Medical Center. Late Night. Parking Lot.
Out of nowhere, a blonde bombshell—both strange and familiar—popped up in front of Adam.
Strange, because he had no clue who she was.
Familiar, because that face was way too recognizable.
Even now, with glasses on and a slightly innocent vibe—lacking the sultry charm he remembered—yep, it was definitely her!
Adam couldn't help but glance at Juno beside him.
Back when he started learning to fight, Juno had used this very blonde's signature move on him: the killer scissor-leg takedown!
"Something up?"
Juno asked with her eyes.
Oh yeah!
Adam and Juno had long mastered the classic Matthew-and-Lily skill: speaking with a look.
"Not sure yet, but probably trouble," Adam replied with his own gaze.
He didn't know who this blonde was in this drama-world, but her iconic Black Widow vibe was setting off alarm bells.
He'd just blown up in fame, and now she shows up? Hard not to connect the dots.
As for her whole "shy schoolgirl" getup, Adam had a hunch it was a deliberate act.
His acting chops—honed under Magical Amy's pressure—were no match for the legendary Black Widow's skills.
And then, he felt a spark of anger.
Ugh.
Not a big deal, but super insulting!
What the heck was she playing at?
What did she take him for?
"What's got you worried?"
Juno picked up on his mood shift like a pro.
"She might be a walking headache," Adam groaned. "Good thing you and Karen came by today. Help me ditch her later, yeah?"
Two days ago, Heather had helped that scared little girl find her mom, then took Tatiana and left New York for their Texas ranch. She didn't want to get in Adam's way.
Juno and Karen had also stepped away for a couple days. Juno, being an intern doctor too, had her residency exam in two days—she couldn't stick around Adam forever.
Today, she'd swung by to help Rachel with some stuff.
Earlier at the hospital, Adam had teased, "What, you building a Little Red Riding Hood squad now?"
Juno grinned back, "What's wrong with that?"
They locked eyes for a sec, then dropped it.
Right now, Adam was so glad Juno was here.
With his current skills, even if this chick was Black Widow, he could flash her a cocky Hulk-level smirk like he owned the place. Especially since there was a 98% chance she wasn't Black Widow.
Scared? Nah, not happening.
He just didn't want to deal with a troublemaker like her.
And while he wasn't afraid of being investigated, the people around him were another story.
Juno? She could handle herself—he trusted her. But Heather? Big weak spot.
So, shaking off this shady blonde naturally was gonna take some finesse.
With Juno here, though, Adam felt way more confident.
"The best defense is a good offense!"
Juno didn't just agree like usual. Instead, she nudged him. "She's clearly gearing up to pull a femme fatale move on you. But that's your specialty too, right?"
"…"
Adam's mouth twitched. "My specialty… is being a charmer?"
"Yep, totally!"
Juno smirked playfully. "You're not the old you anymore. Definitely not the high school kid trembling in Magical Amy's shadow.
Things have changed.
You should strike first—nip any trouble in the bud.
At the very least, back me up and get the info we need.
In this situation, you've got the upper hand over me by a mile."
"Fine," Adam sighed, eyes full of reluctance.
He got what Juno meant.
Back when he was a nobody, Juno could quietly handle any mess for him without breaking a sweat. She'd always done it.
But now, with his fame exploding, even Juno's best efforts sometimes fell short.
Her Little Red Riding Hood crew wasn't gonna come together overnight.
So now, Adam had to step up and work with her more actively.
"Don't look so grumpy about it," Juno teased with a half-smile. "This girl's basically a goddess, okay? Using your charm to dig for info—is that really such a loss for you?"
"Heh."
Adam gave an awkward laugh. "You know me—I don't care about that stuff. I'm clueless about it too."
"You know what to do, right?"
Juno rolled her eyes. "Like we've talked about before—use your strengths. Break through her mental defenses, catch her off guard, and subtly pull out what she's really thinking."
"…Have you been planning for this day all along?"
Adam thought back to years ago when Juno had dragged him into talks about "preparing to trick and ambush." Her foresight was unreal.
"If we don't fully grasp our own advantages ahead of time, how do we deal with this crazy, complicated world?"
Juno shot back.
"You're the boss. The absolute boss!"
What else could Adam say?
But while he marveled at Juno's genius foresight, he couldn't shake a weird feeling.
Her spending all day analyzing his strengths—what was up with that…?
"Karen and I will head back first and stay in the bedroom," Juno said with her eyes again. "You take her to the apartment later. Once you've got the intel, we'll figure out what's next together.
Oh, and step it up—don't let her fool you.
You've said it yourself: the prettier the woman, the better the liar.
If this goddess is here with a plan, you'd better watch out."
"How about you stick around to watch?"
Adam quipped.
"Sure, why not?"
Juno actually considered it, nodding. "Then don't close the door when you get back."
"…"
Adam was speechless.
If this blonde was Black Widow, he might not even get reliable info out of her.
But with Juno's mind-reading vibes nearby, it'd be way more solid.
Still—doing it this way? No way he could pull that off! 😅
"Forget the open door," Adam grumbled. "I'll handle it. And didn't you say you can phase through walls? Why bother leaving a door open?"
"I'm not you—how am I phasing through anything?"
Juno teased with a sly grin.
Cough cough.
Adam couldn't take it anymore and cut off the eye-talk.
One, this convo was getting way off track.
Two, he felt two sharp stares drilling into him.
One was from Karen, who'd always hated how close he and Juno got.
The other was from the blonde, who'd just said hi to him.
Eye-talk was cool and all, but without his bullet-time powers, Juno couldn't keep up at super speed. So their little exchange had taken a solid minute.
The confident blonde had expected a deep, meaningful chat with Adam. But after one glance at her, he'd totally ignored her—chatting up some "plain" girl with lovey-dovey stares instead.
She was not happy.
If she wasn't convinced she'd stumbled onto a huge secret for a killer scoop, she'd have stormed off already.
(End of Chapter)