

He was simply staring at the screen.

"Good morning," she said.

Ethan looked up and smiled.

"Morning."

"You look like you've been awake all night."

"I practically was."

She sat beside him.

"Working on the project?"

He shook his head.

"Not this time."

"Then what?"

He hesitated before closing the laptop.

"I can't explain it."

She looked at him curiously.

"Explain what?"

"I have this strange feeling that someone touched my laptop yesterday."

Nadia frowned.

"Did anything go missing?"

"No."

"Any files deleted?"

"No."

"So why do you think someone used it?"

Ethan leaned back.

"I know my computer."

"I know every setting, every folder, every shortcut."

"And this morning..."

"...something just felt different."

Nadia smiled.

"Maybe you're overthinking it."

He laughed softly.

"I hope so."

"But I still want to check."

"That's the computer genius talking."

"I can't help it."

They both laughed before heading to class.

The morning lectures passed quickly.

During the lunch break, Nadia and Ethan continued discussing their business project in the university café.

"I finished analyzing the market trends," Nadia said, sliding a notebook across the table.

Ethan glanced through her notes.

"These are excellent."

"You say that every time."

"Because it's true."

He looked at her with admiration.

"You notice details that most people miss."

"And you turn those details into something useful."

They smiled.

Their teamwork was becoming effortless.

Across the café...

Vanessa watched them from another table.

Her fingers tightened around the cup in front of her.

"They're getting closer."

Clara sighed.

"They're working on the same project."

"It's more than that."

"You don't know."

"I do."

Vanessa looked toward Ethan's laptop resting on the table.

"If I can't separate them..."

"...I'll give Ethan a reason to doubt her."

Clara's eyes widened.

"What are you planning?"

Vanessa smiled but didn't answer.

That evening, Ethan arrived home and placed his laptop on his desk.

After taking a shower, he switched it on.

Everything appeared normal.

Still...

That uneasy feeling returned.

He slowly opened the security software he had designed himself.

The program quietly scanned the system.

No viruses.

No missing files.

No obvious signs of intrusion.

Ethan frowned.

"Maybe Nadia's right."

"Maybe I'm imagining things."

He closed the program and leaned back in his chair.

Outside his bedroom window, rain began to fall.

Far across the city, inside a luxurious apartment, Vanessa sat in front of her own laptop.

She plugged the small flash drive into the computer and smiled as a hidden window appeared on the screen.

"Not yet," she whispered.

"But soon."

She closed the laptop and looked out into the rainy night.

"The next move has to be perfect."

She had no idea that someone else, hidden in the darkness outside her apartment building, was watching every entrance and exit.

The hunter had become the hunted.