The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 171: Not Planning to Take Responsibility

Eric leaned back, smirking. "Come on, we all know you're the best at the game now. You should totally be the captain."

Roy nodded, "Yeah, Nick's the one who needs more practice. He dies the most."

Nick slammed the table, "I'm a shooter! So what if I die a lot? My damage output is off the charts! Think you can beat my numbers? Go ahead, try."

Victoria tried to calm him down, "Nick's really good. We're the best team!"

Nick grinned, showing his gums, "Victoria always knows what to say! By the way, have you noticed anything different about Ethan today?"

Victoria looked at Ethan curiously, studying his face. 

There was a faint bluish tint under his eyes. Did he not sleep well last night? 

She wondered what time he went to bed. It was definitely later than her, and he woke up much earlier too.

Before Victoria could finish her thoughts, Nick blurted out, "Look at Ethan's mouth! It's busted up, hahaha. He got bitten by a bug last night. What bad luck!" 

Victoria's gaze involuntarily fell on Ethan's lips. They were unusually red and slightly swollen, with a noticeable scab at the corner. 

Her fingers unconsciously touched her own lips, her cheeks heating up. Her lips had also been swollen from kissing last night. Would it be that obvious? 

Her injury was much smaller, and she had applied ointment right away, so it was hard to notice unless you looked closely.

Victoria laughed awkwardly, "Oh, really? There are bugs at the lodge?"

Nick, oblivious to the awkwardness, laughed heartily, "Yeah, maybe Ethan ate something sweet before bed, and his mouth was too sweet, attracting the bugs."

Ethan rolled his eyes and kicked Nick hard under the table, licking his lips, "If you don't talk, no one will think you're mute."

Eric watched their interaction and shook his head. Only Nick would believe that Ethan's lip injury was from a bug bite. 

It was clearly a human bite, and the redness and swelling looked like it was from some intense kissing. 

As for Victoria, her lips weren't as noticeably swollen, but her eyes were avoiding Ethan's, and she blushed when she looked at him. It wasn't hard to guess that they had kissed last night, and it wasn't just a peck. 

He suddenly felt a pang of disappointment. Ethan's feelings for Victoria had always been obvious, but Victoria had never shown any preference among the four of them. Now, she was clearly different with Ethan.

During training, Victoria deliberately avoided talking to Ethan, and when she did look at him, she quickly looked away. 

During a break, Ethan cornered Victoria at the water bar, asking unhappily, "Victoria, how long are you going to avoid me?"

Victoria's eyes darted around, "I'm not avoiding you. You're misunderstanding."

Ethan held her head steady with both hands, "Then look me in the eyes and say that."

Victoria was forced to meet his gaze, her peripheral vision catching his swollen lips. She blinked guiltily, "You can't blame me. You bit yourself."

Ethan pressed his fingers to his lower lip, his tone suggestive, "But you kissed and touched me last night. Are you planning to just forget about it today?"

Victoria's eyes widened, "I was just helping you last night. You didn't say I had to take responsibility! If I had known, I would have called a doctor!"

Ethan pouted. He knew Victoria wouldn't change her mind so quickly. It seemed playing the victim wouldn't work either. 

His tone turned serious, "Victoria, you don't need to worry. Let's just pretend nothing happened last night. But please don't avoid me or ignore me. Even as friends, that would really hurt me."

Victoria suddenly felt like a heartless woman, the kind who plays with a pure-hearted guy and then doesn't take responsibility. 

Because of her second chance at life, she was mentally much older than Ethan. Seeing the usually mature and composed Ethan showing vulnerability made her feel soft-hearted. 

But she pressed her lips together and nodded calmly, "Okay." 

She had a lot to do. She didn't come back to life just to fall in love. Relationships took too much time and energy, and she didn't have that luxury right now.

Ethan hid his disappointment. He hadn't expected Victoria to agree so readily. 

He thought that after everything that had happened, Victoria's attitude towards him had become more intimate, and their relationship was moving from friends to something more. 

But Victoria wasn't even considering it. What was she hiding in her heart? When would she open up to him? 

At least she wasn't pushing him away. As long as she allowed him to stay by her side, he believed her attitude would eventually change.

After that, Victoria adjusted her mindset, and her interactions with Ethan returned to their previous, natural friendship.

That night, Victoria remembered she hadn't logged into the dark web in a while. Using an encrypted IP, she logged in and found a popular bounty post. 

The poster was offering $30,000 to find a hacker to investigate someone. The task seemed simple, but the reward was generous, attracting a lot of interest. 

However, the poster hadn't yet announced that the bounty had been accepted, indicating that they were not satisfied with the hackers who had applied so far. 

There must be hidden conditions. This piqued Victoria's interest, and she reached out, "Hi, what other requirements do you have?"