Avery's chest tightened.

She could hear the nervous tremor in her own voice as she tried to stay calm.

"I see… What did the challenge entail?"

Elliot's thick brows furrowed as he said with a chilling expression, "Come and strangle me, you *sshole!"

Avery was speechless.

Ben did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"I suspect the hacker's pretty young!"

"Not necessarily!" Avery said. "You can't tell much from that one sentence!"

"An adult probably wouldn't add in the term '*sshole' right? Other than in those old, corny soap operas, of course."

To prevent them from suspecting a minor, Avery looked at Ben and muttered, "*sshole," then turned to Elliot and once again said, "*sshole."

Both Ben and Elliot sat in stunned silence.

"See, there's nothing silly about the word!" Avery said. "An adult can easily use it, too."

She was hard at work, trying to clear her son's name.

Her expression had unwittingly given her away.

Ben and Elliot exchanged glances for a moment as they came to