"Brother, the phone's over here."
He shook it lightly, grinning, like someone teasing a dog.
Laughter and whispers spread through the surrounding guests, all eyes drawn to the spectacle.
At the noise, my parents finally noticed and hurried over, frowning.
By then, my legs had gone weak. I sank to the floor, unable to muster the strength to stand.
My father looked down at me, then at the siblings, his brows tightly knit.
"Enough. Stop fooling around. What kind of behavior is this? Give him back his phone."
Cedrick glanced at the screen, quickly losing interest.
"You even set an alarm?" he scoffed. "You really know how to pretend. Are you fantasizing about being some kind of national secret agent?"
"Ridiculous!" Adeline added sharply.
My gaze locked onto the red ‘Alarm Activated' screen.
Instead of panic, relief finally washed over me.
Phones used by researchers at our institute were custom-made.
Not only did they surpass commercial devices in functionality, they also carried the highest level of confidentiality protection.
The moment the phone was taken, fingerprint and iris verification had been automatically triggered.