What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 481

"It's that TCR-T cell therapy project you initiated at Aethelstan. You poured over two years of research into it, yielding beautiful data and a stable process, pushing it all the way to the IND Application Phase. Now that you've handed it over, they've completely botched it. They even arbitrarily changed the cell culture conditions for one of the critical steps. I heard Noelle signed off on it because the team claimed hypoxic culturing was too expensive and time-consuming, while normoxic culturing would save them a fortune. So, she just agreed to it," Silas said over the phone, sounding deeply amused.

Kaia frowned. "That's reckless. The consequences of altering that will be catastrophic."

"And that's exactly why they're facing this massive loss. Changing the conditions caused the tumor inhibition rate to plummet from seventy-eight percent to a mere fifteen. It's practically useless now. Factoring in all the prior investments and the agreements signed with major partners, the estimated loss is around a billion dollars. Noelle must be drowning in regret right now," Silas mocked, unable to hold back his disdain.

"Of course she is. The loss causes a domino effect. The first three batches of the formulation are completely ruined, which is an immediate loss of hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention the upfront costs sunk by their partners. I wouldn't be surprised if Aethelstan's stock takes a massive nosedive tomorrow," Kaia replied.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg. The evaporated market value is hard to even estimate, and that billion-dollar figure doesn't even account for the impending legal fees, patient compensation, and the long-term damage of partners severing ties. Let's see how Finnian manages to cover for her this time." Silas suddenly paused. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's fine," Kaia said, her voice calm. "If he wants to protect her, he'll find a way. It just depends on what lengths he's willing to go to."

"Kaia, if Finnian wanted you back at Aethelstan, offered you a major executive role, and asked you to resume the research, would you accept?" Silas's voice grew slightly hoarse. Knowing Noelle couldn't handle the responsibility, he was genuinely terrified Kaia might leave his team. He desperately wanted her to stay.

"No," Kaia answered with absolute certainty. "I'm never going back to Aethelstan. I promised Finnian I would stay with the conglomerate for two years, and for those two years, I will only work at Veridian."

"Really? Just two years?" Silas's voice noticeably brightened with a trace of excitement and joy. "Two years doesn't seem that long. Couldn't you stay a few more?"

Kaia laughed softly. "We'll see when the time comes. For now, that's my only plan."

She had dedicated over two years to that research. Every single parameter had been rigorously verified. The hypoxic culturing wasn't just a whim; it was the optimal condition she had established after running twenty-nine sets of comparative experiments. She remembered the three separate handover meetings she had held when she left Aethelstan, graciously reminding the new team to pay special attention to those exact details.

Back then, everyone probably thought she had been demoted. Whenever she spoke seriously, they just nodded along, claiming they understood.

Looking back now, it was simply laughable. The moment she was out the door, her influence vanished. She had believed they truly grasped the science, but in reality, they only heard the words, immediately turning around and butchering her parameters beyond recognition.

Kaia suddenly paused. Silas had mentioned there was another piece of bad news, but she hadn't even asked him what it was.

Around ten the next morning, the conglomerate released an Internal Memo. The phrasing was strictly corporate, but as Kaia scanned it, she instantly recognized the hidden blades concealed within the text.