"Excuse me?"
Miles abruptly turned to the detective with a menacing glare that made the man’s heart skip a beat, even without activating a single ability.
"Do you people have any shame? Oh, wait—let me guess. The higher-ups need answers for whatever you’re dealing with, and you want me to take the fall for something I know nothing about?"
Glaring angrily as suppressed fury rose like a tide within him, Miles felt a surging desire to kill these two men, but managed to inhale just in time to catch himself.
"If you want to accuse me, do so next time with a lawyer and my guardian present."
Turning to the principal, he added, "Principal Hayes, the exam schedule is tight due to the school’s misdoings. The least you can do is provide a stable environment to learn instead of seizing my freedom."
Principal Hayes was gobsmacked, completely at a loss for words when Miles glared at him.
Meanwhile, realizing Miles had turned the tables on them, the detective and the deputy exchanged a subtle nod.
"Miles Sinclair, where do you think you’re going? Before they vanished, a lot of students said they ran away after seeing you. What do you have to say to that?" the detective barked, making Miles stop in his tracks with an amused smile.
"They vanished? Hehehe, that’s fortunate. At least the school is guaranteed a moment of peace during this period." He met the detective’s gaze and sneered. "Like you said, I am a smart-ass, and this is my last warning: do not slander me, sir."
With that, Miles turned and left the three men to stare at his back with complicated feelings.
"Deputy Sam, I’m afraid we might have hit a wall here. Let’s check out the other suspects," the detective said, smiling at the uncomfortable Principal Hayes, who couldn’t bring himself to speak up for his students.
By the time Miles got back to class, the exam papers were just about to be handed out. Ignoring the gazes of everyone present, he took his seat and prepared himself.
"You have two hours and thirty minutes... If you need an extra sheet, please make sure to raise your hand."
With that, not just the Junior Year classes, but the entire school building underwent a rare moment of tranquility, broken only by the frequent flipping of test pages.
Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours, and soon, the two-and-a-half-hour examination came to an end.
The hallway—graveyard-silent for over two hours—experienced a synchronized flood of students filling the space. Noise erupted as many sighed and discussed the test, frequently cursing as they realized the mistakes they had made.
Walking together with Theo, Miles headed to the cafeteria to replenish the calories they had burned thinking. Later joined by Chloe and the girls, the table enjoyed a light conversation. Everyone tactically chose not to discuss the police’s reason for seeing Miles, especially since rumors of the missing bullies were already circulating—only temporarily suppressed by the urgency of the exam.
Time flew by quickly, and it was soon time to head home.
Upon arriving, Miles went through his usual routine before ending up lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a deep, thoughtful look on his face. Eventually, he sighed and muttered in amusement, "Those cops didn’t seem to have a clue what was going on. It appears someone is pulling strings from behind."
"Trying to use me as a scapegoat?" Muttering with a sneer, Miles summoned the system’s holographic screen and switched it to the mission panel.
[Mission: Sweet Revenge.]
[Targets:
Daniel Carter
Chris Morgan
Kelvin Miller
Ben Harris
???]
He stared at the three question marks he hadn’t thought much about before, suddenly realizing they represented the mystery figure who wanted him dead. Without a doubt, Miles was sure this person was also behind the disappearance of Chris and his clique.
"Smart move. The assassination attempt was also orchestrated by this person. And it seems I was wrong—those bastards were involved."
Recalling the expressions Chris, Tyler, and Ben had on Monday morning the moment they saw him, everything instantly clicked.
"They probably spent the weekend relishing the thought that I was gone after encountering the gang squad. Whoever is behind them felt the same and decided to make them disappear."
Funny, Miles sneered, a twisted smile playing on his lips. As if snatching his prey wasn’t enough, someone was pulling a lot of strings to frame him.
"Whoever you are, you better pray I don’t catch you—"
Zzzzz! Zzzzz!
Interrupting his thoughts, his phone buzzed, its screen flickering with an incoming call profile. Picking it up, Miles lazily checked the caller ID and saw it was Grace.
"Hello?"
"Are you available today?" she asked right away, a sense of urgency in her tone.
"Yes," Miles replied passively, wondering what was up.
"Great. One of our clients rebooked. Mind coming over in the next thirty minutes?"
"Sure."
"Okay, bye. See you soon." Grace promptly ended the call, leaving Miles speechless for a second before a smirk stretched across his face.
"Come to think of it, I’ve never had a client other than Carol." At the prospect of taming another woman and making her beg for him, Miles felt a fresh rush of thrill and adrenaline. His slumbering dragon twitched in anticipation.
Putting on something casual, Miles headed toward Cassie’s room and knocked a few times on the door.
"Cass," he called out.
A moment later, there was a click as the door swung open in a wide arc. Miles swept his gaze over her, taking in how tempting she looked. She wore tight basketball shorts and an extremely short pink crop top that clung tightly over her chest. Combined with the sexy curve of her waist, Miles felt his dick twitch.
As if deliberately letting him admire her body, her gaze secretly flickered to his groin. She swallowed her saliva as the memory of it formed in her mind, but quickly recovered and feigned a disgusted look, wrapping her arms over her chest.
"What are you looking at, pervert..." she blurted out.
Miles smirked, withdrawing his gaze. "You don’t have a boyfriend. The least you can do is allow me to appreciate your hot curves."
"Pervert!" Cassie yelled, her cheeks burning with a pink glow as she tried to compose herself. "What do you want?" she quickly added, seeing him grin at her and realizing he would keep making her blush if she didn’t send him off.
"What do I want?" Miles asked slyly, closing the distance between them.
"Ahhh!" Cassie gasped, her tone faint and breathless. She froze as his hand wrapped around her waist, firmly locking her in his embrace. Her brain felt like it had completely short-circuited, her whole body going still in shock.
For Cassie, time seemed to slow down as she stared into his eyes while his other hand reached for her chin.
"I want you, Cass," he said softly.
His words were the only thing she could hear for a moment as her heart skipped a beat, a feeling she had never experienced sparking to life within her.
But the moment was short-lived as Miles played the brutal sibling card.
"What? Is that what you expected me to say? Wait—don’t tell me you’re in love with your brother, per-vert." Miles drew out the last word so slowly that her mind flared with blind rage.
"Shh." He pressed his index finger over her lips, stopping the explosion before it could go off. "I came to tell you I’m off to work. Don’t miss me, ’cause I won’t."
After she agreed to blow him yesterday, Miles knew he no longer had to hold back around her, aside from their promise not to cross certain lines while they practiced.
The room fell silent—the calm before the storm. Without needing to be told to run for his life, Miles bolted.
"Pervert!" Face flushed, Cassie grabbed a flip-flop off the floor and hurled it at his retreating figure.
"Argh!" Hit, Miles yelled playfully as he bounded down the stairs.
(Tranquil Touch Spa)
At the sight of the familiar signboard, Miles stepped inside and walked briskly past the reception area toward Grace’s office.
Click!
A moment later, he stepped in to find her typing on her PC as usual. From the looks of it, the computer hadn’t suffered any permanent damage when he swept it off the desk a couple of days ago.
"Thank goodness you’re here." The moment she saw him, Grace stopped typing and exhaled.
Walking past the desk, Miles leaned down and pecked her cheek before unbuttoning his shirt on his way to the VIP changing room.
"The client says she’s coming with her fiancé," Grace warned. "Things might get a bit complicated if you aren’t careful."
"Oh really? Makes things more interesting, will look forward to how things turn out."
Feeling the growing tide of anticipation within him, Miles turned and went to changed into his Uniform.
"Grace, there’s a problem."