Chapter 349: Hidden Formulas

Sierra gave a wry smile. “Mr. Yaeger, the way you talk sometimes scares me.”

Right now, they were close—deeply entwined in each other’s lives. But what if they had a falling out one day? Would Johnathan turn those same ruthless methods on her?

As if he could hear her thoughts, Johnathan said quietly, “I would never use the same tactics on you that I’ve used on others.”

“…You better remember that,” Sierra replied lightly, trying to turn the moment into a joke before steering them back to the matter at hand. “Besides her staying with the Wynn family, did Quinn do anything else suspicious?”

Johnathan shook his head. Quinn had come to find him around 8:30 that night. He’d just wrapped up some small talk with guests when he noticed Sierra was missing. Mateo had told him Sierra had gone outside with Quinn. He remembered checking the time right then.

Based on Sierra’s account, she had asked Quinn to come get him right around 8:00. That timeline matched. From that spot in the garden back to the reception hall would take a normal person about thirty minutes.

Plus, Quinn’s reaction when she found Sierra—and her behavior afterward—didn’t seem suspicious in the slightest.

Sierra nodded at his explanation. Deep down, she didn’t want it to be Quinn either. If it was, Johnathan would be crushed.

“If we can’t pinpoint the person yet, then let’s track the drug,” Sierra said, pulling up a document. It was a report she had asked Autumn to help compile over the past two days. She hadn’t hidden the truth from Autumn—that she’d been nearly assaulted. Autumn had been so shaken she nearly flew over to see her. It took everything Sierra had to calm her down and convince her to help analyze the blood samples instead.

In this field, both she and Johnathan were professionals.

“Look here—these data points,” Sierra said, pointing. “These aren’t substances available on the market. I suspect it’s an experimental compound. We might find leads through this angle.”

Johnathan took the report. His expression changed immediately. It was far more detailed than the hospital’s analysis or even Autumn’s earlier draft. And in it, he spotted several key data patterns—ones he knew all too well. Because they had come from his own hands.

Johnathan turned to her, for once visibly shaken. “You’ve seen this compound before? Or…is it something you worked on?” Sierra asked slowly, almost unwilling to voice the possibility.

Panic flared in Johnathan’s eyes. “I didn’t know anything about the drug itself. But the data—those numbers—they’re from one of my old experiments.”

He glanced at her nervously, but what surprised him was the calm in her gaze. No disappointment. No accusation. Just a quiet, firm question: “Tell me what happened.”

“At the time, I was new to the field,” he said, “I got bored with traditional methods and wanted to try something different.”

He frowned. That period in his life was messy—he’d created more than a few things that shouldn’t have existed.

“But it was all done in private. I destroyed everything later. The data was encrypted and sealed. I never imagined I’d see it again in a drug analysis report.”

Sierra let out a quiet breath. It wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. When Shane had approached her previously, she’d already begun to suspect Johnathan might’ve done some illegal research in the past.

“Are you sure it was all destroyed?” she asked.

“I’m sure. I destroyed everything myself. No one else has the password to access that data.”

That was why the report had rattled him so badly. But what Sierra said next shook him even more.

“Well, I’ve seen similar data before. Remember when I told you Shane came to me? He showed me some of your discarded research. I didn’t take it seriously back then—thought he was bluffing. But now…I’m starting to think it was real.”

She had a good memory. She hadn’t looked at it long, but she remembered the structure of the numbers.

Johnathan’s face darkened completely. He had believed those experiments were buried for good. Now someone had not only stolen them but refined them into something dangerous—and used it on Sierra.

He stood abruptly, about to make a call, but Sierra grabbed his arm. “They’ll be on guard after this,” she warned. “If we make a move now, they’ll know we’re onto…”

Johnathan lowered his gaze and started trying to remember. He’d been around twenty when he’d done that work, and it was just one of many projects. Ten years later, it was hard to recall the details.

“We don’t have to rush,” Sierra said gently. “Let’s take our time and think it through. There’s one more thing—we might need Mateo’s help.”