"Back then, all you thought about was Damien Pierce, and you even kept your distance from us. I didn’t dare tell you how we felt."

"I was afraid you’d figure it out."

"Afraid you’d want to run away."

’Back then, their bond had just begun to form. What if she showed a hint of disgust?’

’So they buried it all.’

And so, their feelings fermented, step by step, drawing them deeper until they couldn’t break free.

"I’m not hiding anything from you anymore. I’ve told you everything," Chase Shaw said.

He had cut open his heart and shown her everything inside.

"Chase, isn’t this exhausting?" Zoe Pierce’s fingers traced his face. His features were cold and hard, but now he let her hands roam freely, stroking him as she pleased.

Just listening to it herself, she felt a pang of bitterness.

She had never had a secret crush on anyone, but she could empathize with the emotion and caution in Chase’s words.

And she was the object of it all.

Both Nathan Lockwood and him had left her utterly shaken.

’Am I... really that good?’

’Do I really deserve to be loved this much?’

Chase’s heart trembled at her question. He opened his eyes. "When you like someone, nothing you do for them ever feels tiring."

Even if it was a secret love, just being able to do more for her made him happy.

He was always thinking about what more he could do for her, but he never knew what that could be.

Zoe Pierce felt like a terrible woman.

After hearing Chase’s words, she could no longer remain calm. Just a moment ago, she had been thinking about Nathan Lockwood, but now, she was completely bewitched by Chase.

She felt a sense of pity and tenderness.

"That day... I thought it was a hallucination, that’s why I kissed you... Please don’t be angry..."

Zoe Pierce let out an inexplicable laugh. To think that it would come to this, that a man as proud as him would apologize again and again in such a tone.

She cupped Chase’s face with both hands. Zoe Pierce bent at the waist, lowered her head, and her lips landed perfectly on his.

His pupils contracted. Chase froze on the spot.

Strands of hair fell from her cheek, brushing against the side of his neck.

Zoe Pierce’s lips brushed over his like a feather. "I’m not angry."

Nothing could have made things clearer than her initiating a kiss.

"Chase, we have one month."

Zoe Pierce ran her hand through his hair. At that moment, she couldn’t help but wonder, ’Just how much sincerity has been hidden where I couldn’t see it?’

’Erin Xavier...’

’Miles Sherman...’

’What else have those two been hiding?’

’What were they really feeling the moment they said they wanted to become her family?’

Chase gave a hoarse "mm." "A full month."

It fell right after training and before the friendship tournament—a perfect month where they could spend every day together.

But they both understood that this was a Starship, and besides them, there were other people around.

Chase didn’t stay in Zoe Pierce’s room for too long.

He had already endured for so long; he didn’t mind waiting a little longer now.

But in the end, a bit of greed remained.

"Zoe Pierce, kiss me again."

"Can you?"

At that moment, he was standing at the door, about to leave, but he turned his head back to look at her.

Zoe Pierce took a few small steps to close the distance, and she saw Chase’s Adam’s apple bobbing nervously.

"Lower your head."

The corners of his lips suddenly curled up, higher than they had been at any point all evening in her room. He slowly bent down, just enough for her to stand on her tiptoes.

Another light, fleeting kiss.

His smile didn’t fade even after he left.

For the next few days, Chase kept his distance and didn’t visit Zoe Pierce’s room, but everyone could tell he was in a good mood.

Erin Xavier watched Chase’s upturned lips, then propped up his face with his hand and looked away, refusing to watch him.

’If Zoe Pierce can get used to Chase so quickly, will it be the same when it’s my turn? Will she coax me into calling her ’big sister’ every day?’

He twisted open the nutrient solution in his hand and chugged it down.

Even the cloying sweetness couldn’t suppress the sourness in his heart.

’But if calling her ’big sister’ would make Zoe Pierce coax him all the time, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.’

’She’s already coaxed Chase into a permanent smile. What’s one more?’

「Back on the Capital Star,」 Director Quinn no longer had many requirements for Zoe Pierce and the others.

They just needed to get through this period peacefully and then head out for the friendship tournament together when the time came.

"It’s best if you limit your public appearances," Director Quinn added after a thought. "The news reports about you are still up."

Zoe Pierce opened her Intelligent Brain and realized it was the follow-up report about Planet F187.

Miles Sherman and the others checked the school forums and saw that everyone was talking about them. People knew they had gone for special training, but they had also done something so meaningful along the way.

Zoe Pierce quickly shut off her Intelligent Brain. The praise inside was far too exaggerated.

They practically made her out to be a saint, and Zoe Pierce didn’t want people to think that. She wasn’t one. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

They didn’t take the group Hovercar back this time either.

Chase Shaw had specifically arranged for his motorcycle to be brought over.

When Miles Sherman and Erin Xavier saw Zoe Pierce pull a motorcycle helmet matching Chase’s out of her Space Button, they were stunned—only Nathan Lockwood, who already knew, was unfazed.

She expertly swung onto the back of Chase’s seat and tucked her hands into his pockets.

She gave the other three a farewell gesture. The next moment, Chase started the engine, Zoe Pierce grabbed onto his clothes, and with a WHOOSH, the two of them vanished from sight.

"Zoe Pierce has ridden Chase’s motorcycle before?" Erin Xavier asked.

’How come I have no memory of that?’

Nathan Lockwood glanced at the time. "Yeah, they went out on it once before. I’m leaving."

Erin Xavier paused. "Miles, how about I go to your place?"

He didn’t want to go back to his own house alone, and he definitely didn’t want to return to the Xavier Family estate.

It was pointless. Because he was participating in the friendship tournament, the old man was all smiles and praises now. With a single order from him, he could have that woman and her son thrown out of the villa.

Of course, they wouldn’t actually be "thrown out."

They would just be moved to a different house.

It just made him realize how cold-hearted and opportunistic the man he called his father truly was.

’If I were a lost cause, I’d probably have been ruthlessly abandoned by now.’

Miles Sherman looked at the dispirited Erin Xavier and didn’t refuse. "Okay."

He had a spare room prepared for him at his house; he could come whenever he wanted.

The two of them took a Hovercar, switched it to autopilot, and Erin Xavier leaned back in his seat. "Miles," he asked, "do you really like Zoe Pierce?"

His question was both sudden and strange.

Miles Sherman, who had been replying to a message, stopped and looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

"You’ve... never seemed jealous," Erin Xavier said.

"You’re always so rational."

Whether it was him or Chase, or even the most logical Nathan Lockwood, they had all shown their irrational side. Only Miles Sherman seemed to have always remained silent.

But crucially, Miles had not rejected Nathan Lockwood’s proposal.