Chapter 127

Claire's POV The laboratory felt like a pressure cooker on the verge of explosion, filled with the kind of tension that comes from brilliant minds hitting an immovable wall. I stood before the whiteboard where our latest calculations sprawled across every available inch of space, marker ink documenting three weeks of increasingly desperate attempts to solve what was becoming an insurmountable problem. The compound that had shown such promise in early trials—the breakthrough that had positioned VM Group as the leader in neurological treatments—had reached a stability threshold that we simply couldn't overcome. Every modification we attempted, every variable we adjusted, every innovative approach we tried resulted in the same devastating outcome: molecular breakdown at the precise point where therapeutic efficacy should have peaked. Dr. Nakamura slumped over his computer terminal, his usually immaculate appearance showing the strain of fourteen-hour days and mounting frustration. The dar