Chapter 353: Taken

Johnathan couldn't explain why Timothy suddenly came to mind. The man specialized in genetics. Still, something in his gut told him Timothy was connected to all this. Maybe if he found him, he’d finally get the answers he needed.

That night, while picking Sierra up, Johnathan didn’t keep anything from her. He handed over the analysis report he’d written himself. When Sierra saw that two of the drugs were upgraded versions of compounds Johnathan had developed years ago, she frowned. “Do you have any other research that might’ve leaked?”

“I don’t know,” Johnathan genuinely couldn’t answer. Back then, he’d created so many things on a whim. After he came to his senses, he destroyed anything harmful—but the ones he thought were mild, he hadn’t bothered to deal with.

Sierra sighed. This was exactly why the state maintained such tight control over people like them. With a single thought, they could bring heaven—or hell. Johnathan didn’t need to see her eyes to feel the disappointment in them. He pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry.”

Back then, he never imagined things would get this bad. Honestly, he hadn’t even cared.

“I’m already investigating it.”

“Johnathan, I’m a little worried.”

Sierra turned to look at him. “What if one day, all this is used against you?” She wasn’t being paranoid—it was a real possibility.

“Well, now that it’s out in the open, that makes things easier.” Johnathan reached over and took her hand. It was the perfect time to eliminate all the risks he’d buried in the past. He also planned to go back and recheck everything he’d ever created. As he was running through that mental list, his phone rang. It was Quinn. He answered through the car’s Bluetooth.

“What is it?”

“Johnathan, something’s happened to Dora—she’s missing!”

Johnathan and Sierra exchanged a glance. He frowned. “What do you mean, missing? How could Dora go missing?” Quinn’s emotions were all over the place, and she couldn’t give a straight answer. Johnathan turned the car around and headed straight for the kindergarten. He was the one who had arranged for Dora to attend that school—it was a highly secure facility. How could something go wrong?

By the time he arrived, Quinn had just been dropped off. Her legs were trembling as she stepped out of the car, clearly terrified for Dora. Seeing her in that state, Sierra rushed forward to steady her. “It’s okay. Let’s find out what happened first.”

Quinn clutched Sierra’s hand tightly—so tightly that Sierra winced from the pain. But Quinn didn’t notice. Her eyes were filled with nothing but fear. Sierra’s heart softened. Clearly, Quinn was genuinely worried about Dora. She gave Johnathan a look, silently asking him to go get information from the staff.

With something like this, the teachers and principal were all present. Dora’s teacher looked anxious as she explained: “It was just before bedtime. We got a call saying Dora’s father was coming to pick her up. I brought Dora out and asked if that man was her dad. She nodded and said yes. That’s when I handed her over.”

Quinn had only realized something was wrong when Dora didn’t call her for their usual video chat. She’d called the teacher, and that’s when she found out Dora had already been picked up. The moment Quinn heard the word “father,” her emotions collapsed completely. She was terrified and couldn’t provide a single clue.

Sierra and Johnathan exchanged a look. Sierra took over the investigation and went to review the security footage while Johnathan stayed behind to calm Quinn down. Everyone knew: when Quinn lost control, only Johnathan could reach her.

The school was cooperative and quickly pulled up the surveillance footage. There was no audio, but the footage showed what happened clearly. Sierra saw Dora walk out, glance at the man waiting, and then nod when the teacher asked her a question. She reached out her hand to the man and walked off with him. The man never looked up. He wore a baseball cap, his face hidden the entire time. That was the end of the footage.

Sierra had the video copied. She also took photos of the man’s build from her phone and saved them.

By the time she got there, Johnathan had already calmed Quinn down. Her emotions had stabilized somewhat—she no longer looked like she was spiraling. Still, Sierra was careful not to set her off. She gave Johnathan a look, and he walked over. Sierra showed him the photos on her phone and said, “I reviewed the footage. Dora went with him willingly.”

“Is this man really Dora’s father?”