Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"Jen, is it gout?"

"You know about it?"

"Yeah. Mrs. Payne has it too. I've got this herbal remedy. Well, it's not a cure-all, but it's great for pain relief and has way fewer side effects than the prescription stuff."

Jen's eyes, which had been dull, suddenly sparkled with hope. "That's fantastic! Send me the details later, will you? I'll swing by the pharmacy after work. Thank you so much."

"You have no idea, my grandma's been up all night in pain, and the painkillers don't do a thing. I felt so helpless. If your remedy works, I owe you dinner!" Roseanne chuckled, "Dinner's not necessary. It's no big deal."

Stoddard chimed in, "Have you guys noticed? Ever since Anne joined us, every problem seems to solve itself. She's like a little lucky charm for our lab!"

Sammy, just walking in, caught the tail end of the conversation. "A lucky charm? What's this about?"

Jen replied, "We're talking about Roseanne. She's not only gorgeous but also super capable, like a little lucky charm."

Sammy nodded, about to agree, when suddenly Liz stood up from her desk, looking panicked, "My computer's been tampered with! All the experimental data on the hard drive is missing!" "What?"

"A virus, again? That shouldn't be happening..." Stoddard immediately went to his computer to check. "The IT guy just upgraded our firewall. This shouldn't be happening."

Jen quickly checked her computer as well.

The air grew tense.

Stoddard announced, "My data's all here, nothing's missing. How about you, Jen?"

"Mine's fine too."

Their eyes then turned to Sammy and Roseanne.

Sammy reported, "All good here."

Roseanne added, "Same, no problems."

So, only Liz's data had vanished.NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

Jen suggested, "Maybe check again? Could it be saved in a different place?"

Liz frowned deeply, "I've looked everywhere, it's not there."

The group exchanged puzzled looks.

"It doesn't make sense. Everyone's computer is fine, just yours has issues... That's hard to believe."

Liz's voice grew heavy, "My computer isn't the problem. My data was deliberately deleted!"

Silence fell over the room.

Stoddard's expression darkened slightly, "Liz, making claims like that requires evidence."

"Mr. Stoddard don't want to make such accusations. There's only a few of us in the lab, and suspecting anyone feels wrong. But aside from this, I can't imagine any other reason why everyone's data is intact except mine."

Jen hesitated, while Stoddard remained silent.

As Liz said, her suspicion was the most plausible yet the most grave.

Stoddard asked, "Who do you suspect?"

The question tightened the atmosphere.

Liz's gaze swept over everyone before landing on Roseanne: "These issues never happened before she arrived. Since then, it's been one thing after another. It's only natural I'd suspect her, isn't it?"

The accusation pointed directly at Roseanne.

Roseanne met Liz's eyes squarely, but Liz looked away first, refusing to hold her gaze.

Jen pondered for a moment. Normally, she'd stay quiet, but this time—

"Deliberately deleting data is a serious accusation. We've known Roseanne for a while, and I absolutely trust her character. There might be a misunderstanding Kere. It's too early to jump to conclusions and point fingers."

Liz was surprised to see Jen, who normally kept quiet and stayed out of things, be the first to stand up for Roseanne.

Stoddard nodded, "Roseanne, with her attention to detail and considerate nature, doing something like this? I can't believe it either."