?Chapter 598:


    Frederick answered, voice groggy and soft, clearly not awake yet. “Freya? What’s up so early?”


    “What would you think if our captain brought you breakfast?” she asked.


    Frederick’s eyes snapped open. “Who?”


    “Our captain.”


    “I… I’ve been behaving myselftely,” Frederick stammered, suddenly wide awake, a wave of panic washing over him. “I haven’t done anything wrong!”


    Could it be that the guys had snitched on him forining Ellis was too strict? Oh god. A bunch of traitors. Was there still time to book a flight and run?


    “Where is he now?” Frederick asked urgently, already halfway dressed, ready to flee. “Is heing to deliver it to me today?”


    “No.”


    “Good.” Frederick felt slightly more at ease—but still packed his bag in a hurry.


    Then Freya finished her sentence. “He already delivered it. To me.”


    A loud thud came from the other end of the call.


    Frederick froze, ignoring the fallen photo frame, and suddenly grew serious. He said to Freya, “You might wanna grab a ticket and get outta town. Don’t go to the gathering tonight.”


    “Is it that bad?” Freya frowned, thinking he was overreacting.


    “I’ll drop a message in the group chat. You’ll see how bad it is when you read their replies.” Frederick suddenly felt a wave of sympathy for Freya. How on earth had she managed to offend the Captain?


    Freya was still a little out of it. She’d expected Ellis to act weird, sure, but she hadn’t braced herself for Frederick’s over-the-top reaction. Frederick typed in their group chat, “Ellis is back and even brought breakfast for Freya.”


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    Greta, Riley, Cade, and Moss—yes, even the two who rarely bothered to chime in—all responded with a flurry of question marks.


    Greta immediately followed up with, “Freya, listen to me—run. Get out of town, now!”


    Cade backed her up, “I still have nightmares about when Ellis brought me food. That was the beginning of the end. Trust me—get out while you can.”


    Moss added his piece, “I drank a bottle of water Ellis handed me once and ended up doing a ten-kilometer run—with weights.”


    Freya was at a loss for words.


    Trent scrolled through the messages and finally dropped a reply. “Is it really that bad?”


    And just like that, Cade kicked off a group call.


    The call connected.


    Seven faces lit up the screen.


    The moment Freya joined, Cade jumped in. “Freya, no joke—Ellis suddenly acting nice is a red g the size of a house. Last time he ‘felt sorry’ for me and gave me food, I ended up with triple the training. Know what he told me? He said if I still had the strength to eat, then clearly, I hadn’t been punished enough! Is that even human? Absolutely not!”


    Cadeunched into his rant without mercy.


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