Chapter 6
1665words
She sat upright in front of the computer, where the "Home Guardian" system management interface emanated a cold light on the screen.
With only four hours left before the meeting at the Jazz Bar, her ultimate trap must be perfectly deployed before then.
Her fingertips danced across the keyboard, creating a brand new intelligent scenario. When the cursor hovered over the naming field, her fingers suddenly froze in mid-air. A complex emotion, mixing pain and irony, flashed across her eyes.
"David's Special Night."
She slowly typed in this name.
Once upon a time, she might have secretly looked forward to her husband preparing such a surprise for her on the eve of their wedding anniversary. Now, this once tender phrase had become a cold bait to catch betrayal, an irony that made her chest tighten.
She quickly suppressed that untimely sentiment and focused on setting the trap. The trigger conditions for this scenario were exquisitely intricate: when voice recognition identified the "guest" and the command included keywords like "romantic" or "surprise," the system would execute a series of complex operations - dimming the lights to an intimate 20%, igniting the electronic fireplace, slowly closing the curtains, playing Chloe's favorite "Midnight Blues," activating the expensive amber-colored decorative light strips in the dining room, and finally announcing in a gentle voice: "Romantic evening ready."
Most importantly, all operations would send complete trigger records to her encrypted cloud storage.
When the setup was complete, Ella performed one last action: she manually triggered the system to send a medium-level security alert to all administrator accounts: "Abnormal login attempt detected, immediate review of permission settings recommended."
The bait had been cast.
Outside the window, the city's neon lights came on one after another. Ella leaned back in her chair, clearly feeling her heart pounding heavily in her chest. This trap perfectly exploited David's vanity in pursuing formality, and Chloe's desire to show off by being treated specially.
But she couldn't help asking herself: would they come? After just receiving a security alert, would they still be bold enough to use this system again?
Just then, the sound of a key turning came from the door. Ella quickly minimized all windows, her heartbeat suddenly accelerating.
David was back.
"I'm home!" David's voice came from the entryway, with an unusual hint of lightness, "Just coming back to change clothes and grab something, then I have to go back to the office right away."
Ella walked out of the study and leaned against the doorframe, examining him. He was wearing the same shirt from this morning, but his tie was loosened, and his face betrayed a hint of barely concealed excitement.
"Do you need to change clothes for overtime work?" Ella asked with feigned casualness, noticing him unconsciously fidgeting with his wedding ring—a nervous habit of his.
"There's an important video conference tonight, need to look formal," David avoided her gaze and walked quickly toward the closet. "By the way, did you receive that system alert? Nothing serious, right?"
"Oh, that," Ella's tone was relaxed, as if discussing the weather. "Probably a false alarm, I'm already handling it. Speaking of which, have you noticed anything unusual about the system lately?"
David's movements visibly faltered: "Unusual? No. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing, just some strange records," Ella deliberately kept it vague. "Seems like some 'visitor' has been using the system late at night."
David's face instantly became unnatural, but he quickly regained his composure: "It must be a system bug, or just hackers probing. Didn't you always say our home system is very secure?"
"Even the most secure system can't prevent internal vulnerabilities." Ella said meaningfully, watching the slight twitch at the corner of his eye.
David hurriedly picked up a new shirt: "I have to go, I'll be late for the meeting." He almost ran to the door, then suddenly turned back at the entrance, "Um... about the system issue, do you want to get someone to look at it this weekend?"
"That won't be necessary." Ella smiled, "I believe the truth will come to light soon."
The door closed behind her. The smile on Ella's face instantly disappeared, replaced by cold determination.
Every expression, every movement of David's confirmed her suspicions.
Now, the trap was set, the bait was cast, just waiting for the prey to take the hook.
Time began to grow thick and slow. Ella tried to work but found the code on her screen twisting into unrecognizable symbols; she picked up a book, only to find herself reading the same line over and over, unable to comprehend its meaning.
Only half an hour remained before the date would begin.
Anxiety wrapped around her like vines. She stood up and paced around her room, eventually finding herself drawn to the living room. Her fingers unconsciously traced the cold fireplace frame as she imagined for whom it would burn in a few hours.
"Tonight, for whom will you burn?" she whispered, her voice carrying a tremor she herself hadn't noticed.
Just then, her phone vibrated. It was an encrypted message from Sophia: "How's it going? Any movement? Do you need me to come over and keep you company?"
Ella took a deep breath and replied: "Nothing yet. I'm fine, it's like waiting for thunder that's bound to strike."
"Are you sure the recording function is on? Is there enough cloud storage space?" Sophia pressed, fully displaying her tech-geek nature.
"Everything is ready." Ella replied, a bitter smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. This was her best friend, always expressing concern in the most technical way at the most tense moments.
Seven fifty. Ella had almost given up hope. Maybe they really sensed something, maybe David was finally cautious for once...
Just as this thought flashed through her mind, her phone screen suddenly lit up - a system push notification:
【"David's Special Night" scene has been activated. Detailed logs have been uploaded to secure cloud.】
Ella's heart almost stopped beating. She sat up abruptly, her fingers trembling as she clicked on the log file.
**[Timestamp]： Tonight 19:52:18**
**[Triggered Voice Print]： Guest**
**[Command Received]： "Xiao Zhi, create a romantic atmosphere, give us a surprise"**
**[Execute Operation]： "David's Special Night" scene initiated: lights dimmed to 20%, electronic fireplace ignited, curtains closed, "Midnight Blues" playlist started, amber light strips activated, welcome message announced**
**[Scene Duration]： 00:15:23**
An environmental audio file was attached below the log. Ella put on her headphones, but before pressing play, she sent a message to Sophia: "He took the bait. Listen together?"
Sophia replied almost instantly: "Of course!"
Ella took a deep breath and pressed play.
First came the slight humming sound of the electronic fireplace being lit, followed by Chloe's excited squeal: "Oh my god! This fireplace! These lights! You actually programmed a scene just for me? David, you're amazing!"
Then came David's voice, clearly pleased with himself: "Of course, I said I'd give you a perfect evening. Do you like it?"
"I love this so much! This is even more romantic than those fancy restaurants... This is that playlist I often listen to, you even remembered this?"
"Everything is prepared for you." David's voice was sickeningly gentle, "The name of this scene is 'David's Special Night,' prepared only for you."
The sound of kissing came through the headphones, followed by Chloe's coquettish laughter: "Has your wife never known you could be so romantic?"
"Her?" David's voice carried contempt, "She only cares about her code and system security. She doesn't understand any of this."
Ella yanked off her headphones, her chest heaving violently. Despite being prepared, hearing these words firsthand still felt like a dull knife repeatedly twisting in her heart.
"That bastard!" Sophia's voice came from the other end of the phone; she had clearly also listened to the recording simultaneously, "Are you okay, Ella?"
"Better than ever." Ella's voice was surprisingly calm, a coldness that came from completely freezing all emotions, "Now, everything is clear."
She encrypted and compressed the entire data package, labeled it "Final Evidence 07," and synchronized it to Sophia.
"Received. This 'David's Special Night'... fireplace, lights, voice announcements... this is textbook-level trap and evidence." Sophia's voice was filled with admiration and anger, "When do you plan to confront him?"
"Soon," Ella said, "but not now."
She ended the call and sat alone in the darkness. A few minutes later, she suddenly stood up, walked to the smart hub, and said in a clear and cold voice:
"SmartHome, permanently delete scene 'David's Special Night'."
"Deletion confirmed." The system voice responded calmly.
"Now, only the evidence remains," she said to herself.
Back at her computer, she began organizing the entire chain of evidence. From the initial voice pattern records to tonight's scene trigger, from social media screenshots to audio analysis reports. Seven encrypted files, like seven bullets waiting to be fired, lined up neatly on the screen.
As she finished saving, she noticed that Chloe had updated a story on Instagram. The image showed a hand with crimson nail polish holding a wine glass, with a jazz bar stage in the background, captioned: "Best night, best music, best person #PerfectMoment"
Ella calmly saved the screenshot, naming it "Evidence 08: The Last Celebration."
She turned off the computer, and the study was instantly swallowed by darkness. Her phone screen showed eight-thirty in the evening.
The date was in progress.
In this silent moment, Ella could clearly hear her own heartbeat, steady and firm. All doubts, pain, and hesitation had transformed into cold determination.
The hunting season was coming to an end, and it was time to reap the harvest.
She checked one last time all the documents needed for tomorrow, then turned off her phone. Tonight, she needed to get a good rest.
Tomorrow would be a brand new day.
For some people, it might also be their last day.
