?Chapter 1014:


    That day at work, with little on her te, Freya quickly wrapped up her tasks and dove into nning the proposal.


    As fate would have it, Melvin walked in just as she was fine-tuning the draft.


    Their eyes locked.


    Freya felt a flush of awkwardness bloom across her face.


    It was toote to click away—she’d been so focused, she hadn’t even noticed hime in.


    Melvin’s gazended on the words “Proposal n” disyed on her screen, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his eyes.


    “Are you thinking of proposing to Ellis?”


    Freya kept her face unreadable. “No.”


    “You never used to lie,” Melvin said, calling her bluff outright.


    Freya froze.


    Lying to someone who knew her so well was never easy.


    “I am nning to propose,” she admitted, worried he might identally let it slip. “But I haven’t told him yet. Can you keep it to yourself?”


    “Traditionally, men do the proposing.” Melvin’s voice remained as cool andposed as ever.


    Freya pleaded, “Come on, do me this one favor.”


    “Please, my dearest Mel.”


    “Won’t your boyfriend get jealous if he finds out?” Melvin’s aloof tone softened just a bit, and under the office lights, he looked oddly striking. “From what I hear, you still call him ‘Captain’.”


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    Freya blinked.


    Was this really Melvin talking? He was different.


    Melvin could read her like a book, but he didn’t bother rifying.


    “You’re acting strange,” Freya said.


    “You’re the odd one,” Melvin countered, offering a bit of unsolicited advice. “Don’t go through with the proposal. If you really want to marry him, I’ll drop a hint and make sure he’s the one to ask.”


    Freya stayed silent. She’d already made up her mind. She wanted to propose to Ellis herself. She wanted him to feel cherished too.


    “If you do it, he’ll be happy,” Melvin said, his voice tinged with a kind of masculine insight. “But a part of him will regret it for the rest of his life.”


    Freya frowned. “Why?”


    Wasn’t being proposed to a joyful thing?


    “For a man, proposing is one of the major milestones,” Melvin said seriously. “He’d rather be the one doing it.”


    Freya paused, looking over at Melvin.


    In the end, all she said was that she’d think about it.


    But truthfully, her mind was already made up.


    Once Melvin left, she sent thepleted proposal n to the group chat with Greta and Riley, saying she was still brainstorming other ideas.


    They both looked it over and gave honest feedback.


    Greta said, “You forgot something important.”


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