**Competition Venue - Bathroom Corridor - 12:05 PM**
Emily followed Stephanie down the corridor toward the bathrooms, her senses on high alert. Something felt wrong about this entire situation Stephanie's nervous energy, the way she kept glancing back, the tremor in her hands.
"Stephanie," Emily said, stopping several feet from the bathroom entrance. "What's going on?"
Stephanie turned, her face pale and drawn. "I need to tell you something. Before it's too late. Before I...." Her voice broke. "Emily, I made a terrible mistake."
"What mistake?" Emily asked, though she had a suspicion.
"Someone approached me. Offered me money to sabotage you during the competition." Stephanie's words came out in a rush. "A USB drive that would corrupt your data, advance knowledge of one problem, a million dollars if you failed to place. And I—I took it. I took all of it."
Emily's expression remained calm despite the confirmation of what Sebastian had suspected. "Why are you telling me this?"
