Tyler’s eyes darkened, and his tone was firm. “What if I insist on making things difficult?”

The two officers exchanged glances, both clearly torn. They knew Tyler wasn’t someone to cross. Offending him could be even worse than upsetting their higher-ups.

Just as they hesitated, one of their phones suddenly rang.

“Hello? Got it. We’ll report the rest once we’re back.”

After hanging up, the officer turned to Tyler with a more respectful attitude.

“We just received instructions. Given Jim Lloyd’s current condition, he’ll be allowed to undergo questioning here in the hospital room. We’re still investigating the matter, but we must remind the family that if the evidence is solid, no matter who you know, he will have to face the consequences of the law.”

Rachel didn’t dare think that far ahead. Her only hope right now was that Jim wouldn’t be taken away from the hospital. Everything else could wait.

“Thank you both. I apologize if we were out of line just now. Please don’t take it personally.”

“It’s fine.”

Rachel and Tyler stepped aside to let them into the ward. The officers briefly explained the situation to Jim, who looked stunned. His emotions flared immediately.

“No way! That’s impossible! Every batch of materials we used was strictly screened. Something like this just couldn’t happen.”

After speaking, he clutched Rachel’s hand as if grabbing a lifeline.

“Rachel, you have to believe me. In all my years of doing business, I’ve always known the line between right and wrong. I’d never get involved in something illegal, something that could cost lives. That would be like destroying my reputation.”

He broke into a violent coughing fit, his face looking terribly pale.

Rachel stepped forward and gently patted his back to soothe him. “Dad, don’t get so worked up. They already said it’s just a preliminary investigation. You have to tell them every detail. Don’t leave anything out. That’s the only way they can get to the bottom of it.”

Jim cooperated and explained everything he knew. Seeing that he was cooperative, the officers wrapped up the questioning and left.

Now, only Tyler and Rachel remained in the room with Jim.

Jim looked anxious as he turned to Rachel. “Someone’s definitely framing us!”

“I know, but who was overseeing this project on a daily basis?”

Since something had clearly gone wrong, Rachel knew she had to start tracing it from the source.

But Jim just sighed and shook his head.

“You won’t find anything. The project manager quit right after it was completed, and the others involved left for various reasons. Even if you tried to track them down now, the moment they hear something went wrong with the project, no one’s going to cooperate.”

Tyler scoffed. “Mr. Lloyd, with so many people quitting one after another after the project ended, didn’t you think that was suspicious?”

“No. They all left at different times, and each of their reasons seemed perfectly valid. I couldn’t exactly stop them from resigning.”

Rachel knew better.

Jim had been in the business world for decades. There was no way he didn’t understand the deeper implications behind such things.

Noticing her troubled expression, he tried to comfort her instead.

“Rachel, don’t worry about me. I’m already old. Do you think I’m afraid of going to prison? At my age, I probably wouldn’t even survive long enough to finish a sentence.”

He said it in a casual, almost joking tone, but to Rachel, it sounded heartbreakingly bleak.