The package was sleek, black, and bore no label—only a small, engraved card clipped to the top with a silver pin.
Isabella frowned as she examined it. She had just finished a mid-day check of the lab's data logs when one of the interns had awkwardly approached her, hands shaking slightly as he extended the item.
"It was delivered directly by a Blackwood Industries courier," he'd said, eyes wide. "Said it's for Dr. I. Lin, personally."
Now, in the quiet of her office, she sat at her desk with the parcel resting before her like a silent question.
She didn't like surprises.
With deliberate care, she opened it.
Inside, nestled in velvet, was a custom-built, limited edition smart diagnostic tablet—cutting-edge tech that hadn't even been released to the public. Her gaze narrowed. She'd read about this in internal leaks last year. It wasn't available. Not even to investors.
The card read:
Thought this might make your job easier.
You're already changing the world—don't let your tools slow you down.
—V
She closed her eyes briefly, jaw tightening.
Victor Blackwood didn't flirt like a normal man. He gave you multimillion-dollar prototypes and handwritten notes in perfect penmanship.
Annoyingly thoughtful.
Frustratingly strategic.
And dangerously close to knowing what made her tick.
She wanted to return it. To throw it back in his face and remind him she didn't need gifts to feel seen.
But she also wanted to keep it.
Because it was perfect.
Because it showed he was watching.
And because somewhere, deep inside, a voice whispered that this was the first time someone had given her something she actually needed—not for show, not for status, but because it respected her work.
A soft knock pulled her from the moment.
Mira, her junior lab assistant, peeked in. "Dr. Lin? Mr. Blackwood is downstairs again."
Of course he was.
Isabella stood slowly. "Tell him I'll be down in ten."
"Yes, Doctor."
As the door clicked shut behind Mira, Isabella looked back at the tablet, still glowing faintly on her desk.
She sighed.
This man was making it very hard for her to keep her distance.
Next Chapter Teaser: Victor takes her out for something "simple," but Isabella quickly learns that nothing about this man—or the way he's beginning to feel—is simple at all.