The Scorned Heiress's Hidden Empire (by Jade Quinn) novel Chapter 177

Chapter 177 Get Down?

‘Grap, it feels like the sky’s falling. What am I supposed to do now?‘ Zack thought, his heart pounding.

He was also a trainee in the Hell Boot Camp, but got eliminated in the third week.

He never expected to see that scary mug again after a month and a half.

The other students in the formation saw Zack blushing deeply, and assumed he was just embarrassed by Natalie’s good

looks.

They leaned in close, whispering and giggling to each other.

Zackh swallowed hard, thinking, ‘Guess people really don’t share the same joys and sorrows.’

‘I’m scared out of my mind, and they think I’m just shy, Zack thought, feeling totally helpless.

He gave Natalie an awkward smile. ‘Crap, what’s he trying to do, making me order around the chief instructor?’ Zack thought, totally baffled.

He turned his head to look at Madison Hale, who was in the sports formation next to him. ‘Come on, Madison, can’t you at least look my way?‘ Zack thought, silently pleading for help.

After the introductions, Zack stood at attention with the others for fifteen minutes. He tried to slip to the back of the formation, hoping to avoid facing Natalie directly.

The sports squad was also standing at attention. As Madison made his rounds, he caught Zack’s desperate look for help.

He frowned, with his hand on his belt, and circled around from the back.

He lowered his voice and asked, “What’s up? Gotta pee or something?”

Zack pressed his lips together and gave Madison a desperate look, motioning for him to take a look up front.

Madison shot him a suspicious glance, then walked around to the front.

At first, he couldn’t spot Natalie from the side, but as soon as he got to the front, her striking face suddenly appeared right in the middle of the group.

Madison froze mid–step, his eyes widening in surprise.

‘Chief Instructor Natalie?

‘What’s she doing here?

‘Wait, she’s a freshman this year?‘ Madison was floored.

Sure, he knew Natalie was from Harbor City and she was pretty young, but he never expected she’d just started college this

year.

Natalie knew Madison was watching her, but she didn’t glance his way, She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, calm and collected.

Madison’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he shifted his gaze without giving anything away, then made his way back to the rear of the formation.

Madison rested his hand on Zack’s shoulder, gave him a slight nod, and his eyes said, ‘Hang in there.‘ Then he turned and walked away.

But Zack grabbed his arm, giving Madison a pleading look that practically screamed, “No way, man! Let’s switch. If I have to train the chief instructor, I’ll totally lose it and mess up my steps!”

But Madison wouldn’t even look at him, just pulled his arm away and walked off toward the sports squad, leaving Zack no room to argue.

Zack looked utterly defeated, like he was dead inside. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and kept telling himself, ‘It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine…, trying to convince himself he could handle it.

He mentally hyped himself up, encouraging himself a thousand times over, just to keep from falling apart.

Finally, he took a deep breath, psyched himself up, threw his eyes open, and yelled at the squad.

“Everyone, left… get down!”

For half a second, the whole place went dead si

Successfully unlocked!

Chapter 177 Get Down?

‘How have I never heard of this befere?!

they didn’t get it but followed orders anyway.

So, except for Natalie, everyone in the formation turned left all at once, and then…

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

One after another, they get down.

Some people flopped down so fast, their hats went flying off.

Others smashed their elbows on the ground, wcing and making faces from the pain.

And then there were the truly directionally challenged. When told to turn left, they spun the wrong way and ended up face- to–face with their neighbors, wide–eyed and staring each other down. For a moment, it was pure chaos.

For a split second, the whole field went dead silent. Then everyone burst out laughing so loud it shook the place.

“Move left… get down? Is that even a real command?!”

“Are you trolling us, Instructor?!”

“My knees are killing me, but I can’t stop laughing!”

“Hey, my hat! Who stomped on it?!”

The folks in the neighboring formation all turned to look, cracking up so hard they were bent over with laughter.

Even the instructors from other squads couldn’t help but turn their heads, their mouths twitching as they tried hard not to crack up.

Natalie frowned at him, wondering, ‘Seriously, what is he even trying to pull?‘

Zack’s face was so red it looked like it might start bleeding. He’d meant to say “align to the left,” but somehow he blurted out… “left… get down!”

‘God, this is mortifying.

‘Oh no, I’m doomed!

‘I’m so screwed. Chief Instructor Natalie’s looking right at me!‘ Zack thought, panicking.

He cleared his throat twice, trying to stay calm. “Alright, settle down. Everyone, get up.”

The students slowly dragged themselves to their feet, barely holding back their laughter. Zack licked his lips and said, ” Alright, that’s enough laughing for now. Stand tall, attention!”

“Dress left! Dress right! Eyes forward! Stand at ease! Attention!”

*****

Finally, the afternoon training was over. Compared to the relaxed look on the other squad instructors‘ faces, Zack was relieved too. His military training had finally come to an end.

After everyone was dismissed, Natalie headed up front to grab her phone.

Madison Hale walked over. “Chief Instructor Natalie, didn’t expect to see you here.

r

“We didn’t add each other on WhatsApp last time. Let’s do it now.”

Natalie took off her hat, gave a slight nod, and showed her WhatsApp QR code. “Once we’re out of boot camp, I’m not Chief Instructor Natalie anymore, just call me Natalie.”

Madison Hale scanned her WhatsApp code and smiled. “Got it, Natalie.”

Zack snuck over and gave Natalie an awkward grin. “Uh… Chief Instructor Natalie, I swear I didn’t mean it. Seeing you here just totally threw me off. I got so nervous I couldn’t even talk straight.”

Natalie glanced at him, not saying much. “Just watch yourself next time.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it,” Zack replied in a hurry.

Evan Hale spotted the three of them chatting and hurried over, looking all excited.

“Whoa, Natalie, Madison, wait, you two know each other?” he asked, surprised.

Madison put his phone away, raised an eyebrow, and asked teasingly, “You two know each other?”

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