Chapter 293: Under Investigation

Sierra reviewed everyone she’d contacted recently, but found nothing. The only name that came to mind was Shane—but there was no way someone like him could have gotten anywhere near the Astrophysics Institute. That was Draven’s turf. And yet, it was here that everything blew up. No one was more furious than Draven himself.

When Autumn showed up, his face was a mask of rage. After working with Sierra for a while, he knew she wasn’t the type to make careless mistakes. Someone had clearly set her up. The worst part? He couldn’t figure out who.

“Who else had access to the lab’s data besides her?” Draven asked sharply, not bothering to sugarcoat it.

Autumn blinked, then instantly caught his implication. Her face darkened with anger.

“Mr. Draven, what the hell are you trying to say? She’s our junior. You think we’d set her up?”

Draven didn’t see any problem with the question. He spoke coldly. “She’s extremely gifted.” The unspoken message was clear: someone jealous of her might have sabotaged her.

Autumn actually laughed in disbelief. “Why don’t you look at your own people? You guys had way more access than we did. And don’t worry—we’ll be investigating too. We’re not letting anything slide. Hope you can understand that.” Her words said understand, but her tone said anything but.

Her impression of Draven hit rock bottom. She used to think he just had a temper when it came to research—something they all understood. Everyone got cranky when they hit a wall. But now, she realized Draven’s whole character was questionable. She had once hoped he’d help get Sierra out as soon as possible. That hope had completely vanished.

“I’ll be telling Professor Martin everything. And if we find out the problem came from your side, you’re going to owe us a serious apology.” She stormed out, fuming.

Draven gave a crooked little smile. Martin’s students were all so damn naive. He’d only stated the most likely scenario—and they couldn’t even handle that? Truth was, he didn’t just suspect them. He was suspicious of everyone, including his own team. Because this was Sierra. He’d already launched his own investigation—he just hadn’t found anything yet.

What troubled him most now was figuring out how to explain all of this to Johnathan. He’d already asked Autumn whether Johnathan had been informed. Turned out, they hadn’t said a word. Professor Martin had used the excuse that the project was entering a sensitive phase and all outside contact was cut off. That had worked—at least for a few hours.

Draven sighed. He considered ignoring it, then thought better of it. The consequences of keeping Johnathan in the dark would be much worse. Earlier, when Professor Martin had called Johnathan, he hadn’t thought much of it. But later, something felt off. Sierra hadn’t mentioned anything about an experimental lockdown. So he’d called Martin back, but Martin stopped answering. That’s when he turned to Draven.

Thirty minutes later, Johnathan showed up at the institute entrance with a dark expression on his face.

“Where is she?” he demanded the second he saw Draven.

“Listen to me,” Draven said. “This isn’t what you think—”

“I only asked you one thing. Where is she?”

“She was taken in.” Draven looked exhausted. When he saw Johnathan’s face shift, he quickly added, “Not just her. Everyone involved in the project is under investigation.”

They’d already confirmed it wasn’t just a data error. The materials Sierra submitted contained stolen code. A lot of the project’s sensitive information had been compromised. This wasn’t just about Sierra anymore—it had become a national security issue. The entire experiment was state-run, and any data leak was a federal matter.

Draven had just finished explaining this to his team when government agents arrived and started taking everyone in for questioning. His turn was next. The only reason he was still here was because of his position. He’d asked for a short delay so he could explain everything to Johnathan. Because if Johnathan lost it, no one would be able to contain him.

“We’re all going to be investigated. I haven’t figured out who’s behind it yet, but that’s your angle—start there. And Johnathan—don’t try to pull her out by force. That’ll just make things worse.” He didn’t wait for an answer. After a few quick instructions, Draven was escorted away.

Johnathan stood in place, seething, fully grasping the gravity of the situation now. He pulled out his phone and called Stone and the rest of his team. Things were about to get serious.