Adeline suddenly appeared from somewhere, joining in without hesitation.
"You've embarrassed the entire Zamora family!"
"Do you... do you realize this is a crime?" I lunged forward again, my voice shaking.
Adeline smoothly took the phone from Cedrick's hand and smiled coldly at me.
"You want it? Then come and get it."
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and stepped forward.
Just as my fingertips were about to touch the phone—Adeline suddenly tossed it high over my head.
Cedrick, standing opposite me, caught it steadily.
"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.
After Cedrick and Adeline tossed it back and forth, verification had failed repeatedly.
Which meant—through the internal warning channel, an alert had already been sent to the nearest special operations unit.
"Everyone, please forgive us."
My father raised his wineglass, not sparing me a glance as I sat on the floor. His smile was practiced, impeccable.
"My son grew up in the mountains and doesn't understand proper etiquette. Please don't take offense."
Seeing my father's attitude, Cedrick immediately followed up with a cooperative smile.
"My brother has already been arranged to work in the company's cleaning department. He'll get used to things soon. Please don't worry."
"Heh."
Adeline stood nearby, arms crossed, her tone light but pointed.