Linus remained standing with one hand resting on the takeout container, letting the fair pair of arms wrap tighter and tighter around his waist.
Through the Vibranium nano-suit material, he could clearly feel the rapid drumming of Betty’s heart.
It was the frantic pulse of someone who had survived extreme terror and finally grabbed hold of a lifeline.
Linus spoke in a measured tone, ignoring her excuse.
“I bought two servings of Beef Wellington.
It’s still warm.”
Betty bit her lower lip, her grip slackening slightly.
She stepped around from behind him, her bare feet silent against the wool rug.
As she moved, the loose collar of the oversized shirt sloped to one side, completely exposing the smooth line of her collarbone.
She looked up, taking in the sight of this man whose tie hadn’t even come undone.
A few dozen minutes ago, she had watched him on monitor screens stroll casually through a hail of bullets and a raging monster, beating the behemoth formerly known as Bruce Banner to a pulp.
Now, he stood peacefully beside the warm glow of the floor lamp in the apartment, carrying dinner for two.
Betty reached out, her fingertips lightly brushing Linus’s wrist over his shirt sleeve.
“You aren’t hurt.”
Linus placed the food container on the island and unbuttoned his jacket.
“I told you before, it was just a playground.”
He draped the jet-black suit jacket casually over the back of a bar stool.
Unfastening his cufflinks, he rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows and walked over to the sink to wash his hands.
Water streamed over his long, slender fingers.
Betty stood where she was, her gaze tracing down from his broad shoulders to his waistline.
This man’s silhouette had long since supplanted every trace of anyone else in her mind.
Her past indecision and fleeing looked utterly ridiculous and meaningless before a man who could flip a tank with his bare hands.
Linus turned off the faucet and pulled a paper towel to dry his hands.
“Come eat.
You need carbs.”
The two sat at opposite ends of the spacious dining table.
Light from the crystal chandelier hit the decanter, casting deep red halos across the surface.
Linus picked up his knife and fork, expertly slicing through the crisp pastry crust of the steak before sliding the plated portion over to Betty.
“Finish it.”
Betty held her fork, cutting off a small piece and placing it in her mouth.
Rich savory juices burst across her tongue as she chewed slowly.
She put down her fork and looked up.
“What will the military do next?”
Linus picked up his wine glass and took a sip of Romanee-Conti.
“Haul off the trash, black out the news, and scramble to cover up the scandal.”
The wine slid smoothly down his throat.
“General Ross doesn’t have the bandwidth to worry about you right now.
His prized project has completely imploded, and the inquiry reports from the Pentagon will keep him busy writing for months.”
Betty kept her voice low.
“What about me?
What do I do now?”
She knew all too well that the laboratories at Culver University were permanently closed to her.
The military would never allow an insider to remain there, even if she was Ross’s daughter.
Aside from a small personal savings account, she was left with practically nothing.
Linus leaned back against his chair, swirling the base of his glass with his thumb.
“Be my dedicated researcher.”
Betty raised her head, meeting Linus’s calm gaze through his wire-rimmed glasses.
Linus spoke softly, yet his tone carried an undeniable authority.
“If a lab is destroyed, we can build a new one.”
“I will give you the experimental environment your father couldn’t.
The core projects he barred you from touching, you will lead.”
“From now on, your research data will never need to be reported to any military branch.”
Betty’s heart skipped a beat.
“But…
building a facility capable of that level of research requires astronomical capital and top-tier security infrastructure.
Our current clearance—”
Linus cut her off.
“Clearance is defined by men.
And funding is never a problem.”
…
While they spoke, a system settlement notification was resolving deep within Linus’s mind.
[Ding!
Detected original male lead Bruce Banner detained by the military!
Plot trajectory massively altered!]
[Host poaching progress overachieved!
Betty Ross’s emotional reliance value exceeded threshold!]
[Current Female Lead Status: Total physical and emotional devotion.
Every trace of her original partner has been thoroughly wiped out.]
[System Basic Resource Library unlocked.]
[Granting Initial Faction Development Funds: $100,000,000 USD (Laundered through Swiss bank offshore accounts; funds are 100% legal).]
[Granting Tech Blueprint Integration: Theoretical Data Package for Elementary Hyper-Regeneration Factor.]
…
Linus focused back on the present, reaching into his pocket to draw out a miniature flash drive with a sterling silver casing.
He set the drive on the table and flicked it across to Betty’s hand with his index finger.
Betty stared at the tiny silver drive.
“What’s this?”
Linus pulled back his hand.
“Something I toyed around with out of boredom over the past couple of days—a theoretical data model on accelerated telomere repair.”
Betty picked up the drive, grabbed her work tablet from beside the bar, and plugged it in.
The screen lit up, displaying dense molecular formulas and cell division simulation graphs.
At first, Betty skimmed the data out of curiosity.
But after just two lines, her fingers tightened around the tablet.
She scrolled rapidly through the document, her breathing growing heavier with every passing line.
As a top doctorate holder in biology, she understood exactly what lay behind those numbers.
Betty looked up, her tired eyes suddenly blazing with brilliance.
“The Hayflick limit has been bypassed?
This…
the activity levels set for these telomerases completely contradict all established biological aging mechanisms!”
“If this data can be validated with physical samples, we’ll solve the core problem of human cellular degradation!”
Linus didn’t directly answer.
He picked up the steak knife off the table and drew the blade across his left index finger without hesitation.
The edge was razor-sharp, and bright crimson blood immediately welled from the cut.
Betty gasped, tossing the tablet aside to rush for a first-aid kit.
“What are you doing?!”
Linus raised his hand, holding the bleeding finger right before her eyes.
“Look closely.”
Under Betty’s horrified gaze, the tissue surrounding the wound began to wriggle and reconstruct itself at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In under three seconds, the deep cut healed completely, leaving behind not even a sliver of a scar.
Had it not been for the stray smear of blood, the display would have seemed like magic.
This was the [Hyper-Regeneration Factor] Linus had acquired as a critical reward from Hulk.
Betty felt her grasp on reality collapsing.
“You…
you applied it to yourself?”
Linus pulled a napkin and wiped away the residual blood on his fingertip.
“Only a rudimentary application.
The military’s gamma radiation project merely created a brainless beast built for destruction.
I am aiming for evolution.”
“Now, do you think this data is enough to justify a brand-new laboratory?”
Betty was utterly captivated.
Whether it was the man before her or the ground-breaking science he wielded.
She stared at Linus.
From this moment on, he held complete dominion over her heart—and had delivered a total dimension-reducing strike to her career and personal beliefs.
Bruce Banner’s paper-bound, volatile experiment paled in comparison to the miraculous regeneration sitting right before her eyes—it was child’s play.
Betty’s tone shifted entirely.
“I’ll lead this project.”
The shadows of her past evaporated, replaced by a feverish hunger for research and an absolute, unshakeable devotion to Linus.
“I’ll need to source the latest spectrometer analysis units and centrifuges, as well as recruit junior researchers we can trust.
My father cannot find out about any of this.”
Linus leaned back against the edge of the table, satisfied.
“Smart.”
This was the exact outcome he had orchestrated.
Give a woman absolute protection, then completely fill her life with ambition, and she will never have time to dwell on the past.
Linus turned to gaze through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the bustling Manhattan skyline.
“If we are to bypass the military, we must build our own infrastructure.”
“We’ll found a biotech corporation of our own.
On the surface, pharmaceutical R&D and advanced defense contracting; underneath, the promotion of this technology.”
Betty stepped up to Linus’s side.
“Incorporating a firm requires massive financial backing.
I have under two million dollars in my personal account that I can pitch in, but initial equipment purchases—”
Linus turned his head, dropping the figure with complete nonchalance.
“A hundred million dollars in initial capital will be transferred into your project account tomorrow morning.”
Betty froze.
One hundred million dollars?
Liquid capital?
She realized then that she truly knew nothing about the depths of this man’s background.
He possessed unfathomable power, commanded era-defining biological research, and casually tossed around a hundred million in liquid cash.
Betty whispered softly.
“Just how many secrets are you hiding?”
Linus turned back toward her.
“That depends on how deep you want to probe.”
The space between them closed.
Betty tilted her head up, her eyes resting on Linus’s jawline.
She didn’t back down.
The oversized shirt rustled faintly in the intimate space between them.
Linus reached out, gently tucking a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear.
The back of his fingers brushed casually across her burning earlobe.
Betty didn’t flinch from his touch, letting the electric sensation ripple along her nerves.
“Have you thought of a name for the company?”
Linus pulled back his hand and slid a pre-drafted document onto the corner of the table.
“Star Umbrella Corporation.”
“Starting tomorrow, you are the Chief Biological Officer of Star Umbrella Corporation.”
Betty stared at the document’s header, her heart racing faster and faster.
Linus turned, his eyes trailing down the oversized white shirt she was wearing.
The loose hem rose and fell gently with her breaths.
He paused for two seconds.
Linus lowered his voice.
“Wear something formal tomorrow.”
“Are you ready to sign away your soul, my Chief Biological Officer?”