Betrayed? I Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother novel Chapter 229

Chapter 229

“Probably been a few days now.” Neil relayed faithfully. “R&D has always reported to your aunt. She covered it up for the old lady. No one else dared to jump the chain of command.”

A shadow crossed Gavin’s eyes as he looked at Neil. “You know what to do?”

“…Yes, sir.” He wasn’t entirely sure before, but now he knew exactly.

Elara’s POV

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife when Abbott’s phone rang. He answered the call from Security.

I couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, but Abbott’s brow furrowed deeper with each passing second. His gaze swept over the rest of the team, turning grimmer.

When he finally hung up, Elias was the first to break the silence. “What did they say?”

“Security says…” Abbott began, looking almost embarrassed to say it out loud. These were people who had worked under him for years. It was shameful that they’d resort to this to sabotage a young woman.

“The power for the entire R&D division tripped last night,” he explained, his voice tight with discomfort.”

It happened just before dawn and lasted until morning. T

he surveillance cameras and other equipment are on the same circuit. They didn’t record a thing.”

There’s a world of difference between the cameras showing nothing suspicious and the cameras being completely disabled.

Anyone with half a brain could see this was deliberate sabotage.

Why else would the power conveniently fail at such a critical time?

Of course, Sullivan chose that moment to press his advantage, his tone dripping with false concern.

“So, Team Lead Windsor? What do you have to say for yourself now?”

Leopold, his ever–eager echo, chimed in. “Yeah, you’re still going to honor your word, right?”

“Of course,” I replied, my voice calm and even.

“Everyone here is a witness!” Sullivan declared, a smug, victorious grin spreading across his face. He clearly thought he had me cornered. “From this moment on, you are no longer the team lead of this R&D group.”

“What’s the rush?” A slight smile touched my lips as I raised an eyebrow and turned to Abbott. “Do you have the direct number for the head of Security?”

“What do you need his number for?” Abbott asked, confused but also sensing that I had a card up my sleeve.

Sullivan snorted derisively.

“Yeah, what do you need it for? Don’t tell me you’re going to try and bully Security because you can’t admit this is your failure?”

He probably thought a girl my age was prone to hysterics and wouldn’t know how to handle a real professional setback.

I watched their triumphant expressions, my own demeanor cooling. I pointed a slender finger through the glass wall of the lab, toward the ceiling

inside.

19:04

Betraved ?1 Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother

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Chapter 229

“Do you know why there are two smoke detectors in this lab?”

“What’s so strange about that?”

Leopold scoffed, dismissive. “This is the most important lab in R&D, Of course, we take extra fire safety precautions…”

Not that any of them had ever paid the detectors a second thought.

“No,” I interrupted him with a faint smile. “It’s to guard against snakes.”

Sullivan’s eyes followed my pointing finger, his expression darkening with suspicion. “What are you implying?”

I took my time explaining, enjoying the moment. “I’m implying that the one on the left is indeed a smoke detector. But the one on the right… contains a

camera.”

“It’s on a completely separate, independent circuit. It wasn’t affected in the slightest by the power trip in the department.”

I turned back to Abbott. “Could you please send me the head of Security’s number? I’d like to request the footage from that specific camera privately.”

As Abbott began searching through the company directory on his phone, Leopold’s face visibly paled.

Sullivan shot him a sharp, warning look before turning back to me.

“Team Lead Windsor, you certainly know how to play mind games! How would you know about something none of the senior staff here were aware of? I suggest you stop with these cheap theatrics!”

“Whether it’s a cheap theatrical or not will be clear once we pull the footage.” I opened my own phone, ready to dial the number Abbott was about to send me.

Just as I moved to a quieter corner to make the call, Leopold suddenly panicked. He shoved Sullivan hard. “It was him! He tampered with the data this morning! I saw him sneaking out of the lab when I arrived!”

Sullivan, furious at being thrown under the bus so easily, ripped off his glasses, now knocked crooked.

“And I acted alone, did I? You think you can just wash your hands of this, you bastard?!”

As the two nearly came to blows, Abbott quickly signaled for others to pull them apart. He then looked at me.

“Team Lead Windsor, let me handle this from here. I will make sure you get a proper resolution.”

He and Elias knew better than anyone how many all–nighters I’d pulled for this project. It was galling to have the results destroyed by our own people.

I gave a single nod of agreement. Abbott then added, slightly abashed, “As for the experimental data… I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you to redo it.”

“It’s fine.” After one last glance at the two culprits, I picked up the falsified results and walked into the adjacent lab.

Abbott was fair. I doubted I’d be seeing those two in the R&D department again.

Problem was, redoing the data meant starting the experiment from scratch. After being up most of the previous night, I was running on fumes. By dusk, I knew I was hitting a wall.

Pushing through would be pointless and inefficient. I decided to wrap up for the day and leave with Elias.

“How did you know your bluff would work?” he asked once we were clear of the building and he could finally satisfy his curiosity. “Were you really prepared to step down if it failed?”

I tilted my head back, stretching my sore neck, and smiled. “Who said I was bluffing?”

“Wait… the camera was real?” This time, Elias was genuinely surprised.

19:05