Chapter 14: Confidentiality Agreement
When Luna returned, Dr. Bell was explaining to Ian that there could be lingering effects after using the drug, but if his math were correct, with the proper hydration the substance's control would fade out after twenty-four hours.
"President Lee, may I ask who this drug is meant for?" No one answered Dr. Bell's question, but Luna took a moment to remind her colleague of the confidentiality agreement he signed.
Dr. Bell's face was a little defeated. He had already agreed to walk away without question, but he wanted to study the drug further. Ian noticed the man's reaction at the same time as Luna, but he was able to speak first. He asked Dr. Bell if he saw any possible uses for the drug and Dr. Bell listed off several possibilities, which included a treatment for depression and impotence.
The Lee group had many holdings in the medical field and Ian was not a person who easily walked away from an opportunity. He instructed his sister to set up a secure lab for Dr. Bell to continue researching possible uses of the drug.
Dr. Bell was elated. The research he was doing had stagnated and he had lost funding. When he got the call from Luna, he was only able to come out on such short notice because he had nothing better to do. Now, he had just secured another project and what was better was that it gave him an excuse to see Luna more frequently.
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Tavin Bell had been in love with Luna from the first moment he saw her. She was friendly, so getting close to her was not hard, but no matter what anyone tried, she was not receptive. It was not that she did not notice, she just ignored it.
The pair met in college, and they had many classes together since they were entering similar fields. Men followed Luna everywhere and while she did not say anything, Tavin could see that it made her uncomfortable.
One day, a particularly arrogant senior in the school sent Luna a giant bouquet of flowers in the middle of a lecture. As a result, she was badly scolded and Tavin reminded their professor that he was punishing an innocent party, while using examples from an earlier lecture to undermine the professor's actions.
Luna was grateful, and their friendship developed naturally over time. At first, Tavin was content with just being her friend, but as they grew older, she became much more beautiful.
After a long time, Tavin thought that Luna did not see him as a man, so he tried to make her jealous by getting a girlfriend, but she showed no reaction. Instead, she distanced herself from him. A year had passed, he was still dating that person and Luna still showed no signs of caring.
It was only after they graduated that the girl he was dating confessed that she had told Luna that he and her were sleeping with one another. She told him that Luna had come to her at the beginning of the relationship and asked if they were serious.
At that time, the woman lied to Luna and told her that she and Tavin had already been intimate. She was scared that he would be stolen from her, but after nearly two years, the girl lost hope. She knew that Luna still had Tavin's heart, and she did not want to pretend to be okay with it anymore.
When Tavin and his girlfriend broke up, he immediately tried to patch his relationship up with Luna, but it seemed to be broken beyond repair. She was still friendly with him, but he could tell she no longer saw him the same way. Now, years later he was still trying to get close to her. She no longer viewed him as a friend, but instead she viewed him as a colleague, and she would only address him by using his title.
Tavin did not think he was still in love with Luna, but he missed being around her, and he missed being the man with which she was comfortable. Even if their relationship could never be the same, he would not move on until she did, and as far as he knew, there was no one. However small, Tavin believed there was still a chance for him to re-enter her life and he planned to use his new opportunity well.
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Mina was alone in the hospital room for a long time. She knew there was probably a guard outside her door, so she did not bother with trying to escape. She was not hungry, and she was not sleepy. She was still feeling uncomfortable and could feel wetness between her legs, but she did not want to look at it.
Luna had told her that she had a procedure done and she had a terrible feeling that she had been mutilated by President Lee. She just wanted to bathe in a shower so hot that her skin would fall off. What happened to her was terrible, but since she could not remember it, she felt it was better to leave it that way. Since they had both been drugged, they could both be considered victims.
President Lee was an intoxicatingly handsome man. Mina knew that he did not need to stoop to such a low level. He could probably have a different woman every night if he wanted, but there were never any rumors about him dating anyone. Other men his age who were also from wealthy families would be wrapped up in rumors with 'this actress' or 'that model' all the time and there seemed to be a fine line between the business world and the entertainment world.
Prominent celebrities who wanted to secure a better future often situated themselves among business moguls. If they could not join them, they would marry them.
Other than her mild infatuation with President Lee, Mina had never really liked anyone. She had found more than a few men handsome, but as soon as they would open their mouths, she would lose interest. All the smart men seemed to be snatched up quickly, so naturally she stopped looking, but it did not stop men from looking at her.