LOGINCHAPTER THREE
Freya’s POV “Will you be my wife, Freya Roberta?” Bryan, my boyfriend, kneels in the middle of the restaurant where we were seated. He had a proud smile on and I turned towards my best friend smiling at me to say YES. Really? I felt the urge to tear up in pain and the amount of betrayal I have felt just in a couple of days now as they kept hiding things away and getting me involved in a messy situation. “Please say yes” I heard him say and I shook my head in disbelief. The whole staff wasn't left out too as I stood up, striding to his side. I checked the ring he had on to propose to me and it was also the same he used to propose to her. It might not be the one but it was the same. I clenched my jaw, trying to take in the pain and anger that boiled in me but it was inevitable. “There is nothing to think about, Freya. He is your man, the man you have been with for five years. Why do you have to think about eternity with him.” I heard my best friend say and I scoffed as tears rolled down my eyes and I held my chest in pain as I felt suffocation in between the scenes. I shook my head, my eyes closed and I tried to take in. Take a breath in. “Thwack” I gave him a resounding slap that I had been taking in for a very long time now, shocking the entire room. “There is absolutely something to think about, Rachelle Lefevre and Bryan Lefevre.” I turned over to them and smiled while they had a shock expression on. “The Columns Hotel's Grand ballroom, one of the prestigious hotels in Louisiana. Do you remember now?” I asked and I didn't miss the flabbergasted look Rachelle gave, glamping in hard. “Hotel Grand?” She asked, trying to look surprised in everything I just said. “No, just shut it. Shut it right there. One more word from any of you and I will make you pay.” I threatened and she shifted backwards. “Babe,” Bryan called, standing up to his feet and coming closer to me but I held up my hand in silence. “Not any closer.” I warned and he sighed. “You need to hear me out please. I didn't mean to hurt you, Freya.” He said and I scoffed. “But you did. Definitely means I meant nothing to you. I can't believe you stoop so low to even asking me to get married to you, after all of this? How heartless can you be, Bryan.” I asked, my voice broken in pain. “I love you, Freya and I didn't want to jeopardize anything between us. Rachelle and I marriage was a facade to a marriage contract. It is all business.” He gave out excuses for himself and I snickered. “It's all business? But yet you couldn't consult your fiance first. None of you deem it fit to tell me? Not even someone I called my best friend for years? Oh really? All in the name of not wanting to hurt me. I have never met someone more deadly than you both. Now you propose and want me to say Yes? How selfish can you be.” I flared up in utmost disbelief and disappointment. “I regret ever getting to know you both. I am done here.” I said and was about to leave but Bryan was fast enough to jerk my hand into his. Holding firmly to it. “No, you won't do that. You won't dare leave me. After all, I am doing this to secure a better future for us. Can't you see?” He yelled out in desperation and I chuckled. “A better future for us? Because you term me as a wretched soul? You think I can't afford good things? You think of me as a lowlife and want to use your cash to buy my right? Do you hear yourself, huh?” I asked, and I held my hand up and I sighed, trying to make everything make sense yet it wasn't. “I never want you heartbroken. I love you, Freya. Can't you see? Can't you see I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He said with a remorseful face and I scoffed. “But I cannot spend the rest of my life with a cheat, liar, and backstabber like you, married to my best friend for your own benefit. No” I shook my head and jerked off my hand from his before making moves again but Rachelle words made me halt to a stop. “Bryan loves you, Freya. I felt so hurt when we made this decision because I know how far you guys have gone but this isn't in our hands to take. He's willing to propose to you, even after our family was against it. What more do you want?” She asked, her voice getting high like I was irritating her. “R…Rachelle…have you ever for once in your life considered me your best friend? Do you ever acknowledge the love I had for you and how I never back down from saying how much I love you and want greater things for you. Now you stand here and tell me this?” I inhaled deeply, rushing out of the restaurant while the tears I was holding onto like a strong woman came flowing freely. I ran and jumped into a soft arm filled with warmth, felt like my mom. “Take it all out. You endured enough.” I heard my mom voice say and I held onto her body as I sobbed out in pain. “I am sorry baby.” She patted my hair. “Mom, Rachelle too, she did it. I feel pain all around me. I feel my body not replying to my movement. I can't feel my heart anymore. Do something. I feel fire all around. Mom” I cried out, holding tightly to her grip like she would run too. “I am here, baby. I am here for you. Not leaving anytime soon.”Chapter 60 — Freya’s POVWounds and WhispersI woke up cold.Not freezing.Not shivering.Just… cold in that hollow, internal way that sleep sometimes leaves behind when rest never really comes.For a moment I didn’t move. My cheek was pressed against the couch cushion, my neck stiff, my limbs heavy like they belonged to someone else. The room was dim with early morning light, pale gold slipping through the curtains and stretching across the floor in thin lines.My journal was still tucked loosely against my chest.I blinked slowly, staring at nothing.Then I felt it.That familiar sensation.Being watched.I lifted my gaze.Brandon stood near the doorway.He must’ve been there for a while, because he didn’t react when I looked up. He was just… watching me. Quiet. Still. Careful.Too careful.“Morning,” he said softly.His voice sounded like it was afraid to be loud.I pushed myself upright. “Morning.”He rolled closer, slow and deliberate, like he didn’t want the wheels of his chair
Chapter 59 — Brandon’s POVThe Wrong TargetsThe first thing I heard was running.Not casual footsteps. Not servants moving through halls.Running.Urgent. Uneven. Alarmed.I was halfway down the corridor before I even realized I’d stood up. My leg protested sharply, pain flaring like lightning through bone and nerve, but I barely felt it. Pain had become background noise lately — constant, dull, ignorable.The voices ahead sharpened.“…guest room—”“…wake him—”“…don’t tell—”My chest tightened.Not fear.Instinct.Something was wrong.And whenever something went wrong in this house lately, it always circled back to one person.Freya.I rounded the corner just as one of the junior staff nearly collided with me.“S-sir!”“What happened?” My voice came out calm. Too calm.The kind of calm that made people nervous.He swallowed. “Mr. Bryan, sir. He was found with a lady in the upstairs guest room where we laid him to rest .”Every muscle in my shoulders went rigid.“With who?” I asked.
Chapter 58 — Freya’s POVPoisoned IntentionsI woke up tired.Not the kind of tired sleep fixes.Not the kind coffee touches.Not the kind a quiet morning cures.This was the kind of tired that lived in your bones.The kind silence creates.I lay there for a long time staring at the ceiling, listening to the soft hush of the curtains shifting in the breeze. My body was awake, but my thoughts lagged behind, heavy and tangled like they didn’t want to face the day.Because facing the day meant facing everything.Brandon’s careful kindness.Miya’s watchful presence.Rachelle’s smile that never reached her eyes.Secrets no one would name.Truths no one would say.It all pressed down on me at once.I felt like I was drowning in things no one else could see.When I finally turned my head, Brandon was already awake beside me, propped up against the headboard. He looked like he’d been watching me for a while.“Morning,” he said softly.I nodded. “Morning.”He studied my face.Concern. Always c
Chapter 57 — Brandon’s POVThe Quiet Before the StormI knew she was gone before I opened my eyes.You learn the rhythm of someone you love.The sound of their breathing.The warmth they leave behind.The weight of their presence even when they aren’t touching you.And when it’s missing…you feel it instantly. I could feel it all over me. I miss Freya. My eyes opened slowly.The room was dim, washed in pale morning light. The blankets beside me were undisturbed, cold. The chair where she’d been sleeping lately sat empty.My chest tightened.Again.I stared at the ceiling for a long moment, listening.Nothing.No soft footsteps.No kettle whistle.No quiet humming like she used to do when she thought I was asleep.Just silence.I pushed myself upright, ignoring the dull protest in my leg, and reached for the wheelchair beside the bed. The metal felt cold beneath my palms as I eased into it, moving carefully so I wouldn’t make noise.Not because I wanted to sneak up on her.Because I
Chapter 56 — Freya’s POVTangled in ShadowsThe house no longer feels like home to me. It looks familiar—same walls, same staircase, and those soft curtains that used to glow warmly in the evening light. But something inside it has changed, or maybe something inside me has. Brandon’s dinner still lingers in the air—warm spices, melted butter, the faint sweetness of candles he lit. The table was set just right, plates half-eaten, glasses barely touched—everything about it felt perfect. Careful. Thoughtful. Gentle. And that’s where the difficulty lies. It feels like he’s really trying, but trying too hard—like when someone apologizes without saying sorry. I stood at the kitchen counter, looking at the sink, my hands resting on the edge, my reflection faint in the dark window above. Behind me, I could hear Brandon shifting slightly in the living room. Even that sound feels different now—measured, controlled—like he’s afraid of disturbing something fragile, maybe even me. A f
Chapter 55 — Brandon’s POVSlipping Through My FingersYou might not notice when someone starts drifting away from you at first. At the beginning, it’s just small things—things that seem insignificant or easy to explain. It’s natural to want to justify them. I saw the changes in Freya gradually. She smiled less, but not obviously—still when people spoke to her or when she handed me water, yet the sparkle in her eyes was fading. Once I saw it, I couldn’t unseen it. It hit me on the third morning after our talk about Miya. Freya was sitting by the window, sunlight shining on her, making her look almost unreal—like a painting come to life. She was reading on her phone, looking so calm, too calm. When I reached for her hand, she gave it without hesitation, but she didn’t intertwine her fingers with mine like she always did. My heart clenched. I told myself I was imagining it, but deep down, I knew I wasn’t.The Quiet ChangesFreya stopped reaching out without thinking, and that







