?Chapter 429:


    Freya hesitated, then gave a small nod. “Yes.”


    n ran a hand through his already messy hair, the weight of humiliation settling on his shoulders.


    Looking deeply apologetic, he said, “I’m sorry, Mina. I caused trouble again, didn’t I?”


    He didn’t even question the situation further. In his mind, the damage was done, and Freya had been the only witness to his wild side.


    “It’s not me you should be apologizing to.” Freya knew the words would hit hard, but there was no gentler way to say it.


    n needed to confront the consequences of his actions.


    n snapped to attention, jerking his hand away from his hair. “What’s that supposed to mean?”


    A wave of unease washed over him. Had he made a fool of himself on the street while drunk?


    No, that didn’t sound right. Freya would never let him make a spectacle like that—she knew how much his image mattered to him.


    “You were at…” Freya began.


    “I know!” n cut her off, eager to get ahead of it. Better to admit 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 a total idiot now!


    Freya silently weighed the embarrassment of messing up in front of a close colleague versus a stranger. She decided it was slightly less mortifying with someone he barely knew.


    At least n didn’t have to see Kristian every day.


    Updated stories galnoνe?s


    “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 picture anything worse.


    He’d already envisioned 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, calm andposed. n froze, as though someone had pressed pause on his entire system.


    Kristian’s ce?


    Of all the 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 sake!


    This was humiliation on an entirely new level.


    “Hold on a second.” He stopped tugging at his hair and finally began 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 had been to get a read on Kristian, to 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.”


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