When the Flame of Love Fades (Sierra) novel Chapter 299

Chapter 299 The Face Behind the Mask

What Sierra feared most was that Azure might be involved.

She prayed with everything she had that it wasn’t true–but reality always had a way of cutting deepest.

When Johnathan hung up the phone, he turned to look at her. That one glance was all it took for Sierra to understand. She let out a bitter laugh.

“It really was… Azure?”

“Yeah, He’s the one who altered the data.” They were in the same lab every day. If Azure wanted to mess with something, it would’ve been easy.

“Why?”

Sierra struggled to accept it. “Was it for money?”

Out of all her seniors, aside from Autumn, Azure had been her favorite. She never imagined he’d do something like this.

“It wasn’t just about money.”

There was something deeper–jealousy.

Azure wasn’t the most naturally gifted. Even those who joined after him, like Autumn and Erwin, had more raw talent.

Still, their abilities only went so far. Professor Martin would scold all of them from time to time.

But everything changed when Sierra showed up.

Professor Martin appreciated her. Most of what he said to her was praise. To motivate the others, he often used Sierra as an example.

The pressure on Azure had already been mounting. He was hoping to stay on and apply for a lecturer position, and Sierra’s presence brought a new kind of stress and threat he hadn’t anticipated.

At first, he never expected things to spiral this far. He only wanted Professor Martin to scold her–to damage her standing in the professor’s eyes.

Of course, he didn’t come up with that plan on his own.

He was a regular at a quiet little bar where no one knew who he was. He could speak freely there–and that’s where someone took advantage of him.

They still didn’t know who had approached him. But the person responsible had finally been found.

“We’ll take it from here,” Stone and Maddox said.

With this new evidence, they could get Draven released and clear Sierra’s name.

After they left, Sierra still couldn’t process it.

I never thought it would be Azure.”

If it had been Erwin, she might’ve understood. He’d always been hostile, even though things had improved somewhat. Still, he was always set on outshining her.

When the data issue first came up, she’d reviewed her own work. After confirming it, she’d started thinking about who might’ve tampered with it.

She had briefly suspected Erwin.

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Chapter 299 The Face Behind the Mask