Chapter 134 Dr. Carter

Chapter 134 Dr. Carter

After Jonathan finished speaking, he hung up without waiting for Harper's response.

His mind had been a tangled mess these past few days. Every single day, all he could think about was seeing Grace, but she refused to give him even the slightest opportunity.

He didn't even know where she was anymore. She wasn't at the research institute either.

But he missed her desperately. He wanted to see her face-to-face and explain everything.

If it turned out this really had all been an elaborate setup, he'd accept it—as long as Grace was willing to come back to him.

Harper listened to the dial tone, unable to process what had just happened.

Jonathan used to be completely smitten with Caroline.

For Caroline's sake, he'd hurt Grace without hesitation, lied to her repeatedly. How had everything suddenly reversed?

For a moment, Harper thought she'd misheard him.

But it was clear now—Jonathan had genuinely changed his mind.

Though she didn't understand why, knowing Grace as she did, Harper doubted Grace would ever forgive him.

Rather than making both of them miserable, wouldn't it be better for Jonathan to settle down with Caroline? After all, Caroline was already carrying his child.

Yet Jonathan had defended Grace so fiercely. Could there really be a chance for them to rekindle their relationship?

As for how Harper learned about Caroline's pregnancy—Caroline had told her herself.

After days of pursuing Jonathan to no avail, Caroline had decided to force the issue by informing the Lesters about her pregnancy.

She'd gambled on Matthew and Harper's desire for a grandchild.

Grace had failed to give the Lester family an heir during all those years of marriage. But now, she was carrying Jonathan's baby.

In that regard, Caroline was leagues ahead of Grace.

Once Matthew and Harper accepted her, marrying into the Lester family would be inevitable.

But Caroline probably never imagined Jonathan could be this heartless.

Three days passed in a flash. Grace had spent the entire time at the hospital, and her father could now hold simple conversations with her.

"Dad, have an orange."

Grace peeled the fruit, tasted it to check the sweetness, then handed it to her father.

The television in the corner was playing the latest news.

"Dad, the weather's been nice these past couple days. Let me take you downstairs for a walk. The doctor said staying cooped up in the room all day isn't good for your recovery."

"Alright."

Alvin nodded, his eyes warm with affection.

Grace tidied up and borrowed a wheelchair.

Just as she was about to help her father out of bed, a news segment caught her attention.

[This morning, our station received word that renowned Professor Carter will be unveiling groundbreaking new research findings. The announcement is scheduled for 10 AM tomorrow. Stay tuned.]

She'd heard of Dr. Carter before.

Though they'd never met, her mentor had mentioned him many times.

According to the rumors, the man had questionable ethics and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals—a textbook research fanatic.

There were even whispers that he'd once been involved in deaths related to his experiments.

At the time, the police had supposedly gathered evidence against him, but somehow he'd been released.

The official statement claimed Dr. Carter was innocent.

Many people refused to believe it and demanded a thorough investigation.

But after some uproar, the matter had simply faded away.

The truth remained unknown to this day.

After that incident, Dr. Carter had vanished from the public eye—until now.

And his reappearance came with this major announcement.

"Grace, what are you looking at?" Her father, Alvin Harrison, regarded her curiously. "Do you know Dr. Carter?"

"No." Grace shook her head. "But for some reason, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why would you?" Alvin couldn't understand.

Grace sneered inwardly.

Anyone with even a modicum of standing in the academic world wanted nothing to do with Dr. Carter.

That alone spoke volumes about his reputation.

But there was no point mentioning this to her father. It wouldn't change anything.

Besides, this had nothing to do with her. Why should she care?

Once she finished dealing with everything here, she'd confront Charles and reclaim what was rightfully hers.

Charles was probably waiting for her too.

The two of them spent some time downstairs.

The day passed uneventfully.

But early the next morning, Grace received devastating news.

Countless cameras were pointed at Dr. Carter.

At over seventy years old, he still refused to retire, claiming he wanted to contribute his final bit of light and heat to the scientific community.

Now, he stood before the cameras, speaking eloquently.

The research findings he was presenting were Grace's work.

Grace froze. Her mind went blank as she stared at the silver-tongued Dr. Carter, unable to think for what felt like an eternity.

So it had never been Charles who stole her research—it was Dr. Carter all along?

But why would he target her? How had he even known she had these findings?

Had Carol told him?

What was Carol's relationship with Dr. Carter? Why would she help him?

Grace was utterly confused.

Her mind felt like it was filled with thick paste, unable to process anything.

Only when her phone rang did she snap back to reality.

She pressed the answer button, still dazed.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Grace, it's me." Michael sounded surprised.

"Oh, it's you." Grace slowly regained her senses. "Michael, I need to tell you something. Have you seen the news? Dr. Carter gave a media interview. The research he presented—it's mine."

"Grace, that's exactly why I'm calling." Michael's voice was grave. "Where are you right now? I'll come meet you immediately. Professor Williams is here too."

"Don't worry. We'll handle this together. Your research won't be stolen by someone else. We'll get to the bottom of this."

But Grace couldn't hear him anymore.

Get to the bottom of it? Would there really be such a day?

This situation was far more complex than they'd imagined. Even Dr. Carter was involved now, and he'd beaten her to the punch by announcing the findings first.

After today, everyone would be celebrating Dr. Carter's achievement. What did any of this have to do with her anymore?

Even if she came forward now, people would just assume she was trying to ride his coattails for attention.