?Chapter 424:


    Kristian turned to Freya and gave her a quiet nod, signaling that it was safe to enter.


    Freya stepped into the room, and the moment n saw her, he charged at her and pulled her into a tight hug. “Mina! Thank God you’re okay! I was terrified he’d killed you!”


    Both Freya and Kristian stood in silence, caught off guard by the bizarre disy.


    “I’ve already made peace with him,” Freya said, humoring n’s drunken delusions, her voice calm and t. “Now sit down. I’ll whip up something to flush the poison out of your system.”


    “Okay,” n mumbled. He shuffled to the couch, slumped over, and promptly passed out.


    Freya frowned.


    Just as she was about to prepare some honey water, her eyesnded on a shattered phone lying on the floor.


    Her mind went into a spin. “Is that your phone?” she asked.


    “Yeah,” Kristian said with a shrug, his voice devoid of emotion.


    Freya made a silent vow to get her cousin off alcohol for good. He was nothing but a walking disaster.


    “I might need a favor from youter,” Kristian said, his eyes on Freya, his voice unusually gentle.


    Still feeling guilty over everything, Freya nodded. “What is it?”


    “There were some important files on my phone—ones I didn’t back up. Now that it’s broken, I’ll need your help transferring them to a new one,” he exined.


    “That’s the least I can do,” Freya replied.


    Kristian didn’t add anything else. Freya took a cup from the kitchen, filled it halfway with hot water, and added a generous swirl of honey.


    As she moved through the space, she surveyed the full extent of the damage.


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    The living room, the master bedroom, even the guest room—each looked like a war zone. Only the kitchen and the study, which was locked, had been spared.


    Ten minutester, she finally got n to drink the honey water. Kristian helped her with quiet, steady movements, his patience almost startling.


    Something about the way he acted stirred up a strange, nostalgic feeling in Freya, like she’d been transported back to the early days of their marriage. Back then, things had been warm and easy between them—no arguments, just quiet happiness.


    She set the cup aside and let n sleep where he was.


    “I’ll start cleaning,” she said, unable to take the chaos any longer. Her cousin had made the mess. It only made sense for her to deal with it.


    But as she stood, Kristian gently reached out and took her wrist. His hand was warm, his touch light—but it sent a faint tremor through her chest.


    Freya was just about to pull away when Kristian spoke. “Hold off on that for a second. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”


    Facing the gentle Kristian, Freya couldn’t bring herself to get angry or confront him outright.


    She slowly withdrew her hand and sank down beside him. “Go ahead,” she murmured.


    Kristian’s lips pressed into a hard line.


    His deep, shadowed eyes stayed locked on Freya, weighing each word in his head, determined not to say anything that might push her away.


    “Didn’t you have something to say?” Freya asked, her lips parting just slightly when she noticed his silence.


    “It’s nothing.” Kristian lingered in hesitation, unable to bring himself to speak. After a long pause, he finally stood up from the sofa and said, “You take care of him. I’ll clean up.”


    “I’ll handle it. He’s my cousin—his mess, my responsibility,” Freya replied, sensing something off about him but choosing not to press.


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