Chapter 284 Caught Red-Handed Stealing Documents
"Benjamin and I still need to catch our flight tonight, so we won't keep you any longer. Goodbye."
After Sophia and her group left, Steven and Hannah gradually finished work for the day.
After a busy day, Hannah was exhausted. She had been hoping to get some calming medicine from Sophia, but she left in such a hurry.
Hannah walked out while rubbing her neck.
Steven followed behind her and couldn't help complaining, "Look at you, so weak. You really can't handle any hardship. I've told you before, you need to exercise more..."
Hearing this, Hannah turned back and looked at him coldly. "Mind your own business! I've never suffered hardship since I was little. You got a problem with that?"
Steven froze, immediately raising both hands in surrender. "I said the wrong thing, don't be mad. How about I give you a shoulder massage?"
Steven placed his hands on her shoulders and started kneading forcefully.
He didn't control his strength well. Hannah wasn't prepared, and when a sharp pain hit her, she cried out.
"Steven! Do you have some grudge against me? You're crushing my shoulders!"
Steven innocently pulled his hands back. "I, I didn't mean to. Are you okay?"
Hannah glared at him angrily. "Get away from me, don't touch me. I'm convinced you have it out for me."
Steven awkwardly touched his nose, feeling guilty. He just wanted to show some care, but somehow always messed things up.
The sound of Steven and Hannah's bickering gradually faded away, leaving only Aurora alone in the office.
She kept her head down, silently completing the experiment at hand.
About ten minutes later, she slowly lifted her eyes. Her gaze fell on the cabinet where Sophia kept her experimental data, and her eyes flickered.
She tiptoed over, pulled out a wire from her lab coat pocket, and prepared to pick the lock.
The wire probed inside the keyhole, and finally the lock opened.
Aurora quickly opened the cabinet door and took out the files Sophia had placed inside.
The lab was eerily quiet, with only the sound of papers rustling as she flipped through the documents.
Holding the files in one hand and her phone in the other, she photographed the data page by page and sent them to a Messenger chat marked "G."
Her approach to Alaric abroad had actually been premeditated from the start.
Although Elijah was a medical expert in the country, his research on the toxin in Benjamin's body had made no progress.
The organization was getting impatient, so they arranged for her to get close to Alaric, gain his trust, and become a member of his research team.
She had maintained her disguise well all these years because Alaric's research had also made no progress.
Because even Alaric, whom Elijah highly regarded for his exceptional medical talent, had been helpless against this toxin.
Just when they had fallen into despair, Sophia appeared.
Her appearance brought them a turning point, brought them hope.
Unfortunately, Sophia had always been very meticulous in her work and never delegated tasks to others, so Aurora never had a chance to get involved.
From beginning to end, she had only succeeded once.
After finishing the photos, Aurora prepared to put the files back. However, just as she opened the cabinet, a sound came from behind her.
—It was the sound of the door being pushed open.
Then she heard a clear, pleasant voice. "Aurora."
Aurora froze instantly, her whole body stiffening in place. Out of fear, she began trembling uncontrollably.
She slowly turned around, and seeing who it was, her pupils constricted involuntarily.
Sophia and Benjamin, who should have already boarded their flight and left, were now standing at the door.
Besides them, Alaric, Steven, and Hannah were all there too.
So they hadn't left at all. Everything they'd done earlier was just to make her let down her guard.
"You, you all..."
"You're wondering why we haven't left yet?" Sophia finished her unspoken words, arms crossed.
Aurora snapped back to reality, fear showing in her eyes as she looked at Sophia. "How did you know?"
Aurora had always believed her disguise was perfect. She never imagined she would be exposed one day.
Because everyone in the lab trusted her completely, which was what she was most proud of.
"Actually, at first I didn't know it was you. The main thing is, you were too impatient." Sophia laughed coldly, her gaze at Aurora now tinged with mockery.
In fact, she had never suspected Aurora, because Aurora's personality was very steady and she had always been very caring toward her.
Aurora had seemed flawlessly perfect.
But as it turned out, the most unlikely person was the one they were looking for.
Aurora looked dazed, her hand gripping the files tightened slightly, her fingertips turning white. "So this was a trap you set, just waiting for me to walk into it? But how did you know I would definitely make a move today?"
Alaric's expression was heavy as he pressed his lips together, his voice ice-cold. "Before pushing open this door, we also suspected Steven and Hannah. There are only four of us in the lab. Apart from me, it's just you three."
"As for why we were certain you would make a move today... naturally it's because the people behind you couldn't wait any longer." Sophia chimed in.
Aurora's pupils contracted sharply. "You know there are people behind me?"
Sophia walked up to Aurora, her fair, slender hand taking the files from her.
She lowered her eyes, and under Aurora's shocked and confused gaze, slowly opened to a certain page, pointing at a marking inside. "Any documents I handle, I make small marks in them. Sometimes it's a hair the length of a finger joint, sometimes it's a piece of paper the size of a fingernail..."
Aurora's heart suddenly sank. "So you already knew about me touching your files before?"
Sophia slowly nodded. "I didn't say anything before because I hadn't figured out what the person who touched those files wanted to do. But now I understand."
Aurora was clever enough to quickly grasp the key point. "That file had problems?"
Everything suddenly became crystal clear in an instant.
No wonder the organization said the medicine developed from that file had issues. It had been wrong from the very beginning.
It wasn't that she had been too careless. It was that Sophia gave off such an innocent impression.
Not only did she have the most delicate and charming appearance, but she also had clear, bright eyes that easily made people let down their guard.
When Sophia initially said she had developed an antidote, Aurora didn't think twice before opening the cabinet and taking photos.
She never considered that Sophia would also hold something back.
Her gaze slowly fell on the file in Sophia's hand, and her heart sank again. "This file is also fake?"
"Not exactly. Half is real, half is fake."
Sophia stopped wasting words with Aurora, picked up the file, turned around and left the lab.
Benjamin said, "I'll leave this to you all to handle. Sophia and I need to head to the airport."