She Took The House The Car And My Heart

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 You Could've

At Least Picked A Believa...

Before Kristian could utter a word, Freya cut him off sharply. "Stop staring."

"I have something to discuss with you," Kristian said, steering the conversation away from the weight of his own guilt.

Still drying her hair, Freya cracked the door open just enough to fix him with a dismissive look. "If this is about Ashley or Trent, save your breath. There's nothing to say."

"It's not," Kristian replied, irritation flickering beneath his calm tone. Her attitude grated on him

What he really wanted was to peel back the layers and see who she truly was.

Freya set the towel aside and sighed. "Go ahead."

"I'd like to visit your family," Kristian said, his voice firm, though the request was little more than a pretext. "My grandpa made a valid point-in two years of marriage, I never once met your parents. That's inexcusable

"There's no need," Freya countered flatly.

"It's just an apology. I won't overstay my welcome." His voice was low, deliberate.

Freya didn't budge. "Seriously, drop it."

"Why the resistance?" Kristian's eyes narrowed. "Are you hiding something?" Gerard's earlier insinuations

resurfaced in his mind.

"Exactly." Freya met his gaze without flinching, her expression dead serious. "My family's'filthy rich. I'm afraid you'll get dollar signs in your eyes, refuse to divorce me, and then siphon off my inheritance to fund Ashley's lifestyle."

Kristian stared at her, momentarily speechless. He didn't buy a word of it—but he humored her anyway. "Name one. I know every major family and corporation. Which one's yours?"

"The Briggs Group," Freya shot back without hesitation.

She had no reason to lie. Her identity wasn't some well-guarded secret.

Hugh Briggs's daughter was common knowledge in elite circles-except the one everyone recognized was her younger sister.

Freya had always preferred solitude over socializing, so few outside her inner circle even knew she existu

"You could've at least picked a believable lie," Kristian scoffed. "I've met Hugh Briggs' daughter. She looks nothing like you."

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Freya's response

between her and

simplicity, her sister dripped in elegance

perfection.

all I'm asking." Kristian

Why start now?" Freya's tone was light, almost mocking, "People might think you're doing this out

"Because I never-

years ago," Freya interrupted, her usual composure slipping into blunt impatience.

defiance only sharpened his

she resisted, the more he wondered about

had led him to an unremarkable neighborhood in

so against this?"

you waltz in and

dragged his thoughts back to last

strained

your mom," Kristian offered,

toner bottle hovering as her

Just as he opened his mouth to

him like a punch to

all the possibilities he'd considered,

For once, he was at

Freya said, replacing the bottle with deliberate calm,

tomorrow."

sharpened, weighing her mood before settling on a

night." Freya's reply was

press further. At the door, his broad frame seemed to shrink the room as his hand hovered over the knob. A last glance at Freya-her face unreadable, her posture unchanged-and

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Could've At Least

latch clicking softly behind

Sleep eluded them both.

Worse was the gnawing realization: after two years, he knew nothing of Freya's

Freya drowned in nightmares.

mother's arms around her, the whisper against her hair-"Mina, don't be afraid. I'm here."-before