The Double or more Life of the Fake Heiress (Mirabella)

Mirabella just glanced at them and didn't bother saying hi before heading straight to her own bunk.

Howard saw this and, feeling a bit put off, looked away. Her mind wandered back to the few words her shooting instructor had said to her today, and suddenly, food was the last thing she wanted.

She put down her fork and told Tina and their other roommate, "I'm done."

Tina looked at Howard's half-full lunchbox in surprise. "You're full already? You barely ate anything!"

Howard let out a soft sigh, feeling more fed up than full, and got up. She grabbed a paper bag from her bunk and added, "I've got dance practice. You guys can meet me at the church when you're done eating."

Howard had signed up for a performance at the Freshman Orientation Showcase. The showcase was meant to celebrate the end of orientation week.

Tina, sensing Howard's mood shift, glanced briefly at Mirabella before setting her own fork down. “Let's go together," she said softly. She wasn't a fan of Mirabella either, thanks to some sunscreen drama.

Howard nodded, and their other roommate, losing her appetite as well, decided to join them. The three left the dorm, leaving it empty except for Mirabella and Lisa, who was lost in her game on the top bunk.

The door closed with a heavy thud, snapping Lisa out of her gaming trance. She lifted her head, took off her headphones, and glanced around the room until she spotted Mirabella. Crawling to the edge of her bed, she greeted, "You're back.”

Mirabella responded with a nonchalant hum, not even looking up.

"Where'd Howard and the others go?" Lisa asked.

"They left," Mirabella replied flatly.

She was lounging casually by her bunk, her eyes on the laptop screen resting on her knees. Her long lashes cast shadows as her pale, slender fingers danced over the keyboard.

Noticing Mirabella was engrossed in her computer, and knowing she'd been at it every night recently, Lisa didn't press further.

Mirabella shook her head at the screen, typing, "This model's a mess, the initial database is full of holes. Kiddo, your coding skills have seriously slipped."

The man on the other end paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Does she think creating a database is like texting? Just type and it's done?

Suddenly, a file appeared on his desktop without needing his approval. The man chuckled. This old geezer, always doing things his way.

He opened the file and hisnoveldrama

expression froze, then morphed into shock. The file contained code for a data linkage system, the database model almost flawless, with some sequences he'd never even

Some

imagined.

5

It was genius.

Snapping back to reality, he quickly typed, "Dad, can you teach me programming?"

At this point, he'd call him grandpa if it meant getting help.

"Stupidity requires more learning," Mirabella replied, then unilaterally ended the chat. Her fingers moved, and the computer screen flashed back to the home page in anûnstant.

Lisa, who had just sat down next to Mirabella, only saw the screen flash.