Chapter 293 Have You Ever Regretted
This matter had always been a pain buried deep in Dane's heart. He clutched his chest, his body slowly hunching over.
A trace of helplessness and pain flashed across his aged face.
Yes...
Back then, he was young and reckless, always thinking about making some great achievement.
One wrong thought nearly led him down a path of no return.
It was Robert's words before leaving that completely woke him up and prevented the tragedy from happening.
But he never expected that the experimental data he hadn't yet used would be stolen by Elijah.
And it caused that disaster seventeen years ago.
He covered his face, collapsing weakly onto the sofa, his eyes full of regret.
Back then... he should have destroyed all that data.
Otherwise, Elijah wouldn't have gotten another chance.
Elijah looked at Dane, a smile slowly forming at the corner of his lips. "Robert, you developed all that Nexaflorin just to make amends?"
Dane froze for a moment, then lowered his eyes without answering.
Elijah was right—he was indeed trying to make amends.
Although he hadn't directly participated in the experiment, everything started because of him.
All these years, he'd been secretly searching for an antidote, hoping to make up for something.
He never expected that seventeen years later, Elijah and the organization behind him would make a comeback.
If Sophia hadn't come here, he probably would still be in the dark.
"Robert, it's been seventeen years. You should have already developed the antidote, right?" Elijah walked up to Dane. "I heard you've been collecting all kinds of medicines these years."
Just then, there was suddenly a noise outside the door, startling the two men in conversation.
Dane and Elijah's expressions changed abruptly as they turned toward the door.
Elijah hurriedly pushed open the door and looked outside, but saw nothing.
The hallway was completely quiet, with no place to hide near the door.
But Elijah had always been cautious. He walked out quietly, his eyes alert as he looked around.
In a dark corner, Sophia instinctively held her breath, too nervous to move.
Felicity had originally wanted to bring coffee to Dane and Elijah in the study, but she'd just twisted her back and nearly fell.
Sophia caught her quickly, preventing her from falling to the ground.
Felicity had no choice but to ask Sophia to do it instead.
Sophia never expected she would overhear these secrets.
She'd been listening so intently that she accidentally kicked a potted plant on the floor, nearly spilling the coffee.
Realizing she'd made too much noise, she quickly found a corner to hide in.
She nervously swallowed, hoping Elijah would leave soon.
Just then, more footsteps sounded, and Dane's voice came from inside: "Was someone here?"
Elijah withdrew his gaze and returned to the study. "No, maybe it was the cat making noise just now? Robert, your cat is getting more and more mischievous."
Dane's house only had him, Felicity, and a black cat.
Sophia should still be in the lab packing up Nexaflorin, and Felicity hadn't appeared either, so the most likely explanation was the cat.
Dane slowly relaxed, slumping back into the sofa as his emotions settled down.
He lowered his voice and said to Elijah: "Elijah, stop this. The original purpose of that experiment was to benefit humanity and improve human genetics. But what did you and those people do? You killed so many people!"
"Stop? It's too late." Elijah sneered. "All these years I've been holding onto one thing—hoping to achieve something and prove I'm better than Robert!"
He was so close to success now.
How could he possibly give up at this point?
On the way back, Elijah suddenly spoke: "Sophia, now that we've found the last medicine, are you ready to start in the lab?"
"Yes." Sophia sat in the passenger seat, answering calmly.
Elijah's eyes flickered, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Sophia, can I research with you? If it's not convenient, that's fine. I'm just quite interested."
Sophia: "Sure."
Elijah froze, looking at Sophia in surprise.
She thought Sophia would refuse, but she actually agreed.
"I was planning to invite you and Francis to participate anyway. You're both my seniors, and I still have a lot to learn from you."
Elijah hid her excitement and said modestly: "We're already old. The future depends on rising stars like you."
Soon, the car returned to Oasis University.
Francis had been waiting all afternoon. Seeing them, he immediately came forward. "How did it go?"
"We found it, thanks to Elijah." Sophia answered honestly.
"Then let's not waste time and get started. I've already cleared out the lab—it's ready to use anytime." Francis eagerly led Sophia and Elijah into the lab.
Sophia took the lead, while Elijah and Francis mainly observed her experimental steps and recorded data.
Because she had experience developing antidotes, she worked very quickly this time.
In just one night, the antidote was successfully developed with zero failure rate.
Francis and Elijah watched from the side, not willing to blink, secretly amazed.
Francis backed up the data and took it out.
He'd scheduled a meeting today with many of the country's top medical experts to show them this document.
Once he left, only Sophia and Elijah remained in the lab.
Elijah looked at Sophia, his expression unreadable.
After a long while, he suddenly said: "Sophia, your medical talent is truly astonishing! Marrying into a wealthy family is such a waste of your gift—what a shame..."
Sophia looked up slightly, meeting Elijah's regretful expression.
She laughed softly and shook her head. "I don't think it's a shame. Some people like to put all their energy into their careers, while others long for pure and genuine affection. I've never regretted marrying him."
This was Sophia's honest feeling.
"Is it worth it? For a man? You should know what the White family's purpose was when they married you." Elijah's emotions suddenly became intense.
Sophia smiled calmly. "If not for this, we wouldn't have reunited. This is all heaven's best arrangement, isn't it?"
Reputation or no reputation—Sophia was very open about it.
It wasn't that she didn't care, but there were more precious and important things.
So-called reputation was just empty and worthless compared to Benjamin as a person.
"You... you're simply wasting your talent!" Elijah was quite upset, looking at Sophia with frustration.
Sophia remained calm and composed. She stepped forward, approaching Elijah. "You keep asking me questions, so let me ask you one."
"What?"
"Do you have any regrets? Spending seventeen years setting up such an elaborate scheme."
Elijah's expression changed drastically, his pupils contracting as he looked at Sophia in shock. "You know everything?"