He called her "darling"...

Despite the corniness, why did it fill her heart with such happiness?

In the past, she was used to solitude, accustomed to bearing everything alone.

But Bradley's sudden intrusion gradually dismantled the walls she had built, until they crumbled entirely, leaving a gap through which that man effortlessly slipped into her heart.

Suddenly, Freya felt a twinge of apprehension. She feared this happiness might vanish like a fleeting spark, leaving her alone in the end.

At the Austin Corporation.

Bradley's sturdy, upright figure loomed in a black leather chair. Perhaps due to work-induced stress, he fiddled with his phone in one hand and held a cigarette in the other.

He wasn't a habitual smoker, he only indulged occasionally under pressure or when in a bad mood.

He let the bluish-gray smoke swirl around him until the flame reached the tip of the cigarette, then extinguished it in the nearby ashtray.

He glanced at his phone, noticing no reply. It seemed she had indeed fallen asleep.

"CEO, the vice president is back and has headed to the conference room," came the voice of his assistant, Harry, from outside.

Setting down his phone, the man rose to leave, but at that moment, the screen lit up.

Glancing at it, he saw a text from Freya.

"Bradley, I just woke up."

Bradley checked his watch, it was already past eleven in the evening.

Did she wake up at this hour because she was in pain?

Thinking of her injury, Bradley replied to the message with a heart full of concern.

"Is your wound acting up again? I'll have Xavier come over and check on you."

Just as he typed the message, Harry's voice interrupted.

"CEO, the meeting is about to commence."

Bradley turned to the door, his tone icy. "Then let it commence. You will lead it."

Harry was taken aback. "But, sir..."

"You're aware of the meeting's agenda. Must I remind you? If anyone inquires, inform them I'm dealing with urgent matters." Bradley's expression darkened as he glanced at his phone screen, where a message had arrived. He disregarded Harry.

Harry was puzzled. The CEO had been absorbed in his phone all this time. Could this truly be the urgent matter, deemed more pressing than the company's operations?

But he refrained from asking, instead opting to take the documents and head to the conference room.

Unlocking his phone, Bradley found a message from Freya.

"The wound is fine, I just had a dream earlier, woke up and couldn't sleep."

Bradley promptly replied, "Tell me, what did you dream about?"

"It wasn't a pleasant dream. I dreamt of my eighth birthday, the scene when my mom celebrated with me. She dressed me up like a little princess and sang me a birthday song. But the dream suddenly shifted, and my mom fell into a pool of blood. I cried and screamed, then my big brother appeared. He reached out to me and told me not to be afraid..."

In just a few sentences, Bradley's brow furrowed.

The Lawson family had three daughters in total. The eldest daughter was brought into the family by Sophie, but she had been living abroad for over ten years and hadn't returned.

The second daughter was Freya, and the third daughter was the one who had gone insane, Lola.

But who was the big brother Freya mentioned?

At that moment, Freya lay on the hospital bed, holding her phone in her hands, waiting for Bradley's reply.

She lied to him. She hadn't been asleep or dreaming at all. She just wanted to confess to him using this excuse, that her big brother had already entered her heart.

And that big brother was him.

After a long while, a message finally arrived on her phone.

"I don't know who the big brother in your dream is, but Freya, I will do everything in my power to protect you, to prevent you from getting hurt or feeling sad. I won't let you be alone. From now on, no matter where you are, you'll still have me."

Freya gazed at her phone screen, her eyes welling up with tears.

With each passing moment, the cracks in her heart seemed to widen further, as a man named Bradley effortlessly slipped into her heart, infusing warmth into her once icy soul.

Before long, her phone chimed with the arrival of new messages.

Ding, ding, several times the sound echoed, signaling the arrival of multiple texts.

"Darling, have you been thinking of me?"

"I miss you terribly right now, longing to be with you."

"If you're missing me too, I can return immediately."

Just then, footsteps approached from outside, growing louder and more forceful.

Freya's nerves tightened as she instinctively clutched her phone tightly.

She could discern without a doubt that these were the footsteps of a man.

Could it be Bradley?

Had he returned so quickly?

The door echoed with a rhythmic tap, followed by the familiar, magnetic voice of a man. "Freya, are you asleep?"

Freya's tense heart suddenly relaxed, but a lingering sense of emptiness settled in, leaving her somewhat disappointed.

It wasn't Bradley.

It wasn't him.

In a somewhat subdued tone, she replied, "Not yet. Come in."

The door creaked open, revealing Xavier standing at the threshold. He rubbed his nose sheepishly and chuckled, "Freya, Bradley was worried your wound might be hurting at night, so he asked me to come check on you."

"I'm fine." Freya buried her head under the covers, feeling an inexplicable emptiness that unsettled her.

Xavier squinted, his face betraying signs of fatigue. "Bradley heard about your nightmare and was extremely concerned. He woke me up with a phone call, insisting that I come over immediately to check on you. But seeing you in this state, you seem pretty good."

Freya's breath caught in her throat. It was just a casual lie, yet the man had believed her and even went to such lengths as to wake up Xavier from his sleep.

Was he truly that concerned about her well-being?

Xavier's voice chimed in again.

"I should still check on you, Freya. Just in case Bradley asks, I'll have an explanation."

Freya's gaze remained fixed on her phone, each illumination signaling another message from the man.

She suppressed a nervous flutter in her chest and murmured, "No need. I'm truly fine. I'll handle it myself."

With that, she seized her phone and hastily responded to the messages.

"I'm alright. Don't trouble Xavier. Let him return."

"Also, I dreamt about you just now. That 'big brother' in my dream was... you!"

After sending the messages, Freya felt her cheeks flush.

Her words seemed to convey more than mere reassurance. A subtle confession, perhaps?

The thought quickened her heartbeat, leaving her momentarily breathless.

Instinctively, she considered retracting the messages, but a response came swiftly.

"Good girl, get some rest. I'll be the first face you see when you wake up."

Was he planning to return to her side?

Yet, had he resolved his work obligations?

Questions swirled in her mind, leaving her uncertain how to reply.

In the expansive hospital room, the only sound was the rapid thud of her heartbeat.