Chapter 193 Once Betrayed, Don't Trust Again
"I can explain," Daphne said, pinching the bridge of her nose, feeling her composure slipping away.
There was silence on the other end. It was clear as day, he was waiting to see what kind of story she would come up with.
"I got locked in a room with a friend, and the scent in the room... it messes with your body temperature," Daphne tried to explain differently, but she knew the captain understood, "I thought I'd call you to get a grip on myself."
Listening to her, the man did not know whether to be angry or to laugh.
Calling him to calm down… He wondered how she came up with that idea.
"Have you calmed down now?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm calm now,” Daphne tried to assure him.
"Is it safe where you are?" he said, concerned for her safety.
"It's safe," she simply replied.
Getting these answers, the man on the phone felt slightly relieved.
With his concerns moderately eased, it was time to address certain things, "Now that you're safe, we should discuss something."
"What's that?" she asked surprisingly, anxious that she now had to explain herself.
"This idea you had, using me to ‘calm down'," He emphasized the word 'calm down' specifically.
Daphne's fear was realized, "What do you think about that?"
The words the captain uttered almost never made it past his lips, "We'll talk more when we meet."
He had intended to make her responsible for the task, but hesitated, thinking it might shock her into a reaction worthy of a meme.
Daphne was puzzled. ‘Meet? Was the captain coming back, or was there a task for them?’
"Drop that guy off in the bathroom," a voice came through the phone, casually indifferent, "Don't forget how to protect yourself just because you've left the team."
Daphne obediently agreed, "Okay."
"Is that man, Charles?" he questioned.
Daphne was genuinely startled. She wondered if the captain had placed surveillance on her, how else would he know about this?
"Your personal life isn't my concern," the man's tone was aloof yet serious, "But let me say one thing."
"What?" she asked.
"A man is like a teammate; if he betrays you once, don't trust him again," he said sternly.
With this simple sentence, Daphne understood everything – the captain must have known about her situation, "I know."
"Still need to stay calm?" The captain teased.
Daphne was thoroughly awake now, "No need."
"Call if you need anything," he reminded her.
"Will do," she replied.
After hanging up, Daphne's tense heart relaxed.
On the other end, the man looked at his phone's call log, massaged his temples, and then set the phone aside to deal with other matters. He was confident that Daphne could handle her situation.
After the call, Daphne rang Rex, informed him that she and Charles were locked in a room, briefed him on Charles's condition, and asked him to buy some essentials and pretend to look for them.
Rex did as she asked.
About twenty minutes later, someone knocked on their door.
Daphne immediately signaled a response, and Rex, spotting an opportunity, quickly opened the door for them.
In a crunch, Rex proved he was reliable.
As the door swung open, Rex also saw the state of the room; Charles was lying on the bed, and his complexion was off.
Daphne simply said, "Give me the stuff and wait outside the door for a while."
"Okay," Rex handed over the items.
From this angle, even if someone was outside, they couldn't see what he was doing, nor could they see that Daphne was the one opening the door.
Once she had the items, Rex waited outside as instructed. Daphne took out the purchased items, administered an injection to Charles, and then sat waiting.
Roughly ten minutes had passed. Gradually, Charles's temperature normalized, and he began to regain consciousness.
Daphne turned the signal jammer back on and coolly instructed him, "Get dressed and leave when you wake up."
Charles, puzzled, began to process the situation. He stared at her as she spoke unaffectedly. His first reaction was to label Daphne as heartless.
"What are you spacing out for?" Daphne, seeing him just staring blankly, reminded him, "You've been gone for over an hour. Marcus and the rest are probably looking for you."
Charles remained silent. He got up to change his clothes, his eyes deep in thought. Five minutes later, Charles was dressed and had tidied up his appearance, standing before Daphne.
"Get your things and let's go," Daphne said as she went over to the bed and began to mess it up.
"What are you doing?" Charles, although awake, still felt slightly off, which also slowed down his thinking.
"Messing up the bed so it looks like we slept together," Daphne explained matter-of-factly, without any emotion in her voice, "as part of the next step."
With that said, she left the bed in disarray. She then turned back to the items she had been handling earlier, removing the towel and damp tissues that had been used. Not long after, the room was filled with a pleasant fragrance.
This time, Charles instinctively walked toward the bathroom, intending to grab a towel to cover up.
Daphne, after checking that her now dry clothes met her standards, finished dressing up in the room, casually fixed her hair, and left.
Charles watched the opened door, feeling somewhat lost. ‘The door is open now?’
"Wait," he called out to her, feeling a pain in the back of his neck.
Daphne, who had one foot out the door, only glanced back at him with a faint interest, "What's it?"
"Did you hit me?" Charles asked the question that had been on his mind since he woke up. Ever since he stepped out of the bathroom, he had felt a pain at the back of his neck, but before he could even react, he had passed out.
Daphne didn't think there was any point in hiding it, "Yes."
Charles was awestruck while thinking, ‘You hit me and yet you could simply admit it so boldly.’
"Don't let anything slip about what happened today," Daphne reminded him as she was about to leave, "That person might make another move soon."
Without waiting for Charles's reaction, she lifted her foot and stepped out. Charles followed her out.
Just as he was about to catch up, he saw Rex waiting outside the door. "What are you doing here?" he questioned.
"Daphne called me to come up," Rex answered, adjusting how he referred to her, as it felt inappropriate to be too familiar.
Charles halted his thoughts, ‘A phone call?’
In that instant, Charles realized something significant; Daphne was completely different from others.
She didn't need his protection, didn't need him to sort out her thoughts or consider matters for her. She could handle everything on her own.
In the time it took to knock him out, she had it all figured out and took care of everything. To her, it seemed it made no difference whether he was there or not.
Rex noticed something off about Charles's mood and inquired, "What's wrong with you?"
"It's nothing," Charles replied, pushing down his emotions. "Make sure your parents keep Daphne's dad busy, preferably back at the old house for a chat. I need to talk to Daphne about something."
"That might be difficult," Rex said.
"Why?"
"When I was coming up here, I saw Mr. Murphy had just finished talking with our parents. He's looking for Daphne." Rex's words felt like a cold splash of water to Charles.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
