" I believe you have got yourself a deal Miss Davenhart." He said and started walking towards the door again.
For a moment she was in a haze and quickly recovered herself.
"It's Doctor," she shouted at him; she felt absolute as soon as the words left her mouth. But it was too late to take it back.
"Excuse me?" He said lazily, though his voice carried a bit of mischief
"It's Doctor and not Miss Davenhart; you used it wrong several times." She said she might as well get it out as she already said it. And she wasn't exactly wrong. He is at her office where she works as a doctor. He should have known that.
"Ah, I didn't know you wanted me to call you pet name though I can understand. You are free to call me Felix." He said and got out of there before she could say anything.
To say she was baffled would be an understatement. She had no idea what had conspired just now. The ruthless, cold CEO of Blackthrone, who was supposed to fire her from her job, was having fun with her in his own twisted way.
It did seem that what she had appealed for was accepted without much effort on her side. She had expected a lot more drama than this before he would let her stay. But what just conspired now felt absolutely ridiculous.
She wondered if it was the prospect of saving Aria that made him suddenly all happy . Because she had no other explanation for this. She simply chose to ignore all of today so far.
Thinking about such trivial things wouldn't help her when she had so much more to do.
_____
She didn't blindly trust anyone, and she did have good judgment, but her skills exceeded them.
Though she trusted Zoe enough, it was not good enough. Her instincts told her it was alright. But the reason she had trusted Zoe and told her who she was was not simply because of it; rather, it was because she was easily able to implant her project into it.
Luna, a brilliant researcher in biomedical engineering and neuropharmacology, created Astra Bloom as a concept during her work abroad—originally intended for monitoring patients with high-risk neurological conditions. But now, in the name of revenge, she's repurposed it into a covert bio-tracker with conditional triggers.
She knew this would help her in so many ways. Zoe Grant has been her first Target.
Zoe was an easier target than she had expected, though she had to do trivial things with her to let her guard down a bit, she didn't mind it all. Luna introduced the compound to Zoe via a "probiotic serum sample" she gave her for trial—supposedly part of a research collaboration for gut-brain axis studies. Zoe, eager to impress, volunteered without hesitation.
Zoe knew she was working on something and convincing her to take a sample had not been so hard. She was more than willing to help just after mentioning it once.
Once ingested, Astra Bloom binds to specific neural receptors and blood markers, allowing Luna to track Zoe's location in real time through biosignal patterns (via a modified smartwatch Luna gifted her). It wasn't hard for her to give the watch to Zoe during their shopping excursion.
It simply didn't track people , it was strong enough and specially decided to manipulate mild hormonal balances—enough to influence decision-making, induce anxiety, or even short-term memory disruption. Everything she anticipated she may need, considering her long stay and it's purpose.
Though she had designed it with only good intentions in her mind, hard times called for extreme actions. Though she did not feel much of a remorse for her actions. She knew it was not going to hurt anyone under any circumstances.
If anything it would save them from being directly involved in so many unnecessary scenarios they may find themselves in soon enough.
The tracker is encoded to respond only to Luna's biometric signature. If someone else tries to tamper with it, it self-neutralizes and leaves no trace.
Though Zoe was the first Target, she was not the only one Richard too was under her radar. Though she knew that he wouldn't be that useful to her as much as Zoe.
Hiding her identity has severely weakened her, and she had to make up for it. She needed someone inside the hospital that she could trust and someone everyone would be able to trust. She was lucky that Zoe had found her way to her on her own.
She was alone her and playing a much riskier game, she couldn't afford mistakes. She wouldn't be making one.
She had ample supply of Astra Bloom, and she was considering if she should also keep Felix Blackthrone under her radar , though it would be a rather hard task. Astra Bloom though untraceable wasn't exactly undetectable with Zoe she knew it would help her. But with Felix it may put her in trouble.
Considering that he is an Heir who would possibly be undergoing all sorts of medical examination, she was not sure if it would be wise to do so.
But she felt there was a chance that Felix would frequent his visits to the hospital and possibly to her. He seemed more than eager to be a part of all these. And she couldn't exactly keep him away.
Everyone bent to the will of Felix Blackthrone and under her current circumstances, she too had to.
She was deeply irritated with his behaviour, but more than that there was a pull towards him, and odd and strong pull. Like someone was asking her why she was being away from him at all. As if he always belonged by her side and she his. It didn't make any sense. He done nothing to cause any feelings except irritation for being so overbearing always. But she couldn't help it.
And it frightened her .
Emotions never had been a strong aspect of her. If she had to say she was more a logical being than an emotional one. Never in her life had she ever let her emotion take control of her. Even when she was seeking revenge, she has alwaysade sure it wasn't blind rage that won. But she had a feeling that with him, she wouldn't be the same at all.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock in her office.