?Chapter 819:


    With the atmosphere considerably lightened, Hugh gestured toward the living room. “Since you’ve returned, please join our discussion. They arrived recently, and I remain unaware of their purpose here.”


    Initially, Freya hesitated, feeling disconnected from whatever business awaited them.


    But Ethel tugged persistently at her sleeve. “Please apany us—let’s face this together!”


    When Cheryl and Vivien caught sight of Freya entering the room, their bodies visibly tensed, a fleeting shadow of disquiet darkening their carefullyposed expressions.


    Cheryl believed that if Freya hadn’t suddenly returned back then, her rtionship with Hugh might not have ended.


    “Hi, we meet again,” Vivien greeted Freya and Ethel, her voice far calmer than the smug tone she’d used earlier.


    Freya and Ethel gave the slightest of nods in return, cold and clipped.


    Cheryl’s unease only deepened. She often found herself baffled at how Freya—just a woman in her twenties—could radiate such effortless authority, even more than Hugh himself. Whenever Freya was around, Cheryl feltpletely exposed, unable to mask a single thought or emotion. And today was no different.


    “Have you had anything to eat yet?” Cheryl asked, trying to shift the focus and cut the tension. “Why don’t we all sit down and eat first?”


    “Thanks for the concern,” Ethel replied, fully aware her sister wasn’t one for chit-chat. “We’re at home, and we’ll eat when we feel like it. Please go ahead and speak to my dad about whatever you need.”


    Cheryl felt a flush of awkwardness rise in her chest.


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    Hugh wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries either, diving straight to the heart of it. “It’s gettingte. If you’ve got something to say, then say it.”


    It had been several months since theirst real conversation.


    In all that time, Freya and Ethel hadn’t crossed paths with either Cheryl or Vivien again. They also hadn’t the faintest idea what Hugh had talked about with them after they’d left on Cheryl’s birthday. But judging by the tension in the room now, it seemed like the time hade to make a final call.


    “Would it be alright if we spoke in private?” Cheryl asked cautiously, clearly still rattled from herst confrontation with Freya. “I’d like to talk about where we stand.”


    The second the words left her mouth, Freya rose from her seat, ready to walk out. But Hugh stopped her cold with a firm tone, looking Cheryl square in the eye. “Mina and She are both my daughters. There’s nothing here that needs to be hidden from them.”


    Cheryl faltered, visibly caught off guard.


    Vivien threw a quick nce Freya’s way, her gaze guarded.


    Freya’s return had shaken up everything—her once wless life and the elite image she’d worked so hard to maintain. By all logic, she should’ve loathed her. But at this point, she couldn’t even summon resentment. All she could hope was that no…


    No matter how things turned out today, Freya wouldn’t make her future harder than it had to be.


    If her mother and Hugh didn’t end up together, she would be just another name, no different from anyone else. And if Freya ever chose to ruin her career, it would take nothing more than a snap of her fingers.


    “I’ve thought a lot about what you said thest time,” Cheryl said, casting a quick nce toward Freya and pressing her lips into a tight line. “I shouldn’t have been dishonest. I’m sorry.”


    “There’s no need,” Hugh said coolly, his tone distant and unmoved. Maybe it was the sting of betrayal, or maybe he’d just matured in the time that had passed. Whatever the case, he clearly had no ns of remarrying. All he wanted now was to see Freya and Ethel living well.


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