?Chapter 1308:


    Only those who figured it out could pass.


    Freya’s thoughts snapped back to the present, her soda now t. Ellis had once mentioned disguise, and her mind flickered to the hostage—his slouched frame, his forgettable face.


    Nothing matched Ellis’s sharp presence, hismanding air.


    But his eyes. Something in them—piercing, unyielding—had lingered in her memory.


    In that moment, her pulse quickened.<fn518e> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? Find[F]ovel</fn518e>


    Later, as Ellis stepped out of the shower, towel draped over his shoulder, Freya could not hold back. “That third meeting,” she said, her voice cutting through the steam. “Were you the hostage?”


    Ellis paused, his hand stilling, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “You nailed it,” he said with a grin. “That was me.”


    Freya leaned forward, her curiosity alight. “How did you change everything—your face, your build, even your presence?” She was genuinely intrigued.


    Ellis tossed the towel onto a chair and slid into bed, pulling her close. “The organization has disguise masters,” he said, his voice warm. “They make us vanish into whoever we need to be.”


    Freya shook her head, still amazed. But another question burned brighter. “So, was that when you started liking me?”


    Ellis’sugh was soft, teasing. “Feeling smug, are you?”


    Her smile widened. Maybe just a bit. She could not deny the warmth of pride.


    Back then, Ellis had been just a face in the test, a stranger ying a part. He had not expected to feel anything for her, not after three brief meetings. After they were captured, he and Michael had been able to see their reactions. But watching her in that shack, her eyes fierce, her will unbroken as she faced the interrogator, had stirred something deep.


    When she saw through the test first, outsmarting them all, he had felt a quiet pride. She was something else, he had thought, a spark igniting that he could not ignore.


    Some things were hard to exin.


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    He had seen other evaluations, watched others face the same trials, but Freya’s fire set her apart. It stayed with him, a pull he could not shake.


    “If you liked me then,” Freya said, her tone half-curious, half-yful, “why were you so hard on me in training? Did it not hurt to watch me struggle?”


    Ellis’s voice was steady, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. “Feeling sorry for you in training would have left you vulnerable on real missions.” His words carried the weight of someone who knew what mattered most.


    Freya nestled deeper into his arms, her cheek pressed against his chest. Warmth bloomed in her, a quiet gratitude for his presence in her life. As sleep pulled her under, her dreams swept her back to those early days, vivid as if they had happened yesterday.


    The second evaluation had sorted them out. Freya, Trent, Greta, Riley, Phelps, and Moss had made the cut, their names called one by one. Frederick, though blind to the test’s true nature, had earned his ce with raw grit and a knack for hacking that left even Michael impressed.


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