Leo never found out who "ShadowHacker" was, but he never disabled his firewall again. He got an A on the paper, though he couldn't help but notice that every time he opened Word for the rest of the semester, the font would occasionally change to neon green all on its own.
His heart hammering, Leo opened his email. There, at the top of his sent messages, was an email addressed to his professor. It contained his entire thesis—fully formatted, saved, and attached. Leo never found out who "ShadowHacker" was, but
The subject line?
Leo froze. The reflection in his darkened monitor showed only his messy room and the glow of his desk lamp. When he looked back at the screen, the Keygen was gone. In its place, a notepad file had opened automatically. I gave you the key, Leo. Check your 'Sent' folder. There, at the top of his sent messages,