?Chapter 617:


    Now Freya was truly thrown off.


    She replied, her voice even, “When I left, I only told you. No one else.”


    “I’m talking about that man,” Frederick rified under his breath.


    And now Freya got it.


    She shot him a look, a mix of sympathy and resignation. Now it made sense—why he was always caught in messes. He really didn’t know how easy it was to twist his words.


    “All done?” Ellis strolled over, his voice casual and easy.


    Freya nodded softly. “Yeah.”


    “Go have a seat and wait a bit. We’re just going to rinse off and change.” Ellis wiped some sweat from his brow as he spoke.


    “Alright.”


    He and the others headed off for a quick shower, changing back into their clean clothes.


    Ten minutester, they were ready and made their way to the parking lot with Freya in tow.


    “I’ll ride with Trent,” Freya said firmly, just as Trent started the engine.


    “I need to talk to him.”


    “Sure.” Ellis didn’t argue.


    Trent pressed his lips together, a faint trace of helplessness in his expression.


    Once they were inside the car, Trent nced at Freya in the passenger seat. “Why are you avoiding Ellis?”


    “Was it that obvious?” Freya hadn’t realized Trent had taken Ellis’s side, so she didn’t hold back.


    “As obvious as the nose on your face.” His tone was light, almost teasing. “To a stranger, it might look like you have beef with him.”


    Freya was caught off guard. Her mind shed to what Ethel had told her. Ellis hadn’t said much earlier—did he think she had beef with him?


    “Did you do something to upset him?” Trent asked.


    “You could say that.”


    Freya sighed, already feeling a headacheing on. What she feared most were Ellis’s unpredictable traps.


    Trent’s eyes flickered with thought. “He isn’t as strict as you think. Sometimes, he’s genuinely concerned—notying traps.”


    “You might think so.” Freya gave him a pointed look. “But for the rest of us? It’s like a minefield.”


    Trent didn’t say anything after that. Suddenly, he wasn’t so sure Ellis’s pursuit of Freya would go as smoothly as he’d hoped.


    Meanwhile, Frederick’s nerves were shot—mostly because of Ellis’s sharp question.


    “Tell me—what are you lot scheming behind my back?” Ellis followed behind Trent’s car, his voice breaking the silence from the driver’s seat. Though his tone was light and easygoing, Frederick couldn’t help but feel a chill crawl down his spine.


    He sat frozen, gaze shifting restlessly. “Nothing! Seriously!”


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