Chapter 328: Stirring the Shadows

Seeing the thoughtful look on Jonathan’s face, Sierra continued, “I know Quinn hasn’t been the one raising Dora, and they haven’t spent much time together, but still… Dora’s just too well-behaved.”

“…I’ll look into it,” Jonathan replied. He had already asked someone to investigate what Quinn had gone through over the past few years, but so far, there wasn’t any useful information.

Knowing Jonathan was taking it seriously, Sierra felt reassured. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. “I’m heading up.”

They’d just spent the night together, so parting now made it all the harder. Jonathan pulled her into another kiss that lingered for a while before finally letting her go. “Go on. I’ll pick you up tonight.”

That had been their agreement last night—no matter how busy things got, Sierra would finish by nine, and Jonathan would come get her unless something urgent came up.

“Okay.” Sierra gave him a quick glance and then headed upstairs with her things.

Once in the lab, Sierra quickly contacted Professor Martin and shared her idea. Professor Martin had no objections. He reminded her the project theme was entirely up to her. No one else had any complaints either. In fact, having two patients nearby to observe and collect data from made this a particularly strong choice for the study.

During a break, Autumn couldn’t hold back her curiosity and leaned in to gossip. “You and Mr. Yeager didn’t fight, did you?”

Sierra cleared her throat. “No!”

“Clearly.” Autumn’s eyes flicked to Sierra’s neck, teasing, “Didn’t realize Mr. Yeager was so possessive.”

The mark was so obvious, it was hard not to notice. Sierra didn’t even know what to say. Her cheeks turned red. She’d reminded Jonathan last night—but it had been so long since they’d been together, he hadn’t been able to hold back. And if her neck looked bad, the rest of her… well, best not to think about it.

“But hey,” Autumn went on, “our research subjects this time are Mr. Yeager’s sister and niece?” Then she lowered her voice and added, “What about the people from that post?” She still sounded annoyed just bringing it up.

“Those people were full of nonsense. They’re related, but the internet just ran wild with rumors.”

Yesterday, after Sierra told her about Quinn and Dora’s real relationship, Autumn had helped clear things up online. She even used her main account. Her status gave weight to her words, and a lot of people admitted they’d misunderstood. Still, there were some who said they couldn’t really be blamed—the photos did look like they were a family in that way.

Annoyed by their stubbornness, Autumn replied directly in the comments. She told them they were a family—just a brother, sister, and his niece. Things should’ve ended there… but someone else chimed in, claiming Jonathan and Quinn weren’t related by blood. They said Quinn was an orphan Jonathan had sponsored and that the two were actually childhood sweethearts.

Some people just couldn’t stand to see others doing well. Sierra was too outstanding, and that made others jealous. They were just waiting for her to stumble. Sierra had no idea. She wasn’t the type to obsess over baseless rumors. Besides, Jonathan taking care of his sick sister wasn’t anything unusual.

At the same time, Jose was on the phone with Shane.

“I saw Jonathan’s car this morning. He dropped Sierra off.”

“Tch. Sierra really is patient. After everything that blew up yesterday, she still didn’t argue with Jonathan?”

Shane, meanwhile, was staring at a new batch of photos—fresh ones taken just today. There were shots of Sierra getting out of the car, and even some of her kissing Jonathan. Watching her lean into Jonathan, completely at ease in his arms, Shane’s eyes grew darker.

“Are you sure your guy can deliver?” he asked coldly.

Jose paused, then said, “Of course. But we can’t go too hard. If Jonathan catches wind of it, everything falls apart.”

Jose went on, “Weren’t you the one who said to let things break down slowly? What, lost your patience now?”

Between the two of them, Shane was usually the one with more restraint. But now that he had a rare chance to strike back, Jose wasn’t about to let it go.

“I heard Sierra humiliated Mr. Shane the other day?”

Shane didn’t deny it. He only replied, “Mr. Jose, you’re very well-informed.”

“Hmph.”

Jose didn’t deny that either. He’d had someone watching Sierra, so he knew nearly everything happening around her.

“Didn’t think Mr. Shane was the self-torturing type.”