Chapter 251: Drink More [Edited]
Inside the quiet bedroom, Selena shifted against the soft sheets, letting out a slow, tired groan.
Her head had a faint, dull throb from the sweet plum wine, but the rest of her body felt surprisingly well-rested. The bed was massive, warm, and comfortable, smelling faintly of clean cedar.
She reached up to push her messy dark hair out of her face, and that was when she noticed the fabric.
Her sweater was gone.
Instead, she was wearing a simple, dark charcoal shirt. The collar hung loose around her collarbone, the shoulders dropped halfway down her arms, and the hem fell well past the middle of her thighs like a short dress.
It carried a familiar scent of cedar and clean soap.
Selena froze in the middle of the bed. Her eyes went wide as she lifted the sleeve to inspect the dark fabric, her memory from the night before slowly rushing back in disjointed pieces.
’The drinking game... the plum wine... complaining... leaning on his shoulder...’
And then, the quiet walk down the dark hallway, being carried in strong arms, and whispering his name into the pillow while holding onto his wrist.
And then her eyes widened, she actually kissed him.
"Oh, no," Selena whispered to herself, burying her face into her hands as a wave of heat rushed up her neck. "No, no, no. Tell me I didn’t."
She sat up quickly, checking the room. Nicholas wasn’t there. Her sandals were neatly placed by the door, and a glass of water with an electrolyte packet sat on the nightstand beside her phone.
She took a deep breath, drank the water in one go, and tried to gather whatever dignity she had left.
"It’s fine," she muttered, stepping out of bed. "I’m the supervisor. I’m an adult. It was just a drunken kiss. It’s just a shirt. People borrow shirts all the time."
She walked out of the master suite, her bare feet padding softly against the polished hallway floor, heading toward the scent of toasted bread, sizzling bacon, and brewed coffee coming from the kitchen.
As soon as she turned the corner into the open-concept dining area, three pairs of eyes snapped directly onto her.
Marina was standing near the stove flipping golden pancakes, Katie was sitting at the counter with a glass of orange juice and chocolate spread on her chin, and Julie had a mug of tea halfway to her mouth.
The kitchen went dead silent.
Julie’s mug stopped in mid-air. Her eyes drifted slowly from Selena’s messy hair down to the charcoal shirt that swallowed her frame, then down to her bare legs.
A slow, devilish grin spread across Julie’s face.
"Good morning, Supervisor," Julie purred, her voice dripping with sheer amusement. "Nice outfit. The charcoal really brings out your shape"
Selena’s face flared into a brilliant, burning shade of red. "It—it was raining! My sweater was damp, and Nicholas just lent me a dry shirt! Nothing else happened!"
Katie tilted her head, looking at Selena with wide, curious eyes. "Selena, why is your face red like a tomato again? Are you having a fever from the juice game?"
Marina set a plate of warm pancakes and fresh tropical fruit on the table, her smile sweet, calm, and completely knowing. "Leave her alone, girls. Selena had a long night defending her territory in the board game. Come sit down, Selena. Have some coffee before it gets cold."
"Thank you, Marina," Selena said through gritted teeth, quickly sliding onto a barstool and pulling the shirt’s hem as far down over her knees as physically possible.
Across the counter, Julie was already typing furiously on her tablet, barely holding back her giggles.
"Julie, I will take that tablet and throw it into the deep reef," Selena warned, though her blush showed no signs of fading.
Before Julie could reply, a sharp, rhythmic beep broke through the kitchen noise.
The emergency satellite terminal mounted on the wall began blinking with a bright amber light. A secure audio channel opened, and Dana’s brisk, professional voice came through the speaker.
"Is the line secure?" Dana asked.
Selena’s posture shifted instantly, the embarrassment replaced by her usual sharp focus. "Line is clear, Dana. Go ahead."
Marina turned the stove heat down, while Katie quietly munched on her pancake, watching the blinking console.
"I have an update from the High Council tribunal," Dana said, her voice carrying a mix of frustration and fatigue. "Larry’s legal defense filed a motion to dismiss all remaining charges two hours ago. They’re claiming the Association is engaging in a targeted political smear campaign. Without physical custody of the duplicate or uncorrupted data drives, the magistrate is leaning toward granting the dismissal by the end of the week."
Selena’s jaw tightened. "So Larry walks away without a scratch after putting an illegal bounty on a hero’s head."
"For now, yes," Dana sighed. "The courts are hands-off without hard evidence. And regarding Specimen B... our search teams haven’t found a single trace of him. No energy signatures, no sightings, no activity across the city grids. It’s like he vanished into thin air."
"Is he in hiding?" Selena asked.
"Either he’s still recovering from the damage Nicholas dealt to him in the warehouse," Dana replied, "or he’s laying low and planning something ridiculous. Eric wanted me to warn you all to stay alert, even on the island."
"He doesn’t need to plan," a calm, flat voice spoke from the patio doorway.
Nicholas walked into the kitchen. He wore a white t-shirt, dark shorts, and carried a towel around his neck, having just finished his morning run along the beach. Blue eyes were steady, entirely unfazed by the news.
He walked over to the terminal, leaning one hand against the counter right beside Selena’s stool.
"Nicholas," Dana said through the speaker. "You heard?"
"I heard," Nicholas replied smoothly. "Tell Eric to pull the search teams back. If the clone doesn’t want to be found by regular patrols, your people are only going to walk into an ambush and give him more targets to practice on."
"We can’t just leave a rogue duplicate out there, Nicholas," Dana said.
"You don’t have to," Nicholas said, his tone leaving zero room for argument. "He has my face, my memories, and my combat style. When he’s ready, he won’t go after random targets. He will come for me. Keep the Association out of it, let Larry celebrate his courtroom win, and leave the duplicate to me when my family vacation concludes."
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before Dana let out a quiet, resigned breath.
"Understood," Dana said. "We’ll hold the line here. Enjoy the rest of your leave, Phantom."
𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
The console beeped, and the call disconnected.
The kitchen returned to its peaceful morning rhythm, the soft sound of ocean waves drifting through the open patio doors.
Nicholas turned away from the console and pulled up a stool next to Selena, casually reaching over to take a slice of toast from the center plate.
His arm brushed lightly against hers, and his eyes dropped to the oversized charcoal shirt she was wearing.
A tiny, subtle smirk touched the corner of his lips.
"The shirt looks better on you anyway," Nicholas murmured, taking a bite of his toast without looking at her. "You should drink more."
Selena choked on her coffee for the second time in twelve hours, coughing into a napkin while Marina and Julie burst into quiet, unrestrained laughter across the table.