She Took The House The Car And My Heart

Chapter 396:

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.

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.

embers of their old love had long gone cold. What he offered was not

And then, Freya’s mother fell

ago, she

beside Cheryl. Freya had seen it with her own eyes. A cruel setup by Cheryl’s family, who believed Hugh still carried a torch for Cheryl after helping her escape

had answered, “Your mom and I spent decades together. Though love may not have lived between us, companionship did. And over time, that becomes its own kind

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something quietly

recall how she managed to shower or crawl into bed

mind reeled with memories of her parents—moments wrapped in warmth that had, to her, always looked like love. Her father’s tenderness, his worry when her mother was ill… that couldn’t have been

how could it not be

came with a knock at the door.

stood before the mirror, smoothing her face

she asked, her tone warm and steady as

threshold, picking up on the subtle shift in Freya’s mood. “He told me to come check on you, maybe