When fate plays its hand
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Chapter 0607

were Miranda probed further, “So, whose call did you get yesterday? You were so angry that you got. hospitalized.”

Christine snorted in response.

Miranda remained calm. “Let me guess… Could it be the dean? No, he wouldn’t bother with such trivial

matters.

“Then maybe… Mr. Banks? But I heard he has been recently reprimanded due to complaints by sponsors, so he’ll probably be keeping a low profile for a while…”

Pausing slightly, she glanced at Christine and continued, “Since both of them are ruled out, the only person in the Faculty of Bioinformatics who could make you this upset is… Dr. Xander?”

Christine’s eyes burned with anger as soon as her name was mentioned. “Don’t bring her up!”

Miranda nodded. “Only she would do something so petty.”

“Petty? If she hadn’t said anything, I would still be in the dark. Our lab was required to undergo fire safety rectifications, and yet you kept such huge news from me?”

“If I hadn’t kept it a secret, you would’ve flown all the way back from Malca and confronted the administration or the college about this. In the end, we would have no choice but to accept the rectification after replaceing out that our lab’s fire safety wasn’t up to standard.

“As for how long the rectification works will take… Two to three months at the shortest, and a–year or more at the longest. We would still be penalized here, while you get questioned by the college for being absent at the academic exchange and leaving the group without reason.

“Guess who would be happiest about everything that happened? Isn’t it still Sophie?”

Christine laughed bitterly. “So what you’re saying is, I’m completely useless as a mentor?”

Miranda sighed and explained slowly, “Dr. Young, did you know that this fire inspection was initiated by the district? If it was a normal inspection conducted internally, I would’ve called you immediately and used your connections to smooth things over.

“But this time, it’s different. The district fire department is leading the inspection, and the college is merely cooperating.”

Christine snorted again. “Do you think my connections only work within the college? That I have no influence outside the campus?”

“Of course not! The mere mention of your name commands respect wherever you go, but…” Miranda’s tone changed abruptly, “Our lab truly isn’t up to standards according to the regulations. If you use your connections to get us off the hook, what if someone malicious got wind of it and reported us instead?

“Or, let’s assume the worst about people. What if this whole situation was a setup? They wanted you to intervene, so that they could accuse you of covering up for your students…”

Christine’s lifelong reputation of integrity and honesty would be destroyed over such a trivial matter.

Miranda continued, “Even if the investigation clears us later, the fact remains that the lab’s fire safety

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Chapter 0607

wasn’t compliant to the standards, and you did use your influence to protect your students. How could we possibly defend ourselves against such strong evidence?”

The expression on Christine’s face shifted drastically, from anger initially, to suspicion, then deep. contemplation before she finally calmed down.

Miranda saw that her words finally sunk in and gently held Christine’s hand. “Dr. Young, please trust me. I will handle this.”

“How are you going to handle this? Just waiting for the rectification results?” Christine couldn’t help but shake her head.

“It’s impossible. Knowing Sophie all these years, she will replace another way to make things difficult for us even if the rectification goes smoothly. As long as you’re working in the college’s lab, she’ll always replace a

reason…”

Miranda smiled,

But what if we’re not in the lab?”

Christine was stunned.