Chapter 234
After having dinner and watching a movie, as they passed the arcade, Isabella remembered it had been a long time since she played games with Freya, so she dragged her inside. For Isabella, activities like shopping, eating, watching movies, and playing arcade games were quite ordinary, but since it had been a long time since she had gone out with Freya, she was very happy even with these simple activities.
Freya had arranged to have dinner with Reed that evening. After leaving the arcade, she planned to send Isabella back to the Miller family and then go meet him. Isabella didn’t want to leave Freya, so she pouted and asked, “Can’t you bring me along?”
Freya paused. Since Reed had just asked her out for a casual dinner without any particular matters to discuss, it should be fine to bring Isabella along. With that in mind, Freya called Reed and asked if he minded her bringing a child.
Reed laughed, “Freya, you can bring her over; Uncle doesn’t mind.” After a pause, he asked, “Is she your child?” Freya replied, “Yes.”
Reed was quite surprised when he heard this. Last time they met, although Freya mentioned that she was already married, he hadn’t expected her to look so young and already have a child.
Half an hour later, when Freya entered the private room holding Isabella’s hand, Reed was already there. Seeing Isabella, Reed smiled, “Freya, is this your daughter? She looks a lot like you.” Freya smiled and said, “Yes.”
“What’s her name?” “Isabella Wilson.” “Wilson… is she from the Wilson family?”
Reed paused. When he first saw Isabella, she seemed familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen her. Hearing Freya’s response, he suddenly remembered meeting the Wilson family during New Year’s, and the little girl Matteo was holding back then was clearly—
He looked at Freya with some shock. “Is your husband Matteo Wilson?” Freya nodded, “Yes.”
Reed remained silent for a moment. Previously, when Freya said she was married, he had wondered how someone as excellent as her could get married so young. After all, people as outstanding as her were few and far between. But if her husband was Matteo, then honestly, in terms of their circumstances, he was the only one who could match her.
Thinking about this, Reed smiled, but remembering the melancholic expression Freya had when she mentioned her marriage and recalling how he had met the Wilson family but hadn’t seen Freya, he realized that the relationship between Freya and Matteo seemed to have more serious issues than he initially thought.
He gestured for Freya and Isabella to sit down, then took out two gifts, one for each of them.
Freya was about to decline, but Reed gently said, “It’s normal for an elder to give gifts to juniors during the New Year. It’s not much, take it.” Freya reluctantly accepted, “Thank you, Uncle Hardin.” She then turned to Isabella and said, “Isabella, thank Uncle Hardin.” Isabella obediently responded, “Thank you, Grandpa Hardin.”
“No need to be so polite,” Reed said, giving Isabella a few more glances before smiling, “She really looks more like Matteo.” Freya replied, “Yes, that’s true.” Reed smiled again and said, “Whether she looks like Matteo or you, she’s a great child.” Freya lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, not responding.
Reed then asked, “Have you and that troublesome son of mine made up yet?” Freya shook her head and smiled, “It seems the conflict has only deepened.” Reed laughed, “That’s good.” He nonchalantly added, “He’s had an easy life, so giving him a little lesson is good. I’m actually looking forward to it.”
Afterward, they continued chatting about other topics. After dinner, Freya and Reed talked for over an hour before parting ways.
In the following days, after spending time with Isabella and fulfilling her dinner appointment with Reed, Freya mostly stayed at home to study the materials Nolan had given her. When she was studying at home, Isabella was very obedient. Apart from occasionally going out with Hugo and others, she usually stayed in her room playing alone. However, every day, she would video call Matteo. Whenever Matteo called, Raven was usually there.
It wasn’t that Freya was deliberately paying attention to their conversations, but since Isabella knew that Freya didn’t like Raven, when Raven was around, Isabella would take her tablet outside to talk, not staying in the room.
After focusing on her research for two or three days, Freya finally had some inspiration. This was the first time she had such a clear idea after receiving the materials from Nolan. That day, she worked from morning until night, not even moving when her family urged her to come down for lunch. Seeing how busy she was, Helen had to bring the food upstairs for her.
When Isabella saw that the food had gone cold and Freya still hadn’t eaten, she went over and urged her, “Mom, eat first.” Freya muttered an “Hmm” without taking her eyes off the computer, clearly unaware of what she had just agreed to. Isabella pursed her lips and called her a few more times before Freya finally reacted and ate the food.
At night, it was the same. Freya couldn’t even find time to eat. Isabella had originally wanted to ask her to help with her bath, but after calling her several times and getting no response, she gave up and went downstairs to ask Xavier to help her. After finishing her bath and returning to her room, she saw that Freya was still sitting in front of the computer, so she climbed into bed and fell asleep.