"Greetings grandmother." Freya greeted Adele with a slight bow, ignoring her cousin's rude remarks.
"And why is he here?" Adele frowned as she rolled her sore gaze at Maxwell.
"I thought I told you that he should never step into the company?" She continued. Freya glanced at Maxwell and faced Adele.
"I thought since it's the company's exhibition day, I could bring him along. After all, he is my HUSBAND." She replied, stressing on the last word. Patricia, one of her cousins, made a wimp and hissed.
"You call this thing a husband? A live-in son-in-law? When will you wake up from your deep slumber, Freya? We just got embarrassed just because you lost our money to some scammers." Patricia flared, hissed one more time, and grabbed the hands of Peter, who was her husband and one of Adele's favorites.
"I have a wonderful husband, who has always contributed to the well-being of our family. Yours is just a good-for-nothing, wretched soul." She boasted. Freya's eyes reddened and she flashed a fiery gaze at Patricia. She can be trampled upon, but she wouldn't take an insult on Maxwell.
"Exactly Freya! There are lots of capable men outside, why would you want to settle with him? You are still in your prime, don't waste your time on Maxwell." Avery, another cousin of Freya added.
As she was about to talk, Lilian cleared her throat and blinked at her. Freya got her mother's message and slowly swallowed her anger.
"Freya, come to me." Adele called her, smiling widely at her. Freya was a bit stunned, she was expecting to be strictly reprimanded by Adele. She had not only arrived late at the company's exhibition, she was also the cause behind the company's embarrassment.
She slowly dragged her feet to Adele, not daring to stare into her eyes. Adele pulled her closer and made her sit on her laps, but Freya still maintained her low gaze, staring at her toe nails.
"I won't blame you for all that happened, but that will be on a condition." Adele said, causing Freya to raise her head sharply.
"What condition?" She asked, her heart pounding. She knew the condition wouldn't be something easy.
Adele smiled and stared at Maxwell, she then raised her hand and pointed her fingers at him.
"Divorce that thing, and marry Sir Nicholas." Freya stood up abruptly, her eyes popping out of her sockets.
"I will never marry Nicholas…and I am not divorcing Maxwell." She stuttered, her shoulders slumped as she hated being in such a difficult situation.
Adele slammed her fist on the chair and stood up in fury.
"You just made me lose face in front of the whole city? Haven't you done enough? How far will you go to drag this family into the mud?" She screamed. Lilian hurriedly stood up and ran to Freya.
"Freya, stop making your grandmother worried. She wants the best for you, just do as she says and we will all be fine." Lilian urged her, but Freya shook her head.
Maxwell watched as they all pressured Freya into divorcing him. He tightened his fists and gritted his teeth in anger. He approached Freya and grabbed her hand.
"Thank you Freya, I promise, I will make you proud one day. I will…"
"And how do you plan on making her proud?" A thick baritone voice said and everyone turned their eyes towards the direction of the voice.
Two men entered the board room. Patricia ran towards one of the men and hugged him tightly.
"Welcome father." Patricia greeted with a smile.
Freya rolled her eyes and hissed. Mason's presence meant nothing but trouble for her, and the other man…
"How have you been, Freya?" Nicholas asked her with a wide smile. He placed his hand on her shoulder, ignoring Maxwell as if he wasn't there.
Freya shrugged his hands off her shoulder, gave him a cold snort and walked away from him.
Maxwell also sneered at him, and followed Freya.
"So Maxwell, how do you intend to make her proud? With poverty?" Mason joked and almost everyone laughed except Lilian, Freya and Maxwell himself.
"Either way, I am not divorcing Freya, and how I will make her proud is my own business with her." Maxwell replied back to him, causing Freya to smile for the first time in the room.
"I can see you are growing some wings, but it's a pity. Nicholas is here for a deal, he is from the Adams' family which is on the same level with the White's family, so he can help us negotiate with them and reduce the seventh-thirty percentage." Mason announced, and everyone's face widened with Maxwell and Freya being an exception.
"So his only condition is that Freya accepts his proposal and everything will be sorted out." Mason concluded and turned to Freya.
"What do you think?" He asked her.
"I am not divorcing Maxwell no matter what." She replied sharply.
"What is wrong with you, Freya? Why do you want to be entangled with this man? Nicholas is a rich dandy, he will give you everything you could ever ask for. What else do you want?"
"Do you know that by rejecting his offer, you will forever be a sinner of our family?" Adele screamed at her.
"Freya, hurry and divorce Maxwell, you know how much we need this to work out, our family is losing its prestige and it all depends on you now." Lilian cried. Freya bit her lower lips, and turned her gaze away from her mother. Maxwell noticed her perplexed look and grabbed her hand, rubbing it gently.
Nicholas stood up and approached Freya. He dipped his hand into his pocket and took out a glazing diamond wristwatch. It was so exquisite and lavishly decorated with tons of gold. Patricia and Mason's faces lit up in surprise.
"Isn't that Jasmine's wristwatch? I heard it costs around a million dollars." Patricia said in surprise.
"Oh my God! You are so lucky, Freya. If I were a lady, I wouldn't waste any time and marry him instantly." Avery added.
"You can as well marry him." Freya hissed.
"I am sorry, but my wife won't be accepting a gift from another man. If she wants it, then I will get it for her." Maxwell muttered, staring straight at Nicholas.
"Who are you? And what makes you think you could speak for her?" Nicholas mumbled, glancing at Maxwell from head to toe.
"Her husband. I am her husband, and she won't accept it from you." Maxwell replied, but Nicholas simply hissed. He turned to Freya and smiled.
"This is just to prove my love for you. I will treat you well, and I will help your family regain its glory. Just give me a chance." Nicholas pleaded with a soft voice, with a warm smile plastered on his lips.
"I am sorry Mr Nicholas. But as you can see, I am happily married." Freya raised her fingers, showing off her ring to Nicholas face with a smirk on her face.
"Also, as my husband said, I won't be accepting the gift from you, you can as well take it back." She replied.
Adele became more furious. She stomped her feet on the floor and pointed her fingers at Maxwell.
"It's you good-for-nothing man, you've infected my granddaughter's brain. She used to be calm and obedient before your sudden appearance." Adele screamed.
"Maxwell, how much should I offer you for you to leave Freya alone?" Mason inquired, pointing his head forward.
"What? I don't need your money for…"
"Ten thousand dollars?" Mason interrupted him. Maxwell's jaw dropped in shock, and he smiled to himself. Only if he knew who he was.
"Too small? How about a hundred thousand dollars? I seriously can't go above that." He added.
"Again, you can keep your money to yourself, I don't need it. Also, do you think that the Smith's family is not strong enough to regain its glory? Why should we need an outsider to intervene in our family matters?" Maxwell remarked. He then turned to Nicholas and said to him;
"I believe we are strong enough to overcome this situation ourselves, and when we eventually do, you should desist from pestering Freya and let her live her life."
He then turned to Freya and smiled.
"I won't divorce you, trust me." With that being said, he walked out of the board room.
He grabbed his phone and dialed a number.
"Nicholas Brown, I want every bit of information about him!"