Chapter 204

“Miranda Sutton! Do you even know how many times I called? You didn’t answer a single one!” Winter’s voice crackled with genuine anger. “It’s been so long—if I hadn’t called, were you planning to never contact me again?” Her words tumbled out rapidly.

Miranda checked her call log, seeing a string of missed calls from Winter. She’d meant to call back several times but work had constantly sidetracked her. Feeling guilty, she apologized quickly. “I’m so sorry, Winter. I’ve been incredibly busy, and I just… got caught up and forgot. I promise I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again!”

Winter had learned Miranda joined the lab on its second day. Her relationship with Paul, her brother, was strained. They’d been close as children, but his years abroad for his studies had created a chasm. By the time he returned, he was a celebrated "genius physicist," and their distance only widened. As adults, their meetings could be counted on one hand. Winter knew he was always engrossed in his work, but she hadn't understood the extent of his dedication until now. Seeing Miranda, she finally grasped it: Paul was a corporate drone, but worse—disappearing for weeks or ignoring messages for months was not unusual.

Winter’s tone softened. “Fine, just don’t let it happen again. But next month’s dinner—you absolutely cannot miss it, got it?” She’d called specifically to remind Miranda of her birthday dinner.

Miranda smiled. “Of course! It’s my darling Winter’s birthday. How could I forget? I’ve already picked out your gift, so get ready for a surprise!”

“That’s more like it,” Winter said, satisfied.

After hanging up, Miranda returned to the lab. A loud groan reached her ears.

“Ugh—where did it go wrong? I’ve recalculated this value eight times, and I still can’t find the issue,” Bryan groaned, staring frustratedly at his screen. Days of work had yielded nothing but inconsistent data values. He was completely stumped.

Scratching his head, he turned to Silas. “Dr. Quinton, you’re better at quick calculations than I am. Can you check where I might have gone wrong?”

Silas adjusted his glasses, examined the data, and cross-checked the original samples. “I noticed here, and here, your steps aren’t very clear. Maybe… you should try calculating it again?”

Bryan groaned louder. “I’ve already calculated it eight times! What if I get a ninth different answer?”

Sandy offered a different perspective. “I don’t think the third node is the issue. Bryan just skipped a few steps. Given the complexity of the formula, simplifying it was necessary. What do you think, Lizzy?” Elizabeth, whose undergraduate major was data computation, examined the raw data, circling common points among Bryan’s results. After recalculating, she arrived at a new…