Frederick parked the car in the garage. Bradley was the first to get out of the car, then he pulled Freya onto his lap without hesitation.

"Mr. Bradley, we..."

Freya wanted to say that while she would play along with the act was it really necessary to start acting affectionate as soon as they got out of the car?

Before she could finish her sentence, Bradley interrupted her, saying, "What did you call me?"

"Bradley," Freya said, correcting herself. "Please put me down. Everyone is watching."

Ignoring the gaze of the servants, Bradley said in a deep voice, "You are my wife, and we are legally married. There is nothing to be afraid of."

Thus, news of Bradley carrying Freya into the house quickly spread.

"Did you see? Mr. Bradley brought his wife back."

"I saw them. He even carried her through the door. They look so in love with each other!"

"It's a pity that Mr. Bradley is incapable of doing that. What's the use of love and affection if the wife is still unsatisfied?"

"What are you talking about? Ms. Freya is a fool. She doesn't understand much of that."

The group of servants chattered among themselves. They were shocked to find Bradley moving past them with Freya in his arms.

"Wow, she is really beautiful. She looks just like an angel."

"She is still flirting with Mr. Bradley. Look! Mr. Bradley is actually smiling."

Everyone felt like their jaw was dropping. After years of serving the Austins, they had witnessed just how moody and unpredictable the never-smiling Bradley was. However, he was smiling the entire time.

It looked like their guess was correct. Bradley and Freya were truly in love with each other.

Bradley carried Freya through the garden and all the way to the front hall, attracting many gazes along the way.

His reasons for doing so were, one, to tell the Austins that Freya was his regardless of her intelligence. Everyone should respect her and greet her as his wife.

Of course, he also wanted to let Arthur know that he adored Arthur's gift.

"Uncle Bradley, you're back."

Just then, a young girl called out to them. Freya turned around to find a young girl standing not far away with a disdainful smile on her lips.

Bradley leaned in close and whispered to her, "This is Jinny Austin, Ethan's younger sister."

Ah, so she's Ethan's sister. No wonder she looks somewhat familiar.

Jinny walked over with her head held high and glanced at Freya before saying, "Uncle Bradley, do you think of your wife as a daughter? I hear she's a fool. Can she even take good care of you?"

What a cheeky tongue…

Freya thought to herself, The siblings are exactly the same.

How annoying and unlikeable.

Bradley had a cold look on his face as he replied in a low voice, "Watch your tongue. As you said, I am your uncle."

Jinny scoffed, completely disregarding him. What is there to be scared about? He's just a cripple who used to be trampled on by my father.

"Also, Freya is my wife. I do not want anyone to call her a fool," Bradley continued.

Even though he was in a wheelchair, his presence was imposing enough to actual strike fear in Jinny.

She had been deliberately trying to show off her superiority over them.

Ethan had been hurt due to the schemes of Freya, forced to endure 20 lashes, lost over ten million, and inexplicably had his ribs broken. Now, because of Freya, Owen had broken his leg.

Jinny had to avenge Ethan and give Freya a taste of her own medicine.

Freya met Jinny's gaze and smiled.

Bradley said he would protect her, and indeed he was protecting her in his own way.

She snuck a peek at his icy cold and indifferent face. He had completely disguised himself, making it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking.

With a raised eyebrow, Jinny mockingly said, "Uncle Bradley, you probably don't know her past yet, do you? She is not as simple as you think. She has been fooling around with other men. She might not even be pure..."

"Shut up!" Bradley darkly barked out with a voice as cold as ice. "If you keep a filthy tongue in your mouth, I will not remain polite either."

He then looked at Frederick.

"For disrespecting her elders, Jinny is to be slapped in punishment!"

Bradley naturally knew what Jinny was talking about. It had to have been about the time when Lola spread the photos she sneakily took of Freya and Madeline being affectionate at the mall.

Now that they were here, Arthur and his family would surely use that incident to cause trouble for them. It was likely that they even knew Freya had been pretending to be simple-minded. Hence, they would surely keep trying to provoke the couple.

Frederick obeyed the command and stepped forward. "Pardon me, Miss Jinny."

He then slapped Jinny across the face, leaving five red bruises on her cheek.

"Y-You…" Jinny held her throbbing cheek and angrily pointed a finger at Frederick. "You lowly servant! How dare you hit me! I will make my father punish you. You'll be fed to the mountain wolves!"

With that said, Jinny ran away crying.

No one had ever dared to hit her since she was a child, but she was humiliated by the residents of Royal Garden Mansion as soon as they returned. There was no way for her to swallow the anger.

Jinny's cries soon attracted Lydia's attention.

When Lydia saw Jinny's swollen cheek, she worriedly asked, "What happened, Jinny?"

"Mom, that cripple from Royal Garden Mansion hit me!" Jinny threw herself into Lydia's arm out of distress while her face was covered in tears and snot.

"That useless cripple! How dare he touch my precious daughter! I will have no mercy!" Lydia's face was contorted with anger as she tried to calm her daughter down. "Just wait. No matter how arrogant he is now, I'll make him suffer miserably later."

"Mom, what are you going to do?"

"Bradley adores that fool from the Lawson family, right? We'll start from her and crush him under our feet."

Lydia's heart was filled with hate toward Freya for tormenting Ethan and swindling all that money out of their family.

"Didn't Ethan say she's not a fool?"

Ethan had suddenly gathered the entire family and revealed that Freya had only been pretending to be a fool, much to their surprise.

"If she wants to play dumb, then she can keep pretending. I'll persuade your grandfather to get them to stay for a few more days. We'll use that time to deal with that bitch."

Fools were easy to manipulate, but that would not be the case or fun if the fool suddenly became smart.

Ethan had suffered so much all because of that girl's schemes. Lydia would never forgive Freya.

"We must make her pay, with interest. Ethan is still bedridden. That servant from the Royal Garden Mansion must also be punished." Jinny was seething with fury over the slap from before. How she wished she could slap him back.

"Don't worry. We have blackmail against the fool. Let her keep acting. Then, we'll expose her true colors and embarrass Bradley."

Lydia's lips were twisted in an evil smirk. Owen favored Bradley and wanted him to be his inheritor. In that case, Lydia would crush Bradley beneath her feet until he would never be able to turn over a new leaf.