?Chapter 1051:


    “Just checking if you’ve gotten rusty from not trainingtely,” Ellis said, his face straight but tone casual, as always. “From the looks of it, you’re still sharp.”


    Freya blinked at him, still half-asleep andpletely thrown off.


    Moments ago, she’d been jolted awake by a shadowy figure—her instincts kicking in before her brain could catch up. Now, she was trying to make sense of it.


    For the past two years, there hadn’t been any missions. No reason to stay on high alert. So what was with the sudden test?


    “I’ll get going. You can go back to sleep,” Ellis said, already turning toward the door.


    “Wait!” Freya called out, stopping him.


    He turned around smoothly, acting like he hadn’t just tried to sneak off. “What’s up?”


    “You seriously came here just to test my reflexes?”


    “Yeah.”


    “Nothing else?”


    “Nothing.”


    She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re lying, there won’t be a wedding in the future.”


    Freya’s mind was slowly catching up as they spoke. Ellis said nothing. Who used such a thing as leverage in an interrogation?


    She stared at him, waiting.


    “You can’t throw that out like it’s a valid threat,” Ellis said coolly, though internally, he was scrambling for a better excuse. “Pick something else.”


    But Freya already had her answer. He was totally hiding something. Years ago, Ellis had pulled stunts like this in the middle of the night—random drills to keep everyone sharp. But those were mission days. This wasn’t that. No missions. And she wasn’t just his teammate anymore. She was his girlfriend. So why was he ying games like this?


    g?lnσν????s is your storytelling haven


    “What’s with that look?” Ellis raised an eyebrow, pretending not to notice her suspicion.


    “You’re lying,” Freya said, narrowing her eyes. “I can tell.”


    He went quiet.


    They locked eyes—her, determined to get the truth; him, calm as ever, trying not to crack.


    After a tense thirty seconds, Freya asked again, “Why did you reallye here thiste?”


    “Do I have to say it?” Ellis stalled.


    “You do.”


    He exhaled slowly. “I wanted to check if you were still struggling with insomnia.” His delivery was wless—totally serious, no hesitation.


    Freya blinked, caught off guard. That… wasn’t the excuse she expected. “I just wanted to take a quick look and leave. Didn’t mean to wake you,” Ellis added, reaching over to ruffle her hair gently.


    “I’m not losing sleep anymore,” Freya said, pulling back the nket to show her health tracker. “You gave this to me, remember? It’s been monitoring everything. The data’s been normal.”


    “Good,” Ellis said with a small nod, keeping his tone steady.


    Freya let it go. Maybe she was overthinking it.


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