Chapter 170 Utter Mortification
"It''s not me you should be apologizing to." Freya knew the words wouldnd like a
p, but there was no gentler way to break it.
n had to face the weight of what he''d done.
n jerked to attention, yanking his hand away from his hair. "What''s that supposed to mean?"
A ripple of unease crept through him. Had he made a spectacle of himself while drunk on the street?
No, that didn''t sound right. Freya would never let him make a fool of himself like that-she knew how much his image mattered to him.
"You were at..." Freya began.
"I know!" n cut her off, rushing to get ahead of it. Better to say it himself than hear it from someone else. "I must''ve made a scene at Toby''s, right? And he had no choice but to call you in?"
That had to be it! How was he supposed to give Toby proper instructions ever again? Toby probably thought he was aplete idiot now!
Freya silently weighed the shame of messing up in front of a close colleague versus someone he barely knew. She figured it was slightly less mortifying with a stranger.
At least n didn''t have to see Kristian every day.
"It''s not as bad as you think," Freya said gently, hoping to soften the blow.
Caught in a tug-of-war between panic and hope, n forced himself not to imagine anything worse.
He''d already pictured the most humiliating scenario. Since she said it wasn''t that bad, maybe he could live with it. "So where did I humiliate myself?"
"At Kristian''s ce," Freya said, cool andposed.
n froze like someone had hit pause on his entire system.
Kristian''s ce?
Of all the godforsaken ces-Kristian''s?
n''s face twisted in horror. "That''s what you call ''not as bad as I think''?"
Toby''s ce would''ve been a blessing inparison.
Kristian was Freya''s ex-husband, for god''s sakes!
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This was humiliation on another level.
"Hold on a second." He stopped torturing his hair and finally started to think. "How the hell did I end up at Kristian''s? Even drunk, Toby should''ve taken me home."
The whole point of that gathering was to suss out Kristian, to get a read on the guy and figure out what made him let Freya down.
It wasn''t the kind of party where Toby would''ve gotten drunk-or had any excuse not to take n home.
"Gerard said that when Kristian asked whether you wanted him or Toby to take you, you picked Kristian," Freya ryed, still a little unsure of the details. "Since Kristian didn''t know where you lived, he brought you back to his ce."
n fell into stunned silence. No way. She had to be pulling some borate prank. Him? Choosing Kristian?
"Nice try, but you''re not fooling me," n said, pretending tough it off with a forced chuckle. "Didn''t think you''d turn into a prankster overnight."
Freya said nothing, just looked at him.
At first, he clung to the belief that she was joking.
But as he ate the rest of his breakfast and got no further exnation, doubt started gnawing at him.
"You''re being serious?" he asked atst.
"You can ask Toby," Freya said, ncing at her watch. "He should be getting ready for the office right about now.” n scrambled for his phone, finally spotting it on the couch.
Just as he was about to dial, it rang.
It was Toby. "Sir, should I pick you up from Mr. Shaw''s ce, or will you be heading to the office on your own?" Toby''s words hit like a thunderp, snuffing out thest flicker of denial in n''s chest.
"I actually left with Kristianst night?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why didn''t you stop him?" n was already spiraling, his mood sinking fast. "You''re my secretary-do you think it''s eptable to let the partnerpany''s boss walk off with me?"
"It''s not eptable," Toby answered smoothly.
n pressed, "Then why let him take me?"
"I tried to bring you home, sir, but you refused. You picked him," Toby answered
inly. "Both of you told me to leave, so I didn''t have a choice."
Honestly, he was still trying to figure out why his boss would choose Kristian over him.
Their working rtionship had only just begun to get close.
n ended the call in one swift motion.
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He slumped forward, staring at Freya like a man freshly defeated. "Mina, just put
me out of my misery. I can''t
live with this."
Utter mortification.
Complete, all-consuming shame.
"Don''t be so quick to surrender," Freya said, twisting the knife just a little deeper. "You still need to apologize to Kristian and pay for the damages."
Damages? There were damages involved?
Spinning in a storm of emotions, n forced himself to ask, "What exactly happened at his cest night?"
"I don''t know the full picture. When you called me, you thought you were a master fighter,” Freya recalled, though her memory was patchy. "You told me not toe because Kristian was plotting to kill me and be the strongest left in the world."
n was left speechless. What kind of nonsense had he been spouting?
"You also said you were going to kick his ass and make him pay," Freya went on. n stayed quiet.
Freya added, "And one more thing."
"What now?"
"You believed he poisoned you, so you tried to purge the toxins from your body." Freya always had a way of delivering the harshest truths with a straight face.
n wished the floor would open and swallow him whole. He was mortified beyond belief.
"If you''re too humiliated to apologize, I can do it for you when I go fix his phone,"
Freya offered. “I''d also make sure to cover whatever costs are needed."
"I''ll do it myself," n said, drawing a long breath and steeling himself.
It was just embarrassment. If he acted unfazed, then the awkwardness wouldnd
on Kristian instead.
When he went, he''d show up and apologize with a straight face.
Freya lifted a brow, testing him. "You sure?"
"Yes," n confirmed without flinching.
"Alright then." Freya didn''t argue, only added, "Just let me know when you''re
going so I cane along to deal with the phone."
n nodded.
They both got ready, left the house, and made their way to the Briggs Group
office.
When Toby walked up like he did every morning, n shut him down cold. "Stay
out of my sight today. I don''t want to look at you."
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