Chapter 257

"Is it a gout flare-up, Natalie?"

"How did you know?"

"Professor Eleanor suffers from it too. I have a traditional herbal remedy passed down in my family. It won't cure it completely, but it's excellent for pain relief without the side effects of Western medicine."

Natalie's dull eyes suddenly brightened. "Really? Send me the recipe immediately! My mother-in-law has been in so much pain she can't sleep, and painkillers aren't working. If this helps, I'll owe you big time."

Evelyn smiled gently. "It's nothing. Don't mention it."

Vincent suddenly chimed in. "Have you noticed? Ever since Evelyn joined the lab, she's solved every problem. She's like our lucky charm!"

Oliver walked in. "What lucky charm?"

Natalie explained with a smile. "We were just saying how brilliant and capable Evelyn is. A real blessing."

Before Oliver could respond, Camille shot up from her seat, pale-faced. "Someone tampered with my computer! All my experimental data is gone!"

"What?"

"Another virus? That can't be..." Vincent immediately checked his own computer. "IT just upgraded the firewall last week..."

Natalie frantically booted up her machine.

The lab instantly tensed.

Vincent exhaled in relief. "My data's intact. Natalie?"

"Mine's fine too."

Both turned to Oliver and Evelyn.

Oliver shook his head. "No issues here."

Evelyn confirmed with a nod. "My data is safe."

Only Camille's files had vanished without a trace.

Natalie ventured cautiously. "Could you have saved them in the wrong folder?"

Camille bit her lip. "I checked everywhere."

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

Vincent frowned. "This is bizarre. Only your data was affected..."

Camille's voice trembled. "This wasn't a glitch. Someone deleted them on purpose!"

The air turned icy.

Vincent's expression darkened. "That's a serious accusation. You'll need proof."

"Professor Macmillan, I don't want to suspect anyone. But what else could explain this?" Camille clenched her fists. "Nothing like this ever happened before..."

Her gaze suddenly locked onto Evelyn. "Not until she arrived!"

Every eye in the room fixed on Evelyn.

Evelyn met Camille's stare calmly, but the other woman quickly looked away.

The usually quiet Natalie spoke up. "We need to investigate this properly..."