Right Person, Wrong Time

If this were the case, then it was all too easy to figure out the mastermind behind Ryan.

"So, can we nail down our target now?" asked Beryl in a grave voice. If Kendrick is the mastermind, then our enemy is even more formidable than we imagined. This isn't something to be taken lightly.

"Yeah, you can put it that way. But still, we can't slack off on our investigation. If it's not really him but someone else, we could end up walking right into their trap," replied Colton before taking a slow breath. After explaining the important details, he hung up the phone.

Just a short while after that, he found himself in a state of restlessness. He ripped open his shirt and tossed his necktie aside irritably. Less than two minutes later, there was a wisp of smoke, accompanied by a few sparks in the darkness.

After this, Nicole's medical base settled into its regular work routine.

Kendrick acted upon his promise by lending the factory to her right away. After inspecting the factory, she found that it was a surprising fit for their requirements. So, without further ado, the researchers dove into work as soon as they rested for a day upon arrival.

During this period, Nicole never once suspected why Kendrick had such a factory that perfectly fit their research needs while happening to be available.

Seeing her constantly on the move and busy with her own career, he felt happy for her from the bottom of his heart.

What escaped her notice, however, was that he often visited the medical base under the guise of checking on their progress in order to see her.

At first, Chloe thought it was normal for Kendrick to be so diligent as their client, but she soon noticed something peculiar about him. Every time he showed up, he would come to a spot near Nicole and just stand there, giving no clue as to what he was up to. This was something she had only noticed today, so she hadn't had a chance to discuss this with Nicole yet.

Nicole took off her gloves and tossed them into the designated bin nearby. "Chloe, let everyone take a break in a bit. We'll head out together for dinner tonight. It's Mr. Hofstead's treat," she said to Chloe.

Chloe looked at her. She doesn't seem to have sensed it yet. Well, that makes sense. She's been devoting herself to her research every single day, completely oblivious to her surroundings. If there's something she does care about, it's probably everyone's progress. "Okay," she replied, deciding to wait until they got back to where they stayed. It might spoil her mood to bring this up now.

Seeing that everyone had agreed, Kendrick finally left in satisfaction. He was just worried about how tired Nicole seemed lately and wanted to treat her to something nice. However, if he were to invite her alone, she would certainly refuse, so he could only use the pretext of treating everyone to dinner since that was the only way she would agree.

Just as he expected, Nicole agreed without any hesitation. She didn't give it much thought; after all, she could feel her own weariness over the past couple of days. She was happy that Kendrick could treat everyone to dinner. After all, he was a relatively nice client who at least understood people's feelings and knew how to win them over, which would make their collaboration smoother.