?Chapter 379:


    “Mina,” he called out, summoning the nerve just as she reached the stairs.


    Ethel had once suggested that if he wanted to rebuild his rtionship with Freya, he had to speak more often.


    Freya paused, hand resting on the banister, and nced down. “What is it?”


    “Can we sit down and talk?” Hugh asked, cautiously, his face tinged with unease. “It’s been ages since we just talked or even watched TV together.”


    Those words gave Freya pause.


    Images of a younger Hugh sitting beside her during her childhood, trying to cook despite his utterck of skill, surfaced in her mind. Despite the resentment simmering in her heart, she came back downstairs.


    He had let her mother down, but he had still been a decent father. Seeing here down, Hugh breathed a quiet sigh of relief, feeling that maybe—just maybe—Ethel’s advice had merit.


    “There’s something I want to get your opinion on,” he said with a nervous twitch, pressing his lips together. “Should we formally announce your identity? If you’re okay with it, I could host a banquet and announce it then.”


    He didn’t want to risk what Vivien had hinted at ever happening again. His daughter deserved better than whispers behind her back.


    “There’s no need to make a big show of it, but no need to keep it under wraps either,” Freya replied. “Let it unfold naturally.”


    “I see.” Hugh nodded, a shadow of disappointment flickering across his face.


    He still wanted the world to know he had two brilliant daughters. As they chatted about other things, a thought urred to Hugh—something he had long meant to say. But the words snagged in his throat, tangled in hesitation.


    Freya noticed immediately. “Is there something else?”


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    “There is,” Hugh admitted.


    “What is it?”


    “Well…” Hugh faltered, his voice hitching.


    He couldn’t bring himself to speak it aloud, worried it might tear apart the fragile bridge they had only just started to rebuild.


    But this matter had already lingered too long.


    Watching his struggle, Freya pieced it together and said bluntly, “Are you nning to register your marriage with Vivien’s mother?” Hugh froze. How had she figured it out? Who had told her?


    “How—How did you know?” he asked, stunned.


    “You always stammer when it’s about her,” Freya said, holding back her emotions. Then, to Hugh’s shock, she added, “Pick a time. I’ll meet her.”


    Hugh was taken aback, his eyes wide, momentarily too stunned to react.


    “You really want to meet her?” he asked, his voice shaking ever so slightly.


    “I’m not blessing your rtionship, and I haven’t forgiven you,” Freya said tly. “I just don’t…”


    Freya didn’t want the family to fall into disarray. Hugh marrying that woman felt inevitable. She couldn’t stop it, and doing so wouldn’t change anything. What she could do was meet her face-to-face.


    Ethel insisted Cheryl was a kind soul, but Freya remained unconvinced. If Cheryl truly had good intentions, she would have walked away after what happened, not stayed tethered to Hugh for over two years.


    “All right!” Hugh agreed quickly, his eyes misting over.


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