chapter941

Alfie gave Lydia a mocking look. "Lydia, if you're too scared to go up against me, just say it. No need to play all these little games. It's pointless."

Lydia stared him down, her voice icy. "Weakling."

Alfie's eyes flashed and his face twisted in anger. "Who are you calling weak?"

"You," Lydia replied, not missing a beat.

The whole group froze for a second.

Lydia was so bold, she actually just called Alfie a weakling right to his face. That took guts.

Alfie looked like he was about to burst. He let out a dry laugh. "Aren't you hungry? What do you want? My treat. After we eat, let's have our match. We'll see who the real weakling is."

Lydia didn't hesitate for a second. "Sure."

Since Alfie was paying, Juna immediately grabbed Lydia and led her straight into the priciest restaurant around, not holding back at all.

Alfie watched them order food and wine, gritting his teeth. He suddenly felt like he'd just walked into a trap.

He was supposed to be here sticking up for Rosie. How did things end up with him treating these two to a fancy meal? Something about this just felt off.

By the time he realized what was happening, Juna and Lydia were finishing up their feast, looking completely satisfied. Meanwhile, Alfie hadn't even had a bite.

"Alfie, time to pay up," Juna called out, signaling the waiter.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Alfie. As a VIP, you get a twenty percent discount. So your total today is eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred eighty-eight dollars and eighty-eight cents."

Most of that was because Juna had ordered a bottle of wine, and it wasn't even the most expensive one on the menu.

Alfie pulled out his card, his face dark with frustration.

"Ready for our match now?" he asked.

Lydia, clearly in a good mood, nodded. "You wanted this, so let's do it."

Alfie just scoffed. "Big talk."

Juna clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a knowing look. "Honestly, you should feel lucky Lydia's even willing to compete with you. Just take it."

He really had no idea what he was in for.

Alfie had grown up spoiled, used to luxury, and totally convinced of his own superiority He didn't believe for a second that Lydia was actually good at computers. He figured she was just talking big.

Word had already spread that Lydia and Alfie were about to face off in a computer challenge, and everyone was dying to find out who'd come out on top.

When the two of

them stepped on

stage, the place was already packed with students from every

department People had heard about how insanely talented Lydia was lot of them had missed her match that morning, so there was no way they were missing this.

"Lydia, if you apologize to Rosie right now and mean it, I'll let you off the hook. You won't have to embarrass yourself in front of everyone."

Lydia met his gaze with total confidence. "Stop wasting time. If you lose, you have to run a lap around Capital College. Naked."

Alfie was stunned. He never expected Lydia to suggest something like that. She just threw down a bet like it was nothing.

He smirked. "And if you lose?"

Lydia shrugged. "You can name the terms."

Alfie snorted. "If you lose, Rosie gets to deal with you however she wants."

Down in the audience, Juna rolled her eyes. "Wow, could he be any more of a suck-

up?"

She honestly didn't get what was so special about Rosie.

Lydia said, "Deal. One round, winner takes all."

Alfie couldn't believe how confident she was.

"You sure about this?"

Lydia shot him a look. "Are you backing out?"

He laughed. "Fine. One round. You pick the challenge."

Lydia paused, then said, "Whoever can plant a virus on the other's computer first,

wins."

The rules were simple. Write a virus, break

system the other person's

it

and plant it so well that they cantet rid of it. Whoever pulls. off wins content

Alfie glared at Lydia, his eyes full of threat. "Lydia, being too full of yourself never

ends well."