Chapter 936:

Elena’s tone was cool, tinged with irony. “You’re saying the Healer showed up because of Nola?”

Lucinda smirked, her head tilting smugly. “Exactly. What’s the matter? Feeling insignificant? Some people need to accept their limits.”

Elena nodded, her voice light with amusement. “I couldn’t agree more. Knowing your place is important.” As the words left her lips, her eyes landed on Nola.

Nola’s smile stiffened. What was that supposed to imply? Was Elena suggesting she didn’t know her place? The nerve! She was the Healer’s protégé, not some imposter.

Annoyance flicked across Nola’s face. “Lucinda, we have more important things to deal with. No use entertaining people who don’t matter.”

Lucinda, still simmering from Elena’s earlier remark, quickly agreed. “You’re right, Nola.” With an exaggerated eye roll directed at Elena, she turned away.

Elena watched Nola walk off, quietly wondering how long her composure would hold once the truth finally surfaced.

After spending some time at the hospital, Elena made her way to the lab, where the team was already deep in work.

The moment Webster spotted her, he couldn’t hold back a cutting remark. “If you don’t feel like showing up, don’t bother. We don’t accommodate slackers here.”

Elena checked the wall clock. She was ten minutes behind. Instead of arguing, she quietly took the nearest available seat.

But Webster wasn’t finished. He clearly had it out for her. With a heavy thud, he dropped a file onto her desk. Standing over her with arms folded, he wore an arrogant look. “No one filled you in on how we do things? This isn’t whatever place you came from. Around here, you stick to the rules. This is our lab’s code. Write it out a hundred times and turn it in before you leave.”

Webster announced, “Have it written out by tomorrow—or don’t even think about returning.”

Webster had already made up his mind to give Elena hell. Today, she’d practically handed him the perfect justification. Even if Kason questioned him, he could easily deflect, claiming she was still unfamiliar with lab procedures and that he was only trying to help her avoid future errors. Even with Kason’s favoritism, there would be no grounds for objection.

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Inwardly scoffing, Webster dismissed Elena as far too green to challenge his authority.

Elena eyed the file on the desk, its pages packed with line after line of intricate behavioral protocols. Webster had ordered her to copy them a hundred times—a clear act of punishment. The punishment was laughably juvenile—something better suited to a grade school classroom than a high-security lab. She shot Webster a blank stare. Was he truly this childish?

“I’m not wasting my time on something that pointless,” she replied, voice icy and controlled.

The casual dismissal hit its mark. Webster went rigid, his spine snapping straight as he launched into the sanctimonious tone of an indignant senior. “Just because Mr. Garrett brought you here doesn’t mean you can flout the rules. This is a laboratory—not your personal playground! If you won’t copy the protocols, then leave!” he barked.

Elena’s expression tightened with the faintest crease. Was he wired to blow at the slightest challenge? The more composed she appeared, the more he seemed to unravel. She leveled a frosty stare at him. “If controlling your temper’s proving difficult, maybe therapy would help.”

That struck deep. Color surged into Webster’s face, and his breath came hard and fast. “Did you just call me crazy?” he spat, teeth clenched. “Who do you think you are? I was part of this institute before you existed—and now you stand there calling me insane?”

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