No Way Back

Chapter 27

“What!” everyone exclaimed.

They had all been so sure Jane would fail, except for Lila.

The outcome was a shock.

Jane had succeeded.

Furthermore, she only used 48 minutes.

“How is it possible?” people wondered.

It was unprecedented.

She had even broken the previous 54–minute record held by Peter Fowler.

She was quicker by six minutes.

People were flabbergasted.

Peter Fowler was a rarely seen genius from the Computer Science Major at the University of Oricle.

All the professors had nothing but praise for his outstanding talent.

Jane had exceeded their expectations.

She had surpassed her brother, Peter.

Not just by a little, either.

“Yeah! Janie, I knew you could do it!” Lila cried.

She ran to Jane excitedly, adoration obvious on her face.

Jane patted Lila’s head adoringly. “For your unwavering faith in me, I had to do it.”

Jane could have fixed lan Henderson’s program in 20 minutes.

She had not done it slowly on purpose.

It had taken longer because she could not use the hacking software she had written herself.

She could only use the school’s software. It was too slow.

That was why she had taken so long.

The news that Jane had completed the challenge in 48 minutes soon spread throughout the University of Oricle.

There were no exceptions.

Larry and Peter got wind of it too.

“Hahaha! Peter, Jane succeeded! She did it in 48 minutes! Six minutes faster than your old record!” Larry exclaimed.

Peter’s hand froze in the middle of writing.

He asked in disbelief, “What… How is that possible?”

“Look! Professor Henderson has just made a post congratulating Jane Fowler. You owe me a month’s l unch,” Larry said.

He knew Peter would not believe him, so he showed Peter his cell phone.

Peter looked at Larry’s Moments. Professor Henderson had indeed just

made a post.

The post read, “I hereby introduce to everyone, the student I am proudest of in my 20 years as a teacher, Jane Fowler.”

There were two pictures attached to the post.

The first one was of Jane talking to Lila.

In it, Jane was confident and radiant.

The second picture was of the stopped timer and the fixed program.

The time on the timer showed 48 minutes.

Exactly.

Not a second more, not a second less. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“She did it…” Peter muttered.

He was talking to himself.

His gaze wavered.

“Peter, it seems your sister is not as simple as you make her out to be,” Larry said.

He continued, “I’m beginning to become curious about her.”

Larry rubbed at his lip contemplatively.

Peter suddenly shot to his feet and ran toward the library.

“Hey, Peter, where are you running off to? Wait for me!” Larry called out.

He was just asking the obvious. Larry knew full well where Peter was

The only place Peter could be headed was Class 2903.

At Class 2903…

Madelyn decided to return to her class when she heard about Jane’s challenge results.

Jane had been faster than Peter by six minutes.

She was stunned.

“How is this possible? How did Jane succeed?” Madelyn wondered, incredulous.

Jane had surpassed Peter’s timing.

It was simply impossible.

Just then, hurried footsteps approached.

Madelyn looked up.

It was Peter.

“Peter, where are you going in such a hurry?” Madelyn asked.

Madelyn swallowed anxiously.

She did not share what she knew.

She wondered if Peter was in such a hurry because he knew that Jane had broken his record.

“Could he be looking for Jane?” Madelyn thought.

“Maddie, don’t you have class? What are you doing here?” Peter asked.

“I… I’m on my way to class now,” Madelyn said.

“Okay, we’ll chat later, Maddie. I have something urgent to attend to,” Peter said.

Peter made up an excuse without letting Madelyn know specifically where he was headed.

He then quickly left.

Madelyn was left standing where she was. She bit down hard on her lip.

“He lied.

“Peter lied.

“He lied to me because of Jane Fowler.

“Peter has never lied to me before.

“Jane Fowler, you’re an outsider. Are you trying to take away everything that belongs to me?” Madelyn t hought angrily.

Peter arrived at Class 2903.

The class was in progress.

He stood outside the window looking into the class.

He was surprised.

Jane was not inside.

“Mr. Fowler.” Someone noticed him.

“Professor Henderson, Mr. Fowler is outside,” a student said.

Some of the students in the class recognized Peter and called out loudly. Jane was the center of attenti on at the University of Oricle that day.

Even Professor Henderson was full of praise for her. He had proudly made a post proclaiming her the b est student he ever had in all his years as a teacher.

She had broken Peter’s record and surpassed him.

The two were biological siblings related by blood.

Everyone wanted to know the juicy details.

“Keep quiet and self–study,” lan called out.

lan settled the students before walking out of the room.

“Peter, is something the matter? Can it wait until class is over?” lan asked.

Peter was one of his prized students, and lan was still very proud of him. His pride in Peter had not been diminished by Jane’s une xpected genius performance.

“Professor Henderson, Jane Fowler… Where is Jane Fowler?” Peter asked.

“Have you forgotten? Anyone who passes the challenge does not have to attend any more of my lesson. They pass the class with full marks. She has already left,” lan replied.

“Already left… Where did she go?” Peter asked.

At this moment, Peter had a thousand questions for Jane.

He wanted to know why.

He wanted to know why she was so talented.

He wanted to know why she was so talented yet had never shown him any hint of it.

“Peter, isn’t Jane your biological sister? Everyone knows the Fowler family has taken her back as their d

“Don’t tell me you do not have any way to contact your own sister,” lan Henderson said.

“I…” Peter stammered.

He realized he was at a loss for words.

He did not have any way to contact Jane.

He had no way to contact his long– lost sister, the biological sister who had been lost to them for 19 years.

He had even wished that Jane had either died 19 years ago or remained lost forever.

He did not want to see her. He did not want her found by the Fowler family. He did not want Madelyn’s p

His disdain and coldness toward Jane were like a sharp spear.

Anyone with feelings would have been hurt.

“Peter Fowler?” lan asked.

He frowned imperceptibly.

lan felt that there was something strange about Peter.

However, he could not pinpoint what it was he found strange.

“I’m sorry to disturb your class, Professor Henderson. I’ll look elsewhere,” Peter said.

Peter knew it would be extremely awkward for him to face Jane at that

moment.

However, he had to know.

Computer programming had been Peter’s lifelong passion. He intended to pursue a career in the field when he graduated.

He wanted to work with artificial intelligence, robots, rockets, airplanes,

computer chips, etc.

All the precision operations of modern high technology were dependent on computer programming.

Peter knew he was a rare genius in the field. However, he had not been self–complacent because of that. Instead, he had strived to learn more and increase his knowledge.

There were geniuses aplenty. There were plenty of geniuses who worked hard too.

There were many other people who were more talented than Peter in this world. For example, his elder

However, at the University of Oricle, in his major, there was no one more talented than he was.

There was one exception.

Jane had completely trampled upon Peter’s pride by completing the challenge in just 48 minutes.

The fact that Jane cleared the challenge in 48 minutes meant that Jane

had gone into the challenge knowing for sure she could fix lan Henderson’s

program.

She was different from Peter in the sense that, unlike him, she had not needed any luck.

Peter had never expected that he would be surpassed in the field that was the source of his pride and confidence, the one he had chosen to work in when he graduated, while he was still at the Un

Worse, the one who had surpassed him was the sister he had hated, whom he had always considered w

“I will not let you look for Janie!”