The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 563

"Maybe your clinical data was forged? That kind of thing isn't exactly unprecedented in the academic world. I recall someone being expelled from Hopkins University six years ago for faking clinical data, wasn't she? Rumor has it, she came back to the country, hitched her wagon to the right mentor, reinvented herself, and even landed a cozy job at the Department of Health."

Vanessa's pupils contracted sharply.

Sloane watched the fleeting crack in her composure and knew she had hit the bullseye.

She continued, unhurried, her voice gentle to the point of cruelty. "But I hear The DSEA is totally out of ideas. The task force audited the raw materials, the production process, and the encapsulation, yet they can't find the source of the problem. Word on the street is... there's only one option left. They have to ask Garrison. After all, he developed the drug from the ground up. He's the only one who knows the true core formula for Vitas-1."

"Don't you agree, Director Vaughan?"

Vanessa stared at her with a death glare.

The office was dead silent, save for the faint hum of the air conditioning.

Then, suddenly, Vanessa's anger vanished.

Her emotions snapped like an overstretched string. All the fury and loss of control drained away in an instant, replaced by a chilling, sinister smile dripping with superiority.

She planted her hands on the desk and leaned in, closing the distance between her and Sloane inch by inch.

"I get it now. You did this to force our hand, to make us release Garrison. Didn't you?"

She laughed, a soft, skin-crawling sound. "But you're forgetting something. He's nothing but a bird in a cage right now. Aren't you afraid..."

She leaned in right next to Sloane's ear, dropping her voice to a whisper, as if sharing a secret meant for only the two of them. "Aren't you afraid someone might kill him?"