She Took The House The Car And My Heart

Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Stopped Trying To Dictate Hugh's...

Now, Freya understood everything. It was no surprise her mother had never urged her or her sister to seek of a man like their father-after all, that mariage had been forged not in love, but in dary, holon waliot

together for appearances, not affection.

It was all theater-smiles painted on like masks at a masquerade.

"What does Cheryl mean to you?" Freya asked, her voice gentler than a breeze before a storm, carefully mag her emotions in check.

At her question, Hugh said nothing. He simply lowered himself beside her, the silence hanging like fog between

them.

For the next half hour, he peeled back the layers of the past-recounting how he came to marry Freya's mother and the tangled history he shared with Cheryl.

When he finally fell silent, Freya felt as though a boulder had taken residence on her chest, pressing her down with every breath

She rose, emotions still glistening in her eyes. "I'm going upstairs."

"Mina," Hugh called softly.

"If you intend to make that woman your wife, then do it. But know this-Shella and I have only ever bad one mother." With those words, she left the living room, each step a quiet thunderclap as she retreated to her room

Now, the picture was clear.

Cheryl had been Hugh's first love-two young hearts ablaze, only to be torn apart by Hugh's father during the fervor of their romance. Duty overruled desire, he was bound to Freya's mother in a loveless match

Likewise, Freya's mother had once carried a torch for someone else-but she, too, had been no match for the iron grip of her father's authority.

In those days, marriage was rarely born of love. It was a chess game, orchestrated by elders, leaving little space for choice-or joy.

Though both parents had their own loves, they surrendered to the weight of tradition, their resistance merely a whisper against the storm.

And so they married-two strangers beneath the same roof, learning to coexist while longing for someone else. They had hoped to endure until they could part ways quietly.

But fate, ever capricious, had other plans. Divorce eluded them, and three years into their forced companionship, Freya was born.

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With her arrival, something shifted. They resolved to raise her with care, determined not to let history write her fate as it had theirs. They wanted her to know a childhood where love, even if feigned, felt real

And in that, they succeeded.

As for Hugh and Cheryl....

Three years prior, Cheryl had found herself in a nightmare-trapped in a marriage poisoned by violence. In her

darkest hour, she reached for Hugh, a flicker of her past she hoped might save her.

Hugh helped her find a lawyer, but he kept his distance.

of their old love

it was restitution

mother fell gravely ill. Two years ago,

Freya had seen it with her own

once asked, "Why did you turn

"Your mom and I spent decades together. Though love may not have lived

that moment, something quietly

that being together didn't always bloom

couldn't recall how she managed to shower or

with memories of her parents-moments wrapped in warmth that had, to

father's tenderness, his worry when her mother was ill... that couldn't have been an

how could it

Ethel's voice came with a knock at

mirror, smoothing her face into calm before opening

up?" she asked, her tone warm and steady

talk about?" Ethel stood at the threshold, picking up on the subtle shift in

"Nothing serious."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

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Ethel tried to coax a smile out of her.

herself and tousled Ethel's hair

the earlier conversation, she added, "If Dad wants to marry her, let him. It's his life. We

stunned. Her eyes widened with

She stammered, "You-You..."

"Hmm?" Freya remained gentle.

since their fallout two years ago, Freya refused to utter that

Yet now, she had.

It felt almost unreal.

things more

Ethel's still-damp hair. Her

were so upset with him before?" Ethel asked cautiously.

right or wrong." She had no desire to

soon after her mother's passing had felt like a

side. Two people denied their first loves, cornered by tradition. Surely, regret weighed heavily on them

scratched her

further, but asked the one thing on her mind, "What did you mean earlier when you said Dad should

didn't sound like the sister she

Freya clarified, her usual calm returning. "But

to dictate Dad's

had no control over

Cheryl wasn't someone Freya liked, she wanted her father to

something serious behind my back."

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