My Beloved Has Risen from Death’s Embrace

“Bang!”

“Bang-!”

The sound of gunfire intermittently echoed across the shooting range, as deafening as Xanthea’s own pounding heart.

She watched as the other five members of her team holstered their “Orion, Orion, you can let go now!”

guns,

Car palpable as she repeatedly slapped Orion’s hand.

“No way.” The man who had been so sure of himself moments ago Xanthea, seethed, stepped on his foot hard. “I don’t! Don’t even think abou

Orion chuckled helplessly, releasing her as the other five trainees turned

Xanthea shook her head, her face flushed. “I’m not. Not one bit. It’s only you

“Alright.”

ved. “Xan, don’t you want to…”

it,

s just going to ask if you’re thirsty?”

always thirsty.”

Orion turned and walked towards the edge of the range.

Xanthea frowned in confusion. Was he heading towards the instructors‘ lounge? They were in the middle of filming–wait a minute!

Did he just imply the shooting was over?!

Her face, already flushed, seemed to boil with embarrassment.

This man full of nonsense was simply too much; he actually did that to her in front of so many people… and then told Nelson to calm down. She thinks he is the one who needs to calm down!

“Boss!”

In the lounge, Cedric stood up as Orion entered. “Louise called from overseas, urging a meeting at Rose Manor no later than the day after tomorrow to sign the contract in person.”

“Got it.”

“And another thing, Jacob mentioned that there’s a new lead in Realm of Illusions explosion case involving Ms. Nightshade. He’s close to wrapping up the investigation and handing it over to the police. Also, he stumbled upon something unexpected while tracking a

suspect.”

Orion looked up. “What did he find?”

“He didn’t tell,” said Cedric, “He’s being all mysterious, said it’s significant and that he wants to compile all the evidence before reporting to you personally tomorrow. Sounds like he doesn’t want me stealing his credit.”

“Have him come over after the show ends tomorrow.”

“Will do!”

“Shooting complete, await results!”

Isabella, Olivia, Rachel, and Nelson looked disheartened as they walked off the shooting platform, while Martin approached Xanthea with a grin. “Xan, I scored 27 points! Not as good as you, but I’m pretty proud of myself!”

Olivia scoffed, “Close only counts in horseshoes and stuff. Even though you were just three points behind, you’re only second best. What’s there to brag about?”

Martin looked down, embarrassed. Xanthea rolled her eyes at Olivia. “It should be ‘Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades? You should read more books.”

Her jab hit Olivia hard, making her fume, “You.,.”

Jonathan began announcing the scores: “Martin–9, 9, 9, totaling 27 points. Nelson–3, 3, totaling 8 points. Isabella–2.5, 4, 3.5, totaling 10 points. Olivia–3, 6, 3, totaling 12 points. Rachel–2, 2, 3, totaling 7 points. Xanthea–10…”

2,

He paused when he reached Xanthea’s score, then confirmed, “A total of 10 points!”

Everyone was puzzled.

Jonathan explained, “According to the jules, since there’s only one bullet hole on Xanthea’s target, we can only count it as one round.”

A second of silence was followed by roaring laughter, led by Olivia.This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - ©.

“This might be the case of counting your chickens before they hatch?”

“That’s what happens when you get too cocky!”

“Looks like Martin’s the champ, and Xan, you’re down to 1 point like the rest of us.”

22

“Xan, no hard feelings. Even though I took first place, you’re always number one in my heart.”

Xanthea was flabbergasted–was this the price of showing off?

“The rules are rigid, but can’t we be a bit flexible?”

The director shook his head. In reality TV, it’s not about fairness but entertainment. Judging by the uproarious laughter in the comments, it seemed this episode was a success.