When Samson arrived, he slid into the seat next to Ariel. “Mr. Larkin, I need to go over some work stuff with Ariel. Hope you don’t mind.”


    Jayson had already taken a step forward. “You should ask her if she minds. I <b>don’t </b>interfere with her freedom.”


    Ariel nced at him.


    She caught a subtle hint of meaning in his words. But to an outsider, it just sounded like he was respecting her choice.


    Samson turned to Ariel, his mood light. “What’s going on? Mr. Larkin usually wouldn’t allow this before.”


    Ariel lowered her head and texted Elsie while asking him, “Aren’t you sitting with your sister?”


    Samson’s smile faltered, showing little interest. “We don’t get along that well. She can sit wherever she wants.”


    Ariel casually nced at Cecilia, who happened to meet her gaze. Cecilia tilted her head and even winked at Ariel with a smile.


    Ariel silently folded her fingers, keeping the flood of emotions in her chest from showing.


    The test was about to start.


    As the provider of the SX alloy, Jayson naturally sat in the front row.


    Halfway through, the test suddenly stopped. Someone frowned, double–checking the readings.


    Then, a representative came over and said seriously, “Commander Quinton, there’s an issue.”


    Jayson looked up.


    Gary stood, concerned. “What issue?”


    The representative looked first at Jayson, then at Ariel, before saying cautiously, “None of the material’s test data seems to line up.”


    Ariel’s gaze flickered. She looked straight at him.


    Gary’s expression turned serious. “What’s going on? The data is critical and impacts the next phase. At this point, any mismatch will only dy the follow–up ns.”


    Time equaled huge costs. Any problem meant starting over, and they couldn’t afford that.


    The representative exined, “The data submitted by Ms. Walker appears inurate. It exceeds predicted values. Our test results don’t match what she provided. It looks… falsified.”


    Falsified?


    Ariel’s expression darkened. She knew exactly how severe falsifying data in a major government project could be.


    Gary nced at her. “Did something go wrong in the process?”


    Ariel stood and walked over. “Which parameters specifically don’t match?” <fn33a5> Discover more novels at Find1Novel</fn33a5>


    The representative replied, “The values you submitted are 10% higher than the material’s estimated performance. That’s well above the required threshold. Mr. Larkin’s tests don’t reach those numbers. Ms. Walker, are you sure this data is urate? Or<b>…</b><b>” </b>


    Ariel understood immediately.


    He was implying that, as Jayson’s wife, she might have submitted data beyond the standard to pass the higher–level review <b>in </b>order to secure a ten–year monopoly for him.


    After all, an on–site test wasn’t in the n before this.


    If they had followed the previous n, the material would already be in use by now. But now, Ariel felt like she had been “busted “at this stage.


    “Can I see the data?” she asked<b>, </b>her eyes narrowing.


    The representative handed over both the on–site test data and the submission from Elsie.


    One nce was enough for Ariel to know that the confidential data she had submitted had been tampered with. This wasn’t the report she had confirmed.


    Jayson stood up and walked over to Ariel. He didn’t seem overly tense about the problem. Calmly, he said, “I’m sure there’s a misunderstanding. Our material’s quality is visible to all. There’s no need to go through this unnecessary step.”


    True, but the data was entirely inurate. If it had gone straight into use, it would have caused major problems. The issue was


    still serious.


    It could lead to multiple suspicions. Had the couple colluded to inte their own product for wider profit?


    “Yeah, maybe we should double–check,” Samson said slowly. “There’s no way Ariel wouldpromise critical work or act out of self–interest.”