Freya sat in front of the mirror and did her makeup. As she had not been feeling well, there were dark circles under her eyes.

She applied light makeup, changed into a red evening gown, grabbed her bag, and left.

Tonight, she was meeting Michael. She planned to withdraw from Cloudstone Corporation. After all, she now had Lawson Group and did not have the time to help him code.

Moreover, once she left, this might be the first and last time they would meet.

Ding!

A text message came to her private phone.

Freya opened it and saw it was a message from Bradley that urged her to be faster.

Bradley: Poppy, the time has been moved up. I need you to restore the video as soon as possible. When can you give it to me?

Freya rubbed her nose.

Poppy: In 40 minutes.

After putting away the phone, she got off the elevator and walked outside.

At that moment, a dark grey Maybach slowly stopped in front of her. The car window rolled down, revealing the person inside the car.

...

Royal Garden Manor.

In the study.

Bradley stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows with his eyes fixed on the phone. His black eyes were as dark and unknowable as the surging waves in the middle of the ocean.

In the afternoon, Xavier told him that Freya had arrived at the hospital.

Bradley kept calling and texting her, but she never answered. In the end, she even turned off her phone.

He understood that the situation in the hospital room with Juliet had once again caused her to misunderstand what happened.

He had been waiting for her response, but she only replied with one sentence, saying she would not accompany him to the celebration and that he should find someone else.

Bradley was really panicking. He was worried that she had truly given up on him, pushing him away.

She refused to answer calls or reply to his messages, so his only option was to urge Poppy to be faster.

Finally, his phone screen lit up.

Poppy: In 40 minutes.

The gloom on Bradley's face dissipated a little.

"Mr. Bradley, the car is ready," Frederick called out.

Bradley gripped his phone, nodded, and left the study.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he went downstairs, he saw Juliet sitting on the couch with a dazed look on her face.

"Why are you here?"

His tone was flat, devoid of any emotion.

Juliet's smile instantly turned awkward as she involuntarily clenched her fists before she bit her lip and said, "You were in such a hurry to leave that I worried that something has happened. I came to check on you. If you don't want to see me, I'll leave now."

She looked as helpless as an abandoned child with tears welling up in her eyes.

Bradley finally caved in and took a deep breath before saying, "That's not what I meant. Your body is weak now, so you should stay in the private villa and rest well. I'll have someone take you back."

He did not know how to look her in the eye, especially after what had happened.

However, he did not want Freya to misunderstand anything, especially his relationship with Juliet.

All his life, he had treated Juliet as a sister. Their fathers had once wanted to arrange a marriage between them, but he had refused.

If it were not for the change in Solterra with the Jordans sacrificing themselves for the sake of Solterra and Juliet losing her innocence for him, perhaps he would never have crossed paths with Juliet in this lifetime.

"Brady, I know Freya is angry with you. I want to accompany you to the celebration and explain things to her in person."

Juliet looked so sincere with red eyes that it looked like a single "no" from Bradley would make her burst into tears.

"The celebration will be crowded, and you are pregnant, so it's not suitable for you to go," Bradley said with hands in his pockets and a bland look in his eyes. "Besides, Freya is not the type to be unreasonable. She won't get angry easily."

With that said, Bradley signaled to Frederick.

Frederick approached and respectfully said, "Miss Jordan, allow me to escort you back to rest."

Juliet clenched her fists as tears of distress shimmered in her eyes.

Bradley ignored her and walked out of the mansion.

Just then, his phone buzzed with a new text message.

As he thought it was from Poppy, he hurriedly took out his phone and checked it. What he saw made his face darken.

Freya had been hiding and refusing to see him. He had asked Shadow to search for her, only to find out that she was with Lance.

Bradley clenched his fists as the pent-up anger surged upward in his chest, resulting in veins popping on his neck and forehead.

The violent impulse was overwhelming, making it hard for him to contain it.

He tightly held onto his phone, feeling the urge to smash it consuming his mind.

However, he eventually restrained himself because he was still waiting for the reply from Poppy.

Turning to the driver, he spoke in a voice that was so cold and dark that it was like he had come from the depths of the sea.

"Head to the Cloudstone Corporation celebration now."

"Yes."

Bradley got into the car, and the car quickly rushed into the night.

Juliet sat in another car, watching Bradley's figure merged into the darkness as she tightly clenched her fists. She turned to the driver.

"Follow Mr. Bradley's car. Quickly."

The driver hesitated. "Miss Jordan, Mr. Bradley ordered me to take you back to the villa to rest."

"Mr. Bradley is not feeling well and needs someone to take care of him. I must follow him."

Juliet's eyes were cold. While she was not sure if Freya would go to the celebration, she had to follow Bradley in the event Freya was there so that she could create more misunderstandings to break their relationship.

It would be even better if Freya was not there. She could then approach Bradley without any restraint.

Then, after drugging him, they might even do it that evening. No matter how deeply Bradley loved Freya, he would never be able to shake Juliet off in this lifetime.

She had liked Bradley since she was a child, but Bradley never thought of her romantically.

Now, she was the only survivor of the Jordans and a hero in Solterra. Bradley had a responsibility toward her, and this was her chance.

As for Freya, she was just an idiot from a rural village. How could she compete with Juliet?

...

By the apartment building.

Freya was surprised by Lance's abrupt appearance.

"Why are you here?"

Lance's muscular and tall figure leaned against the car as he held a cigarette with his fingers. He did not take a puff from it and just allowed the smoke to drift through the air.

His eyes were calm as he smiled at her. "I just happened to pass by," he said.

Freya pursed her lips, finding it somewhat unbelievable.

"What a coincidence."

She did not poke holes in his excuse and instead looked down to check the time before apologetically saying, "You escorted me back last night. I should invite you in for tea or dinner, but I'm a bit busy tonight. Maybe next time."

"No problem. Whenever you're free." He slowly extinguished his cigarette as the burning embers reached his fingertips. Then, he casually tossed it into a nearby garbage can.

As he stood up straight, he glanced at her.

Clad in a red dress, she looked like a crimson rose blooming in the dark night with a coldness in her frost-tinted eyes which made her feel somewhat distant.

She had clearly put on makeup as her porcelain skin looked translucent and glossy while her pink lips were accentuated with lipstick, giving her a kind of subtle mature allure.