Chapter 1

The temperature had reached ninety-eight degrees, and even if people could survive that kind of heat, living cells and newly developed drugs definitely could not. The machines that recorded all the lab data needed electricity as well.

I hurried to find the backup generator so I could restore power to the equipment.

I was digging around for the storage room key when my girlfriend sent me a message.

[What are you looking for?]

I pulled the key out of the drawer and casually replied: [Looking for the key. I'm going to get the backup generator running.]

The second I sent the message, I froze.

After the power outage, the surveillance cameras in the lab should have been dead. I could not understand how she knew I was searching for something.

I looked up at the security camera again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the new intern quickly look away with guilt written across his face.

In that moment, everything became clear.

There was a spy in my lab.

Another message from my girlfriend came through, and this time it was a voice recording. I tapped it open, and her sharp, hurried voice blasted through the speaker.

“Do not you dare go. Can you not survive a little while without air conditioning? You even dug out the backup generator?”

A chill spread through my chest.

After all those years together, she distrusted me that much.

I still could not let personal feelings ruin something that important. The new drug we developed was extremely sensitive to heat. If the company failed to deliver on schedule, we would face a penalty worth hundreds of millions, and countless patients would lose access to the medicine they needed.

The saddest part was that I had created that drug for Jessica Shaw in the first place.

Jessica always suffered from stomach problems. I hated seeing her doubled over in pain, so I focused my research in that direction.

After years of work and several sleepless nights in a row, I finally developed that breakthrough medicine. It could solve Jessica’s stomach issues, and it brought the company a massive order.

Foster Group Pharmaceuticals was a giant in the industry. Once we secured that deal, the company would finally be able to go public.