?Chapter 439:


    Freya nodded. “Yes. I do.”


    Kristian hardly ever turned down her requests, so he agreed to make the copy.


    Freya gave him a quiet thanks.


    After finishing up his meal and cleaning up, n wandered into the study—only to spot Kristian transferring the surveince footage onto a sh drive.


    He stopped dead in his tracks. What the hell was going on? Why was the footage being saved?


    Before he could even open his mouth, Kristian had already finished copying the file and wiped the footage from the system.


    Freya and n didn’t stick around long. It was already pushing eleven, and Freya looked worn out. She shut her eyes and started dozing off the second they got into the car.


    n wanted to ask about the footage, but when he looked over and saw her face, all tired and peaceful, he didn’t have the heart to wake her.


    The car rolled on quietly.


    By half past eleven, they pulled into the driveway of Freya’s private residence.


    n walked her upstairs, and just as he was about to ask something, Freya handed him the sh drive. “This is the footage I had Kristian save. Take it home and watch it carefully.”


    n looked confused.


    He took the sh drive, baffled, not entirely sure what she was trying to tell him.


    Freya didn’t offer any more exnation. She gave it to him, then went off to wash up and get ready for bed.


    n shut her door behind him and left with the sh drive in hand. When he got home and yed the footage, the embarrassment hit him like a freight train.


    Why was that ridiculous man in the video—him?


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    Suddenly, it all clicked. Freya had wanted him to see for himself. This time, he’d outdone even his worst behavior. And the strangest part? Despite all that, Kristian hadn’t tossed him out.


    It was… surreal.


    In the days that followed, Freya and Kristian didn’t run into each other again.


    n kept a low profile at work and even told Toby to make sure he never had more than three drinks, no matter what.


    Toby had no idea what had happened, but he agreed anyway. Time zipped by.


    The date was now the 14th.


    Kristian had already flown back to Jeucwell.


    Freya and Hugh were booked on an afternoon flight that same day.


    In the past, Lionel’s 80th birthday would’ve been just another corporate function for Hugh—showing up for formality’s sake, then slipping away unnoticed.


    But this time, things were different.


    Hugh was about to meet the very family that had once been his inws.


    From the moment Hugh boarded the ne to Jeucwell, he looked visibly uneasy, ncing at Freya every now and then like he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite get the words out.


    Though things between them had improved, their bond wasn’t what it had been when Freya was still a kid.


    Freya noticed the tension and asked, “What’s wrong?”


    “What am I even supposed to do when we get there?” Hugh asked, lips pressed together, clearly anxious.


    “Nothing. Just treat it like any other business event,” Freya replied matter-of-factly. “I’m just going to see Lionel. You don’t need to do anything special.”


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