?Chapter 536:


    Kristian, for the first time tonight, felt a strong urge to send Gerard to the furthest edge of the. The man talked too much.


    Sensing the frost in Kristian’s aura, Gerard swallowed hard and forced a grin, pretending he wasn’t rattled. After all, Freya was his idol and his good friend’s leader. If things went south with Kristian, maybe he couldnd a job with her instead.


    “Did you follow me?” Freya asked outright.


    Kristian answered swiftly, “No.”


    “Then how did you know?” Her suspicion only deepened. She studied his expression closely, not letting a single twitch slip past her. “Other than Melvin and me, only the person who booked the room would know it was Room 2309.”


    Kristian’s chest tightened. “You think I orchestrated this?”


    “I’m not stupid,” Freya retorted coldly. “I don’t jump to conclusions without evidence.”


    Her sharp remark tugged at something inside him—memories he’d buried. Back then, he had linked scattered clues and half-baked theories, pinning the me for Ashley’s ident and the online chaos on Freya. Had Ashley’s miscarriage been tied to Trent? Or, if he hadn’t ced such unwavering faith in Liam, perhaps he would have questioned Freya back then as well.


    Lost in that haze of regret, Kristian spoke—his voice rough and barely audible. “I’m sorry.”


    Freya blinked in surprise. Gerard, too, looked baffled.


    Both wore identical expressions of confusion.


    Gerard, emboldened by the silence, asked, “Are you alright?”


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    Why had he apologized now?


    “You’re not upset about earning a fat paycheck, are you?” Kristian thought Gerard had really been pushing his lucktely.


    Gerard promptly shut his mouth, stering on a tight smile and choosing silence.


    But Freya was still waiting—still expecting an exnation.


    “I was looking into past incidents and just happened to follow the trail here,” Kristian lied smoothly. “So I went upstairs.”


    Freya didn’t budge. She stared at him, unwavering.


    “You don’t believe me?” Kristian asked.


    “No,” Freya answered without hesitation.


    Her t response left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.


    But what truly bothered him was the knowledge that this tiny lie was already cracking her trust. If this small deception felt this heavy, how must she have felt when he’d wronged her before? No wonder she didn’t want anything to do with him now.


    If their roles were reversed, he’d probably hate himself too.


    “I’m telling the truth,” Kristian insisted, still determined to keep his investigation on Melvin under wraps. He tried pivoting. “Let me take you home. We can talk at my ce.”


    “If you had really followed the trail, you wouldn’t have said those things to Melvin—or told Gerard to call the police,” Freya countered, not letting him steer the conversation away. “You investigated Melvin, didn’t you?”


    If Kristian had truly uncovered something, his usual method would’ve been to detain Melvin on the spot and squeeze out whoever was pulling the strings. But he’d acted hostile from the very beginning.


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