"Someone who sold their soul for a fistful of cash has no right to even set foot in Solenia!"
"Sharing the same oxygen as you makes me sick to my stomach."
"You think you're some tragic hero who was denied love? You're just a toxic parasite seeping venom everywhere you go!"
Claire's words were utterly merciless, fueling Frederick's fury. "And why do you think I ended up like this?"
"It is entirely the fault of your parents!"
"Your father paraded his moral superiority in front of me. I was his senior, yet he adamantly refused to grant me the slightest bit of leeway."
"And your mother was even worse!"
"She flaunted her wealth and looked at us struggling men with sheer disgust."
"So what if I was poor? Look at me now-I survived!"
"Meanwhile, your parents are probably rotting away somewhere, nothing but ash and bone."
Hearing this, Claire grew intensely curious about his logic.
How could her parents possibly be responsible for his current state of horrific radiation exposure?
"I severely doubt my parents are dead."
"If a cockroach like you is still crawling around, there's no way they perished."
"Sundara has spies everywhere, yet none of them have located my parents. That tells me they're perfectly safe."
"You hold this massive grudge and blame them for your physical decay. Did they force you into a radioactive lab at gunpoint?"
"Or did you just get blinded by your own insatiable greed and try to play God?"
To Claire's surprise, she hit the nail on the head again.
Frederick did, in fact, despise them over the exact nature of the research.
Back then, border patrols had discovered a bizarre rock in Solenia. Initial theories suggested it could be refined into a revolutionary metal, capable of creating unprecedented aerospace weaponry.
Only a tiny fragment was secured, but foreign powers assumed it was a fallen meteorite and desperately wanted a piece of the action.
Solenia immediately assembled an elite task force to analyze the anomalous energy radiating from the rock.
The catch was its lethal levels of radiation.
It was a top-secret black project. How Frederick had even managed to secure a spot on that team remained a mystery.
Yet, even within that elite circle, he couldn't stand being in the same room as Agassi.
He constantly whispered that a mere graduate student had no business touching classified material.
Of course, he only ever said this behind Agassi's back.
To Agassi's face, Frederick wore a mask of absolute collegiality.
Claire didn't have the full picture yet, but looking at the wretched man
before her, she knew he had been nothing but a malignant tumor at The Cabinda University.
$119
The fact that her biological parents were still missing was likely a direct result of Frederick's treasonous sabotage.
However, she was now completely certain that Frederick had zero intel on their location.
It was time to just have him arrested and thrown in a cell.
He was unequivocally an enemy.
Even bound to a chair, Claire didn't feel a shred of panic.
Today had confirmed her greatest hope: her parents were likely still alive.
Frederick wanting her medical
expertise was just a bonus; his true
Clive was using her as bait to
lure her parents out of hiding.
Because of that, she was safe.
Frederick would never let her die.
While Claire tactically calculated every move, Frederick's emotions were spiraling
out of control.
"My greed? It was your parents who didn't know their place!"
"But it matters little now. Your
parents aren't the ones I need
al Heal prodigy your
anymore. I hear you're
I hear you're quite the
Frederick abruptly pivoted the conversation.