Chapter 378

Frank's voice was gentle but firm. "You can't even accept a cake from a friend?"

"Alright," Elissa relented, taking the bag with one hand while holding the bottle in the other. "Thank you for Tanya, too."

After he left, Tanya came over to inspect her haul. "You know," she said, clicking her tongue, "I have to admit, Frank's emotional intelligence is miles ahead of Rowan's." He knew that when brute force failed, an emotional appeal was the next best thing. Rowan, on the other hand, was all pride and stubborn silence. Elissa closed the door. "He said we'll just be ordinary friends from now on."

"Ordinary friends?" Tanya opened the cake box, and her eyes lit up. Her principles vanished. "Ooh, he got my favorite tiramisu and a napoleon! Okay, fine. Ordinary friends it is. For now, he's approved."

Elissa couldn't help but laugh. As she was about to speak, Tanya pressed a slice of strawberry cake into her hand. "This one's your favorite."

It was Rowan's favorite. He had never touched sweets until one day he'd tasted a bite of her strawberry cake, and after that, it was the only dessert he'd eat. So, she had started choosing it every time, just so they could share.

-

Despite the pregnancy, Elissa had no intention of slowing down at work. With the drug's launch so close, she poured nearly all of her energy into the lab. When she wasn't seeing patients at the clinic or visiting the Wilkinsons, she was at the lab personally overseeing the final stages of the clinical trials. Carmela's threats had put her on high alert, and she was meticulously cautious, determined not to let years of hard work go to waste.

She sat by an instrument, waiting for the latest data set to process. Xavier approached her. "Ms. Drummond, I'll wait with you."

"Of course," Elissa replied with a relaxed smile.

Xavier was surprised by her easy trust, which only confirmed his belief that she had no idea he had

swapped the real clinical data with falsified reports. He pulled up a chair, his posture casual as he began to probe. "Ms Drummond, is the trial data really that much worse than we projected?"

"Yes," Elissa sighed, her expression weary. "Far worse."

Hiding his inner delight, Xavier pressed on. "But... there haven't been any major side effects, have there?"

"None that we've found so far," Elissa admitted, biting her lip. "But the drug's efficacy is mediocre, at best."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Xavier's face, but he quickly masked it with a look of confusion. "Then why are we continuing with the trials Shouldnt we go back to the drawing board?" content

Elissa feigned helplessness. "We're already in Phase Three. No matter the results, we have to see the process through to the end. How else can I explain this to Mr. Murphy?"

Just as she finished speaking, Cliff walked in. "Xavier," he said in his usual warm tone, "Mr. Jones needs to see you for a moment."

"On my way," Xavier replied quickly, though he cast a worried glance back at the monitor. "What about the data...?"

Cliff clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. You're a key member of the Traditional Medicine Unit. We've never kept data from you. No matter what happens, you get credit for your contribution to this project." sŵnovels

With that, Xavier left, feeling completely at ease. As the lab door closed behind him, he shot a contemptuous look back. What good was credit for a project that was destined to fail?

Inside, Elissa let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "You got here just in time. I don't think I could have kept that up for much longer."

***