Chapter 22:
Kristian replied with conviction, “We’re merely here to make things clear.”
“So, it’s you who’s pushing for the divorce, not Freya?” Lionel pinpointed the crucial issue swiftly, his tone laced with rage. “You rushed into marriage without thinking, and now you want a damn divorce? Do you even get what the hell marriage means?”
“Why did you even marry Freya in the first place?” Melinda demanded sharply.
Lionel, not satisfied with the surface details, pressed. “It couldn’t have been merely a fleeting romance, could it?”
Isaac spoke up, his suspicion lingering like a shadow. “Was Freya merely standing in for someone else in your heart?”
Both Melinda and Lionel turned to Isaac, their expressions grave, demanding, “A stand-in for whom?”
Caught off-guard, Kristian faltered, unable to formulate a response. Isaac was making things way more complicated than they needed to be.
“It’s my choice to go through with the divorce,” Freya interjected firmly, aware that divulging too much could make things worse.
She opted to keep the details to herself and Kristian, insisting, “It has nothing to do with Kristian.” Her tone was earnest and her demeanor resolute, leaving no room for doubt.
The family had hoped to bridge the gap, but as they delved deeper, they sensed a growing rift between Freya and Kristian, hinting at deeper, unseen conflicts.
For a fleeting moment, a somber silence enveloped the room, the tension palpable.
Freya remained silent, her gaze fixed intently on the gathering of elders before her, awaiting their verdict with a quiet intensity.
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“Let’s do this,” Melinda declared, her fingers intertwining with Freya’s in a warm, reassuring clasp. Her eyes shimmered with genuine affection as she spoke. “Divorce isn’t a trivial affair. We should involve your parents in this discussion. If it’s too much trouble for them to come here, we’ll go to them instead.”
“Yes, Freya,” Lionel chimed in, his voice thick with undisguised ire, his brow furrowed in distaste. “You’ve been married for two years, and that jerk hasn’t even bothered to visit your parents.”
His anger towards Kristian was palpable. “With the divorce proceedings underway, he must meet your parents and offer them a sincere apology.”
In Lionel’s eyes, Kristian, who had initially been eager to wed Freya, now seemed neglectful of her needs. If he were Freya’s real grandfather, he would’ve smacked the hell out of Kristian with that damn cane.
“No need. I can handle this on my own,” Freya stated firmly, dismissing the idea with a swift shake of her head.
Melinda pressed on, concern etching her features. “Freya…”
“I’m not close with my family,” Freya admitted, her voice dropping to a somber tone as she revealed her family issues for the first time. “My father remarried.”
Kristian, caught off guard, paused and studied her face. It bore the usual stoic expression, yet he sensed an undercurrent of tension.
With a voice slightly hoarse from emotion, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
This time, Lionel’s restraint shattered. In a sudden, dramatic gesture, his cane swung through the air with a brutal strike as it connected with Kristian.
Visions of Freya enduring her father’s neglect post-remarriage, coupled now with the specter of her looming divorce, overwhelmed him. He was certain she had endured far too much suffering.
.
.
.