Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 193: A Line You Can't Take Back

His right wrist had been pierced by a bullet, leaving it useless.

One of his knees had nearly been shattered by Chandler's kick, and out of his whole body, only one leg could still move properly.

"Still... better to be cautious," Chandler said after a moment of thought, glancing at her. "Next time we get the chance, we should finish him. What do you think?"

Mariella nodded. "No objections."

As they spoke, the speedboat reached another gas station.

Most of the fuel in storage had likely already been recovered by officials—their target was still tanker trucks.

But whether there were any nearby depended entirely on luck. And luck didn't always show up.

Mariella didn't mind. If she found something, great. If not, so be it.

What made her feel better was that Chandler seemed to be in a better mood again.

Still, she had revealed more and more of her secrets to him. At this point, he practically held all her weak points.

He'd better not get any dangerous ideas. Otherwise, she would have no choice but to kill him.

Chandler seemed to read her thoughts and said calmly, "It's easy for someone like me to keep secrets. But if I start dating, get married, have a family... over time, things might slip."

Mariella narrowed her eyes at him. "Then you'd better be prepared to stay single for life."

Chandler replied evenly, "If you can set the example, I don't mind. Just don't expect different rules for yourself."

Stay single? Fine, then we'd both stay single.

Mariella's brain short-circuited, and her mouth spoke before she could stop it. "Then, how about we date each other?"

Oh God. This ridiculous impulse of mine isn't going away...

Before Chandler could answer, she immediately backtracked. "I was just joking. Don't take it seriously. People who've died once tend to be a little off. Just pretend you didn't hear that."

She quickly put her oxygen mask back on and dove into the water to keep working.

...

As expected, luck wasn't on their side this time. They only found one tanker truck.

After collecting it, they climbed back onto the speedboat.

"Okay." Chandler suddenly spoke.

Mariella had just taken off her oxygen mask and blinked at him, confused. "Huh?"

He answered calmly, "You asked if we should date. I said okay."

Mariella covered her face, her voice small. "I was just joking."

"Or do you have someone else in mind?" he asked slowly, lips pressed together. "Like Number One?"

"No."

"Matthew?"

"No!"

A faint smile finally returned to Chandler's lips, but just to be sure, he added one more name. "Kieran?"

Mariella burst out laughing. "Why would you even bring him up? He's not even part of our group!"

In her eyes, Kieran wasn't one of them. He was just a temporary ally at best.

"I still owe him supplies worth two hundred million. Once we're done with this run, I'll settle it. After that, we're even."

Chandler lowered his gaze slightly. "Since you don't have anyone else in mind, and only have thoughts about me," he said quietly, "I can agree to try dating you." Then he added, more seriously, "But you don't get to walk away halfway."

...

After that, they visited several more gas stations. Some had more, some had less—but they never came away empty-handed.

Mariella focused on the work and didn't dare tease him anymore.

Before, he had always been distant and restrained; even his collar was buttoned up tight, and that only made her want to mess with him.

But she hadn't expected that her teasing would actually get to him.

Now that he had agreed to date her, she was the one backing off.

By the time they had cleared out every gas station in Liraelith and night had fallen, she finally gave him an answer.

"Um, I was just talking nonsense. I can't promise anything. Let's just forget it."

She backed out again.

Chandler's eyes darkened. He said nothing for a long time.

Mariella, however, knew exactly what was holding her back.

After what happened in her past life, she had no faith in love. And she still worried she had inherited her mother's blind devotion.

She had no confidence in starting a new relationship.

With Chandler, they were partners—fighting side by side. Adding something ambiguous on top of that would only make things uncertain.

If nothing went wrong, if there was no betrayal, they could stay teammates forever.

But she had no confidence that they could stay lovers.

She didn't even know if what she felt for him was just playful teasing or something real.

And seeing how serious he was made her even more hesitant.

Chandler said nothing, and he slowly removed his wetsuit.

Mariella did the same, storing all their equipment back into her space, ready to call it a day.

Then, Chandler unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, and the second.