Chapter 127 Incitement to Defect

Chapter 127 Incitement to Defect

"What leads? Tell me."

Michael glanced around and lowered his voice. "That woman who stole the research—we still haven't identified her. But I found out that on the day the institute was compromised, Charles drove to the vicinity of the institute."

"He didn't go in directly. He lingered around the area for quite a while before leaving."

"Don't you find that strange?"

Grace raised an eyebrow, her gaze sharpening.

If that was true, this matter became very intriguing indeed.

"Wait a minute."

Grace questioned, "Why didn't you tell me this before? Did you just find out recently?"

"Yes, just recently."

Michael nodded. "After the incident at the institute, the police immediately checked the surveillance cameras in the surrounding area."

"But many of the cameras weren't working due to age and poor maintenance. Plus, there weren't many cameras to begin with, so the police didn't treat these as priority leads."

"It wasn't until a couple days ago that they started reviewing all the footage, so we finally got results."

Grace slammed the table in frustration. "If these cops had checked the nearby surveillance right away, we wouldn't have had to wait this long for results."

"Great. We've wasted an entire month. This is outrageous!"

Grace's breathing grew heavy with anger.

Michael's expression darkened as well.

Though Grace's words were somewhat harsh, they weren't entirely unreasonable.

These police really weren't as conscientious as those back home. Perhaps it was because of different national contexts that their investigative approaches differed.

"It's alright, Grace. Let's look on the bright side."

Michael consoled her. "Regardless of how it happened, even though we took a detour, at least we're back on track now."

"I imagine the police have already gone to investigate Charles. He won't be able to keep this up much longer."

"You really think so?" Grace snorted coldly. "Given these cops' competence, I honestly doubt they could catch the culprit even if he was handed to them on a silver platter."

"I don't trust them. I'll handle this myself."

Michael's gaze steadied. "You want to confront Charles?"

"Exactly."

Grace nodded firmly. "It's not like it would be my first time. What's one more visit? I refuse to believe I can't get him to talk."

Grace's eyes grew cold.

She would take the surveillance footage and confront Charles, demanding to know what business he had lurking around the institute.

Would he still dare claim he had nothing to do with the theft of her research? She'd see just how long Charles could keep up his act.

As for the police, Grace had given up on them.

Let them do whatever. Perhaps she shouldn't have relied on them from the start—no wonder there'd been no progress all this time.

"But before I go see Charles, I need to do something first."

Grace smiled cunningly.

As the saying goes, you raise an army for a thousand days to use it for one hour. Now it was time to make use of Caroline.

She needed to extract some information from Caroline this time. Otherwise, the next time Caroline needed help, she wouldn't lift a finger.

When the two met again, Caroline still wore that insufferably arrogant expression.

But this time was different—one hand rested gently on her abdomen, her eyes holding a trace of the joy of impending motherhood.

"What do you want from me now?"

Caroline's tone was impatient from the start.

"You voluntarily let Jonathan sleep with me, which means you handed him over to me. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts?"

"Don't worry, I'm not." Grace quickly waved her hand.

Trash like Jonathan—only Caroline would treasure him.

Now that he'd gotten her pregnant, the two were destined to be bound together. She certainly wouldn't interfere unless she'd lost her mind.

"I'm here about something else today."

Grace watched Caroline's expression carefully. "You've been staying with Charles all this time. He treats you well, doesn't he?"

"Of course."

Caroline deliberately adopted a proud tone, clearly basking in reflected glory.

"Charles treats me wonderfully. After all, he's my uncle—completely different from outsiders."

Something occurred to her, and her gaze at Grace became wary. "Why are you suddenly asking me this? Are you trying to get on Charles's good side?"

"I'd advise you not to waste your energy. After you left last time, Charles was furious. He doesn't want to see you at all now. Save yourself the trouble."

"I see." Grace nodded. "You're really overthinking this. I have zero interest in your uncle. But I do need your help with something."

"What is it?"

Grace paused, lowering her voice. "I want to know whether Charles has anything to do with the theft of my research."

"What are you talking about?"

Caroline reacted instantly, raising her voice.

"Grace, I won't let you insult Charles. He has power, wealth, and status—what could he possibly want that he can't buy? Why would he need to steal from you?"

"That's completely out of line. I'll let it slide since you helped me, and I won't hold it against you."

"But if you dare spout such nonsense in front of Charles, he won't let you off so easily."

Grace acted as though she hadn't heard, leisurely sipping her coffee.

"Caroline, do you think I'd come find you for no reason?"

Caroline's expression froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I already have evidence."

Grace crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair.

"I didn't go straight to Charles because I wanted to give him a way out."

"After all, he's somewhat of a public figure in Lumaria. If an ugly scandal broke out, it would be devastating to his reputation and status."

"I said from the beginning—as long as he returns my research, I'll treat this like it never happened."

"After all, I lived with the Harrison family for so many years. Even setting aside blood relations, just considering the family's kindness in raising me, I should still call him uncle."

"But not only did he not return my research, he repeatedly denied everything."

"Now I have evidence, so I came to you first."

"If you're willing to tell me everything you know, there's still room to salvage this."

Grace paused, narrowing her eyes slightly. "And don't think that just because you're pregnant with Jonathan's child, everything's settled. You've been entangled with Jonathan for so long—do I really need to tell you what kind of person he is?"

"If he truly wants to be rid of you, it doesn't matter that you're carrying his child. Even if you bore him several children, he'd dump you just the same."

"A child has never been the key to keeping Jonathan. If it comes down to it, he can always keep the child and discard you. He'll never let you marry him."