Chapter 37
Ronan and Freya clinked their glasses in a toast. After downing her drink, Freya dug into her purse and slid a card across the table to Ronan.
“What’s this?”
“The money for the land.”
Freya cracked a small smile. “At the auction, I was just bluffing. I’m planning to buy this land on my own.”
“The land in the Southern Suburb isn’t worth much. Consider this half a billion dollars a gift from me. Besides, as far as I know, the Dawson Group doesn’t have this kind of cash now. Where’s the money on this card from?”
“You’re mistaken. This isn’t the Dawson Group’s money.”
Ronan frowned slightly. “Not the Dawson Group’s money?”
“It’s the trust fund my dad left me.”
In her past life, Johanna had her eyes on her trust fund, scheming to marry Freya off to the Sutton family to get her hands on that half a billion. Johanna knew Audrey fancied Freya as a granddaughter-in-law, so she canceled the wedding gifts behind their backs, talking Freya into coughing up the money to save the company from crisis. But the company’s crisis remained unsolved, and Johanna ran off with the money. Freya planned to turn the tables this time. Johanna wouldn’t get a dime of the Dawson family’s wealth, not just the trust fund money.
“Mr. Beckett, I hope you’ll hold off on any financial moves these next few days,” said Freya.
Ronan was confused. “The Dawson Group is on its last legs. If I don’t invest now, the Dawson Group is finished.”
Freya remained silent with a smile. Johanna wanted her son to run the company. Then let Leland, the fool, deal with the company’s bad debts these next few days. She was curious to see if the company’s shareholders would still indulge Johanna and her son when their interests were about to collapse.
In the evening, Ronan dropped Freya off at the Dawson family home. When Freya pushed open the door, she noticed the living room lights were on. Suddenly, a force yanked her inside. Freya instinctively cried out for help but was quickly silenced by a hand clamping down on her neck, pushing her against the wall.
“Freya, you sure aren’t easy to get a hold of.” Kieran’s voice was low and laced with danger.
Feeling the chokehold on her neck, Freya struggled and gasped, “Let… go!”
Realizing his grip might have been too tight, Kieran let go. Leaning against the wall, Freya coughed violently. Seeing this, Kieran frowned and sneered, “Ms. Dawson, quite the strategy. You are playing fiancée to the Sutton family while keeping Ronan on the hook. What is it? Weighing who’s offering you more?”
“Mr. Sutton, you jest. My interactions with Mr. Beckett are casual. But Mr. Sutton, visiting my home late at night, is it to question my relationship with Mr. Beckett?”
“Mr. Beckett? Just a while ago at the auction, wasn’t it all ‘Ronan, Ronan’?” Kieran tightened his grip on Freya’s wrist and said, “If you want me to spare the Dawson Group, why go to Ronan? Wouldn’t it make more sense to plead directly with me?”
As Kieran closed the distance, Freya could almost feel his breath. The closer he got, the more vividly she remembered how this man had mistreated her in her past life.
Freya spoke firmly, “Kieran, I think I’ve told you I will never beg.”
“Got some nerve, now, you are calling me by my name directly?” Kieran dragged Freya onto the couch.
Caught off guard, Freya felt a sharp pain as her back hit the armrest. Wincing, she gasped, “Kieran! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Rolling up his sleeves and slightly loosening his tie, Kieran leaned in, pinning Freya’s hands down. His voice was deep as he said, “Freya, isn’t this exactly what you’ve always wanted?”