"How could it be Aiden? "Estelle murmured in disbelief, "There's no way. Gavriel left the company long ago. There's no reason for Aiden to kill him..."
"You don't see the logic because you don't know the full story. "Soren calmly steered the car towards the Berson Hotel, "With all that happened at PWL, Aiden needed someone to take the fall for him. As PWL's chief engineer, Gavriel was the perfect candidate. Once he died, all the blame could be placed on him. After all, dead men tell no tales..."
"And what about me?" Estelle asked, "Am I also someone who needs to die like Gavriel?"
"Yes."
"But I have nothing to do with PWL."
"How can you say that? The algorithm that leaked user data at PWL this time was written by Manager Grey yourself."
"What are you talking about? Where did I write such a thing—?"
Estelle was shocked and started to refute him, but halfway through her sentence, she suddenly remembered something. Her mind was flooded with thoughts, and after a moment of realization, she asked in disbelief, "You couldn't possibly mean..."
"Yes," Soren said, "You should remember the robotic bird you made. After Cyrus' death, Aiden kept it for a long time before returning it to you. His explanation was probably that he forgot or didn't notice. In reality, he was interested in the embedded recording and transmission program inside the bird. He had someone steal and iterate the code, eventually integrating it into PWL. Ninety-nine prototype PWL robots were sent to users' homes, and when they provided services, the recording system was remotely activated. Those first-person service videos were recorded silently and saved, then appeared on AR websites overseas."
"Even after multiple iterations, the program still bears the name of its original developer—yours. Now that an investigation into the PWL incident has begun, once someone traces the code, there will inevitably be questioning of you. At that point, following the trail, Aiden would be even more implicated."
"Therefore, he must silence you first."
Estelle's lips turned pale as she fell silent. Soren looked at her through the rearview mirror, and after a moment, his tone softened slightly.
"You don't need to feel guilty. Aiden is a very vigilant and meticulous person. He hid things well. Over the years, you've been focused on your work at the company, so it's not strange that you knew nothing about what he did—even though you maintained a romantic relationship with him."
The car stopped in front of the Berson Hotel. Estelle got out, following Soren like a zombie. The elevator ascended silently, and she suddenly asked, "How did Cyrus die?"
"As I've said, he died from a congenital disease. It's a very rare genetic condition, and there are individual differences. Some carriers may never experience symptoms, while others are triggered by environmental conditions early on, leading to rapid deterioration and death." Soren answered.
"His illness was triggered by N Country's magnetic radiation weapon during the year you went to N Country for your studies and the global war broke out. To this day, there is no effective treatment for such a rare disease. Once symptoms appear, it means the patient has less than ten years to live."
"He hesitated for a long time but still didn't tell you. Instead, he relied on drugs with severe side effects to slow down the progression of the disease. When the war ended, he returned with you to the country, established a company, and developed robots... Whenever the pain became unbearable, he would come to my hospital for radiation therapy. Because he didn't want you to know, he kept it a secret from everyone. Back then, only Aiden and I, besides himself, knew about his condition. Even Gavriel was unaware."
Suddenly, Estelle seemed unable to hold herself up. She swayed and desperately clung to Crescent's hand to maintain her balance.
She lowered her head and asked in a strained, soft voice, "Then what happened?"
"Then... there isn't much more to it. "Soren said matter-of-factly, "One evening later, he came in for his usual radiation therapy. I was going to a meeting and passed by the treatment room, where I just happened to see him. I noticed there was a new nurse in the treatment room, but I didn't think much of it. Later, during that treatment, he was exposed to radiation levels fifty thousand times higher than what a human body can tolerate. The massive dose of radiation drastically shortened his remaining life span, and then, he died."
