She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 775

"Loyce!" Philips suppressed his mounting panic, desperately trying to defend himself and his team. "Your baseless accusations are an insult to the years of hard work this team has put in! You think memorizing a few numbers and asking a few trick questions completely invalidates our progress? Science requires trial and error! Data fluctuations and minor logging discrepancies are completely normal! You coming in here with a magnifying glass to nitpick and tear everything down proves you're not here to do research—you're just here to cause trouble!"

He took a deep breath, delivering his final verdict. "Given that your behavior has severely disrupted this lab's operations and threatened our reputation, I am formally revoking your visiting scholar status. Leave immediately, or I'm calling security!"

"I'm not leaving," Loyce replied easily. "In fact, I'm planning to have Professor Bonick formally take over this project."

Philips let out a strained laugh. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"You work for the godfather of the Costa family, yet you blatantly embezzle his research funds right under his nose," Loyce stated coldly. "When he finds out what your real motives are, how do you think he's going to handle you?"

Her words drained the remaining color from the researchers' faces.

The godfather was notoriously ruthless and paranoid. Even without hard evidence, a rumor like this would trigger a massive internal investigation. If they were exposed...

Loyce turned on her heel to leave.

"Stop!" Philips yelled.

Loyce paused and glanced over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow.

"Ten million dollars," Philips blurted out.

"Are you trying to bribe me?"

"You're a student. You know exactly how much ten million dollars is worth," Philips said, sweating. "Take the money. We pretend none of this happened. You join my team, we collaborate on the research, and we finish this project together. Deal?"

"And if I refuse?"

Philips fell silent. The researcher standing directly behind him stepped forward, his expression turning downright sinister. "You're in Mexistar now. Your embassy won't care about a missing girl down here."

Loyce widened her eyes slightly, pretending to be intimidated. "Fine. Ten million to buy my silence. I think we'll make a great team."

She assumed the matter was settled. But Philips changed his mind. As she turned, he said quietly, "From the moment you walked in, I never saw an ounce of fear or compromise in your eyes. You don't respect me or my team. You've got your own agenda. If you take the money, you'll still betray us."

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