Rumors flew in Norris Group.

They had heard a lot about the daughter of Norris Group.

She was rebellious and carefree, chasing after Chris of Everbridge Group. She was the best at throwing parties and had recently competed in Top Model on a whim. She won a decent title but had been accused of being involved with hidden rules.

A person that had nothing to do with the business circle, had declared in a board meeting that she would seal the deal with a company that even experienced executives failed to do with over half year of efforts.

People were whispering in the pantries. "Can you believe that?"

"Of course not! She's not experienced and she's young. I don't think our partners will trust her at all."

...

Actually, Freya did not trust herself as well.

Nevertheless, she could not show it, so she had to bury herself in the files.

Mr. Norris was very old school and had almost used heavy wood to decorate the entire office, and all the plants were either lucky bamboo or money tree. Freya, who loved the modern minimalism, found this kind of environment suffocating. It was also why she used to hate to enter the company.

She also disliked looking through papers. One and other characters were joined together and the context bored her. That being said, she must carefully review it, otherwise, she would fall into traps. It was like conducting a royal palace drama on paper.

However, now, it was the first time that she had stepped into this "hell" for the past few months, and she stayed here after 8 pm.

A secretary knocked and walked in. She was surprised to see Freya was still here. "Why are you here?"

"Because... you're still here." All the people in the secretary office were still working.

"Sorry. I forget about you guys." Freya closed the file. "You should get off work now. I need to attend to some files."

Being interrupted, she could not return to the previous state anymore. Therefore, she directly put the papers into her bag and planned to read them on her way to the hospital.

Upon arriving, the doctor in charge let Freya follow him into the office and told her. "Mr. Norris and Mrs. Norris are in a stable state today, and you can visit them in ICU." Within a few days, they might be transferred to a regular ward. But I can't promise when they'll wake up. I can only suggest you talk to them in the following days every day because they might hear your voice."

Freya stayed in ICU for an hour or so and then she headed back to her apartment. On the way, she called Joanne.

"Joanne, do me a favor." She directly asked for help. "Help pick up a few sets of business clothing in the mall. My current wardrobe... you know, I can't wear any of them to negotiate with people."

"I'll send them to you tomorrow." Joanne paused for a few seconds. "Freya, are you OK?"

"... I'm fine. It's just that I'll be busy in the following days."

Joanne paused for another while, and in the end, she just said, "Take care of yourself."

"I will."

Freya hung up the phone, and the chauffeur had just stopped the car by her department. She saw a familiar car and a familiar figure on the driver's seat.

Good, he didn't barge into her apartment.

The next second, Freya looked away and walked upstairs while ignoring him. Chris didn't follow her either and just watched her get into the elevator. When he saw the lights on the 16th floor went on, he put out the cigarette and turned the car around...

Freya hesitantly walked to the balcony to look down. Chris was just driving away.

Tiredness, bitterness, they all seemed to stop at this moment, because right now, she could only feel Chris leaving her. Moreover, she felt something else slipping away from her as well. Again, emptiness possessed her and night shrouded her...

If only she were still kept in the dark?

Chris would have hugged her when she felt so lost, and told her everything would be alright.

Then, she could completely rely on Chris, asking him how to keep the company in order and how to get the contract so the board of directors would trust her.

He would definitely help her because he was the best at negotiating.

Chris, Chris.

Why did she have to meet him in this life?

...

The next day, Freya's office had a visitor, Travis.

He cut to the chase. "I heard what you did on the board meeting. I can help you."

On first thought, Freya wanted to decline. However, before she shook her head, Travis chimed in.

"Freya, look at me, I'm not Chris. I'm your dad's first choice to be his son-in-law. Even if you don't like me, you shouldn't turn me down for the sake of the company, which your dad worked so hard to earn."

"... and the condition is?" Freya looked calm and fierce at the same time.

Travis smiled bitterly. "You don't trust anyone right now, do you? I just want to help you, or help Uncle Norris, on no condition."

"Thank you." Freya said, "I owe you this."

Travis taught Freya from scratch, including negotiation skills and how to handle the board of directors. Freya had had difficulties in understanding some files, so she asked him. Travis explained them one by one, thus she had learned quite a lot.

From then on, Travis showed up in Norris Group at 4 pm every day. With his help, Freya managed to handle the company affairs and keep the company on course.

She would leave the company at 7 pm every day, grabbed a bite, and then went to the hospital.

Mr. Norris and Mrs. Norris had been transferred out of ICU. During her stay at the hospital, she either read newspapers for them or told them about the company's current situation. Occasionally, she would complain in front of Mr. Norris. "Why are you still sleeping? I'm exhausted. The bunch of old men is waiting to see your daughter make a fool of herself. Wake up and help me, will you?"

"..."

"Mr. Norris, as long as you wake up, I'll listen to whatever you say, and I'll never argue with you. I won't model because I'll learn how to run the company from you and take over your company.

"..."

"Dad, wake up."

"..."

No matter what she said, no matter how much she cried, Mr. Norris just kept his eyes shut on the sickbed, not even moving a finger.

Sometimes, Freya was so tired that she didn't have the strength go home, so she would crash in the hospital. Later, she had kept so many personal belongings in the hospital that it almost became her second home.

On this day, Freya arrived at the hospital as usual but accidentally ran into Maya and Jack in the inpatient department.

Seeing these two together, she had to think of Chris.

What happened to him?

Freya stopped herself from thinking further. She tried to ignore them, but Maya already walked to her.

"Let's talk."

In the cafe before the hospital, Maya sized Freya up, took out a thin and long women's cigarette, and lit it. She acted so naturally that it showed that she did not care if Freya minded her or not.

She looked charming when she cupped her hand to block the wind to light the cigarette, between this, she said, "You've changed a lot."

Freya would wear clothes that revealed her fine curve, and her long and curved hair would look charming and glamorous, making her look like a party girl who liked to play games.

In less than half of a month, she seemed to grow up overnight. Now, she was wearing a rigid-looking black suit and white shirt. They looked simple but not boring. She wore her hair in a bun, looking a little formal and serious. Her face was blank, and she appeared calm as if she had transformed herself. Maya could not see the old Freya at all.

Freya didn't answer her, and just looked at the watch. "I give you 20 minutes."

Maya turned to puff a smoke. "Jack and I appear in the hospital together. I think you should know who's in the hospital."

"..." Freya remained bland.

Then, Maya put out the cigarette. "Do you really not care about him anymore? Don't you want to know why he's in the hospital?"

"Miss Parker, I'm busy." Freya said, "If you still want to continue this useless..."

"My dad not only helped Chris." Maya stopped Freya. "When he was at his worst, my dad helped him. Otherwise, it would take seven or eight years more for him to get what he's got today. When I leaked the plan, my dad knelt in front of him, so he didn't send me to court in the end."

Freya didn't change her face. "Why telling me this? When you told me the truth on the phone, didn't you mean to make me leave Chris?"

"I didn't know your parents had a car accident then." Maya paused and slowly added, "I've thought it through. Chris and I won't be together even if I make you leave. Chris used to take care of me all because of my dad. I don't want to see him return to the same old state, and I don't want to see you... Never mind, room 1302. It's up to you if you want to see him or not."

The autumn breeze carried bone-chilling coldness, and Freya wrapped herself tighter in her coat, walking back to the hospital. When she realized, she found she was standing before the medical unit on the 13th floor. She scolded herself in the heart that why she was still such a doormat.

However, she stopped after a few steps.

She turned around and held the doorknob of room 1302.

All she had to do was jerk and push, and she would see Chris again.

After a war in her mind, rationality get hold of Freya. She turned around, ready to leave.

"Don't go back, Freya, never go back."

Back at her parents' ward, Freya quickly took a shower and lay on the cot at the corner of the room. Staring at the lights outside the windows, she couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried it.

"Freya, have you seen my blue tie?" When he got up late in the morning, he would freak out in finding things.

"What do you want for dinner?" On the phone, he always sounded exceptionally tender.

"When I get time, we'll travel abroad." He used to promise her.

After she ran out of sleeping pills, every night was the same. Those unimportant things he said would pop into her mind all the time as well as his hug and kiss and the short time when he was with her.

When she finally was going to fall asleep, Freya thought, "I'll have to let the doctor prescribe some sleeping pills."

The next day, before she woke up, when she was still drowsy, Freya had an illusion.

She seemed to smell the familiar breath and feel the familiar warmth on her forehead, but when she got up, no one was around her, and only the whiteness of the ward was shrouding her.

After washing, for some unknown reason, she stood before Chris's room again, only to see the nurse making the bed.

She stormed in. "Excuse me, but where's he?"

"Mr. Scott left early in the morning." The nurse sighed. "He shouldn't leave in his condition right now actually, and his assistant tried to stop him too. But he said he had work to do in the UK and left on his own. Our director couldn't even stop him."

The nurse probably detected Freya's anxiety so she added, "Don't worry, actually his case is not serious. He'll be fine after some rest."

Freya then realized that she was still worrying about Chris. She flustered and thanked the nurse. Rushing out of the room, she smacked herself in the head.

Why couldn't she control herself?

Suddenly, her phone rang in her pocket. It was the hospital's number, so she nervously picked it up, and the nursed anxiously asked, "Miss Norris, have you left the hospital? Mrs. Norris's state suddenly worsened, and you..."

Freya couldn't hear what the nurse said next, because she could only hasten to take the elevator downstairs. The lights outside the emergency room were on, and she could only pace back and forth in the hallway.

Worsen, that was the only word kept echoing in Freya's head.

How would her mother's state worsen? She was fine when Freya left, and Freya had just been away for a while.

Did her mother know she'd gone to find Chris so her mother got mad at her?

Cold liquid streamed down, and Freya wiped her face. Then, she found them to be tears.