The Double or more Life of the Fake Heiress (Mirabella)

"It's just laughable. How could Adler be accused of stealing documents from the medical school?" Adler's coworker shot back without a second thought when Swanson brought it up. He had been Adler's partner for years and knew his character inside and out.

Swanson rubbed his temples, weary from the situation with the radioactive materials, and asked, "Do you know if he's been working on anything related to radioactive materials?"

"Radioactive materials? Aren't those off-limits? Why would he be involved with that?" The colleague dismissed the idea as nonsense.

"Well, Kevin claimed he saw Adler going through some documents about them," Swanson explained.

Hearing Kevin's name, the colleague snorted, "Last year, when he didn't get promoted to Senior Researcher, he blamed Adler for taking his spot. And now we're supposed to trust his word? He's just out to stir trouble and get back at him."

Swanson gave a wry smile. "Now both Kevin and Adler have been taken in by the Security Agency. Even if Kevin's just making things up, this situation seems to have solidified."

In this cutthroat world, the weak often get trampled.

"So, what do we do now? You know Adler and I were working on a critical virus strain project that can't move forward without him. Plus, there's that mysterious guy, Emmitt, backing him. If anything happens to Adler, our loss will be far greater than just losing a researcher," Adler's colleague said seriously.noveldrama

The virology center had always been short-handed. Last year, Emmitt's assistance helped dodge a major crisis, leading to Adler's promotion. Not that Adler wasn't capable on his own.

Hearing about Adler's mysterious Emmitt made Swanson's headache worse. "Do you know the real reason Adler was taken?"

The colleague just stared at Swanson.

"It's because of this Emmitt." Swanson had just learned from Andy that Adler's Emmitt was someone from the medical school.

Adler's colleague was taken aback, asking almost instinctively, "So, who is this mysterious Emmitt?"

Just as Swanson was about to reveal it was someone from the medical school, a knock on the door interrupted. He looked over, simply saying, "Come in."

"The folks from the medical school are here."

Swanson paused, then waved toward the door. "Got it. Please have them wait in the reception room. I'll be right there."

"Alright."

Swanson stood up and left, telling Adler's colleague, "The medical school people are here. I need to get a handle on the situation first."

Adler's colleague nodded, worry etched on his face as he left the office. He sought advice from the department head, who only shrugged helplessly. Getting someone out once the Agency's involved was nearly impossible.

Everyone was playing it safe; it was enough to not be the target, let alone expect any help.

By evening, Adler's colleague returned to his office and headed to the locker room

to change out of his work clothes, ready to head home. As he hung his work clothes back in the locker, he heard a ringtone from inside.

It was coming from Adler's clothes.

The colleague hesitated, then fished out the phone.

The caller ID read 'Master.'

He knew exactly who 'Master' was. Thinking about what Swanson had mentioned

earlier, he hesitated but finally decided to pick up the call.