I watched her.
From behind the tinted glass of the black car parked two buildings away from her alppartment. I always knew she'd take the bait — not because she was weak, no — Luna was anything but.
She was resilient. Stubborn. Fiercely independent. But there's one thing that breaks even the strongest spirit:
Fear of dying.
She'd picked up the file. I'd had it placed so precisely — just off-center on the desk, the doctor briefed down to every sentence, even the pause before he said "we can't give you his name."
And she took it.
Good girl.
My phone buzzed. The screen lit up: a message from the hospital's surveillance team.
"She has the file. Left at 5:43 PM. Alone."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Years of watching her from the shadows. Years of orchestrating every move, every "random" encounter. I was the wind at her back when she got her scholarship. I was the unseen sponsor when her landlord threatened eviction. I paid the tuition she never knew she didn't owe. I made the world kinder to her when it wanted to be cruel.
But she never saw me.
Until now.
Until I had to become the sickness — and the cure.
---
I remember the first time I saw her. It was raining. She wore white. No umbrella. Headphones in. Eyes on the pavement like the world above didn't matter. That day, I forgot what I was doing, where I was going. All I knew was that someone like her wasn't meant to walk around so unaware — so unguarded — in a world that eats people like her alive.
I wanted her safe.
Even if I had to burn the world around her to make that happen.
---
The door to my private study creaked open.
It was Travis, my fixer. Pale, nervous — as always. "Sir. She's looked up your name. We believe she may come to the estate herself."
A smile tugged at the edge of my mouth.
I stood, walking to the tall windows that overlooked the long, winding driveway that led up to my estate.
"Let her come."
He hesitated. "What do you want me to do if she tries to leave?"
My eyes narrowed.
"She won't."
Not now.
Not after everything I've planned.
Not when she's finally walking into my design.
---