Chapter 266: Different Brain Cells

Breakfast at the estate was charged with an excruciating, heavy silence.

​Having finally acknowledged to herself that she possessed genuine feelings for the men around her, April found it virtually impossible to meet their eyes.

She kept her head lowered, hyper-focused on her plate, her eyes darting anywhere except toward the two men sitting across from her.

​Sitting to her left, Alexander was completely bewildered. He looked between Xavier and Nat, his brows knit tightly together as he tried to decipher the sudden, suffocating hostility radiating across the dining table.

​Xavier sat with pristine, icy poise, casting a cold, deadly glare across the linen tablecloth. Opposite him, Nat leaned back in his chair, a smug, infuriating smirk plastered across his face—a look that practically screamed, What’s that look about? Wanna skin me alive?

​Alexander felt entirely out of the loop. Something major had clearly transpired while he was waiting in the garage yesterday, but no one was talking.

Beside him, Emily glanced at April, then at the two men, before wisely deciding to keep her mouth shut. If April wasn’t going to address the unspoken war brewing at the table, she certainly wasn’t going to jump into the crossfire.

​Suddenly, April pushed her chair back and stood up. "I think it’s time to head to the competition."

​Samuel stepped forward immediately, giving a swift nod. "Yes, Miss April. The vehicle is ready."

​As the group walked out toward the grand courtyard, they found Oliver standing by the primary transport. He adjusted his glasses, his face alight with scientific zeal.

​"Sorry I missed yesterday’s opening round," Oliver announced briskly as they approached. "I allocated yesterday as a crucial window for the final recalibrations on my safe bunker’s defense. But today, I intend to study every single micro-spatial disruption that occurs whenever Miss April stores the high-grade dishes into her inventory."

​April rolled her eyes, letting out a long, quiet sigh. "All right. You do you, I guess."

​With everyone loaded into the convoy, they set off for the venue.

​Sitting in the luxury cabin beside her sister, April remembered something and turned to Emily. "That reminds me... what about that chef yesterday? Philippe, was it?"

​"Yes! Philippe," Emily said, her tone instantly softening as a faint blush dusted her cheeks.

​"You came back alone yesterday with the clothes package," April noted, her dark eyes narrowing slightly. "What happened? Did he not come back with you?"

​"Since Philippe showed us the fastest route to the store, he decided that was his cue to leave," Emily explained, leaning back against her seat with a soft, dreamy expression. "I wanted to thank him properly, but he just smiled and said it was fine, that anyone would have done the same. He was so sweet."

Sweet? ​April stared at her sister in utter disbelief. She just met this guy yesterday, she thought, her mind churning deviously as she rubbed her chin. How is she already so attached? What kind of spell did this chef cast on my sister?

​Emily waved a hand in front of April’s face to snap her out of her suspicious stupor. "Oh, he did ask about you, though!"

​April blinked, her brows furrowing. "He asked about me?"

​"Yes! We exchanged contacts," Emily beamed happily. "He sent a message asking if you were doing okay and if you liked the dress."

​They exchanged contacts already?! April’s jaw tightened internally. This boy moves fast.

​She felt a spike of protective paranoia, fearing the worst about a stranger getting close to her sister—completely oblivious to the fact that it was actually Emily who had boldly asked for his number first.

​Upon arriving at the VIP suite, the second day of the tournament unfolded in a blur of deep-sea mastery.

​Down on the arena floor, Emily’s eyes frequently drifted toward station twenty-four. She tried to keep to herself, but April didn’t miss the way her sister’s gaze lingered on Philippe every time he presented a dish.

​Watching Emily, April let out a quiet, internal sigh. How are her brain cells wired that she falls so easily?

​Darting her eyes away, April reflected on her own situation. It had taken a literal impending apocalypse, mountains of wealth, unyielding affection, three intense kisses, and a consultation with an experienced man on the field—Samuel—for her to finally realize she had feelings for Nat, Xavier, and likely Alexander. Yet Emily was swooning after a single day of setting her eyes on one guy. We definitely operate on different wavelengths.

​Meanwhile, Oliver stood in the corner of the suite, holding a specialized spatial sensor and taking frantic notes every time April activated her dimension to harvest the top-scoring seafood courses.

​By the time the final horn sounded, April felt mentally exhausted. Not from using her spatial dimension, but from how her mind kept spiralling towards the kisses. It was infuriating but she couldn’t even act out without triggering Emily’s concern.

Day Two concluded with Renzo and Philippe both scoring exceptionally high, cementing their places as frontrunners once again.

​Wanting to avoid any repeat of yesterday’s garage delay, Alexander had come directly up to the VIP suite to walk April down himself, leaving Nat and Xavier waiting near the private elevator below.

While Emily and Samuel walked ahead, ​Alexander and April walked side by side a few paces behind. Oliver had gone ahead since the examination of spatial distortion was complete.

As Alexander walked beside April down the quiet, carpeted VIP corridor, he finally broke the silence. He couldn’t take it anymore—the bizarre hostility between Nat and Xavier, combined with the way April had been actively dodging both of their glances all morning, was driving him insane.

​"April," Alexander spoke up, folding his arms but not breaking his stride. "What exactly happened yesterday while I was waiting downstairs?"

​April stiffened slightly, keeping her eyes fixed ahead. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

​"Nothing?" Alexander challenged, narrowing his blue eyes at her evasive tone. "The air between Reed and Collins is thick enough to cut with a knife, and you haven’t looked either of them in the eye all day. Usually, Nat Collins would be all over you but he’s keeping his distance... Like a puppy being punished. April, it feels like something serious happened and I was left out of the loop."

​April cast a sideways glance at him, noticing the subtle, tense edge in his jaw. "Don’t tell me you’re jealous?"

​"Jealous?" Alexander echoed, turning his head toward her with a faint, defensive scoff. "How can I be jealous when I don’t even know what happened?"

​He paused, stepping slightly closer as they walked, his tone dropping into a quiet, genuine rumble. "But when you put it like that... It does make me feel like you three are sharing a secret and leaving me completely out of it. Even if it’s a conflict or a beef... I want in on it. What happened?"