Chapter 38

“You called off the engagement at the engagement party, told the Jennings family to release that stupid news, and flirted with Ronan to provoke me at the auction.” In a moment of heated frustration, Kieran cornered Freya. “All this… this charade, it’s all for my attention, huh?” His hand was firm against her jaw, his body inching closer. But the atmosphere shifted when Freya mentioned Eloise with a smirk. Kieran froze, his demeanor changing quickly.

Seizing the moment, Freya wrapped her arms around Kieran’s neck, her gaze dripping with seduction. “You’re right, Mr. Sutton. I’ve done all this for you. Maybe we should… continue this conversation in my room?”

However, Kieran was not amused. Pushing her away with visible disgust, he warned, “Freya, cut the act. Your little games are beneath you.”

Unfazed, Freya lounged on the couch, her words taunting. “Oh, come on, Mr. Sutton. Don’t play the saint. It’s not new for a man to want one but keep another on the side, right?”

But Kieran wasn’t having any of it. His rejection was clear, his voice laced with a threat. “Freya, I’m warning you. Stop playing games. You wouldn’t even be considered if it weren’t for my grandmother’s approval.”

Upstairs, Johanna eavesdropped on the confrontation with growing panic. The Sutton family’s favor was crucial to the Dawson family. In desperation, she raced downstairs and pleaded with Freya to apologize.

But Freya played the victim, lamenting the failed engagement with feigned sadness, even as Kieran’s disdain was palpable. The situation took a turn for the absurd when Johanna brought down a box filled with Kieran’s memorabilia in a misguided attempt to mend fences—a collection of fan items Freya was once obsessed with. The sight of Kieran’s face on pillows and newspaper clippings scattered on the floor was embarrassing and telling.

“Stop!” Freya reacted instinctively, but the damage had already been done. Finding a doll with his face on it, Kieran couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

Ever the mediator, Johanna tried to smooth things over, insisting on Freya’s undying affection for Kieran and urging him to reconsider the engagement for Audrey’s sake.

But as Kieran picked up the scattered tokens of Freya’s infatuation, the situation seemed more like a scene from a sitcom than a romantic reconciliation. With its engagements and broken hearts, the high-society drama played out like a modern-day soap opera, with the Sutton and Dawson families at the center of the storm.

Chapter 39