Chapter 8 I had my head buried in code until the sun dipped low . That was when my grandmother walked in carrying a steaming bowl of beef stew , smiling right at me . " Kelsey , no matter how busy you are , you still gotta eat . I made this stew special for you . Try it . " I closed my laptop , stretched with a huge grin , and said , " Thanks , Grandma . It smells delicious . " Since I was a kid , I'd been obsessed with her beef stew . Spicy in just the right way , packed with herbs , and slow - cooked in a rich bone broth - it was out of this world . But once I went off to college , chances to eat it became rare . I reached for a piece with my hand , ready to dig in , when my grandmother smacked my wrist lightly and handed me a towel . "Wash your hands first before eating ! " I laughed and went to wash my hands . That was when my phone screen lit up .. I picked it up and froze . Instagram was blowing up again . Right after my call with Jesse earlier , Nicole had posted her own code . And of course , it looked exactly like mine , with the same idea and approach . The comments underneath were nothing but praise . [ Oh , my God ! Nicole is amazing . She solved such a difficult problem so easily . She's incredible ! ] [ Looks like Nicole's team is unstoppable this time . She's definitely taking first place . ] [ Nicole's pretty , hardworking , and humble - she's the role model every girl should look up to . ] I scrolled through all of it , my face unreadable . I only got firmer in my suspicion . There was something seriously off about her . She could copy my ideas perfectly . Every time I started working through a solution , she somehow picked up my exact line of thinking , as if she was tuned into my brain . It sounded impossible , but after this many " coincidences " , I couldn't ignore it anymore . I didn't know how she was doing it , but one thing was clear : I was the one being plagiarized . In this life and the last , every bit of glory and applause she got was built on my back . And even after she had everything she wanted , why ? Why did she spread lies that ruined me ? Why destroy my family , turn me from a star student into a hated outcast , and bury my future ? I wouldn't just roll over and let her get her way this time . I clenched my jaw so hard that it hurt , my nails digging deep into my palms as the anger churned . But just as quickly , the fire in me dimmed . Even knowing what really happened before , I still had no proof . I had no way of exposing what trick Nicole was using . If I accused her without proof , no one at the competition would believe me . And with the way Nicole could twist things , I'd probably end up right back where I was last time . But luckily , I'd thought ahead . At the very end of my program design , I'd left one massive bug on purpose . Now , it was up to Nicole to see if she could fix it .