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FREYA POV
While I’m still trying to wrap my head around these two guys I’m following out of the gym, my mind is still completely blurred, trying to process everything that had just happened. One minute I’m crying over my daughter, and the next, I’m wearing a diamond and holding a marriage contract. I really don’t know what to say. I looked around the gym for the third time before stepping out, but there are no traces of Steve around…
The second we stepped outside, I stopped dead and actually lost my breath.
Parked right at the curb was a pitch-black Mercedes-Benz Maybach.
I just stood there, staring like an idiot. I didn’t even know what to say. I’d only ever seen a car like this in movies-or maybe once or twice, flashing past on the road. This wasn’t just a nice car. This was politician money. Billionaire money.
How does a man who owns a gym afford something like this?
My thoughts spiraled immediately.
Is this some kind of flex?
Did he rent it just to impress me?
Without meaning to, my gaze slid to my own car parked farther back, sitting a few rows back in the gravel. It looked like a total joke-literally nothing was sitting next to this beast. Seeing them side-by-side made me realize just how small my world had.
been.
One of the men noticed where I was looking and followed my gaze.
“Boss said he’d take care of that,” he said casually.
“He did?” I asked. My voice came out thin, almost hollow.
He nodded and pulled open the back door for me, motioning for me to get in.
He probably thought I was worried about my car-about it being towed or left behind in the gym parking lot. But that wasn’t it. Not really.
I was sitting there, staring at a million-dollar car, silently measuring my entire life against it… and realizing how uneven the
scale was.
The door shut behind me with a soft, heavy thud.
The inside smelled like brand-new leather. Clean. Untouched. Expensive.
Who the fuck is Steve?
No-what the hell is he trying to do?
My thoughts wouldn’t settle. They just kept looping. For half a second, something darker slipped in.
He’s not a kidnapper… right?
A chill crawled up my spine, sharp and sudden, I pushed it down just as quickly. No. Not after the way he talked about Luna.
We hadn’t even pulled out of the parking lot when the guy in the passenger seat turned around, and passed a phone to me. It was ringing.
I stared at it, took a steadying breath, and answered.
“Hello?”
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“I noticed you didn’t have a phone with you,” Steve’s voice rumbled through the line.
“No, I have a… phone,” I said slowly-then remembered I’d left it on the kitchen counter that morning when I stormed out of
the house.
It was funny-and honestly, scary-how Steve already noticed I don’t have my phone with me.
“I will hate it if you go back there for a little thing,” he said. His voice was so calm.
“Thanks, but where exactly am I going…?” I asked.
I was waiting for his response before I noticed the line had already gone dead.
He hung up.
“Rude ass,” I muttered to the phone, looking at the black screen.
I stared at the screen for a second, and my mind went straight to Luna. I know her number off by heart, so I just dialed it. It rang for a while, and then someone picked up.
Silence.
Luna didn’t say a word. I felt a small, painful smile touch my face. She wasn’t speaking because I taught her never to talk first to a number she doesn’t recognize. And the joy of knowing she was still being my smart girl. She was still listening to me.
I was about to whisper her name, but before I could, I heard a sharp voice in the background. Lila.
“Who is that? Luna, give me that phone right now!”
I hung up immediately. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. My lungs felt like they’d caved in. I clenched the phone in my hand until my knuckles went white and stared out the tinted window as the city slid past.
After a while, once my heart stopped trying to jump out of my chest, I thought of my store. I couldn’t just disappear. I needed to call the store line; I had to give Gladys some kind of assurance that she could handle the business for now.
I dialed the number, my finger hovering over the screen for a beat. The line picked up on the second ring.
“Hello, this is The Star of Bethlehem,” the voice said. Hearing the name-Luna’s baptismal name-made a fresh wave of ache hit my throat.
“Esther, it’s me,” I said, recognizing the girl at the front desk.
There was a long silence on the other end. I guess she was shocked to hear from me on a completely random number. “M- Ma’am?” she stammered.
“Pass the phone to Gladys, please. Now,”
A few seconds of muffled noise passed before Gladys’s weary voice came on. “Freya? Is that you? Where are you?”
“Gladys, listen to me,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “I need you to take over everything at the store for now. Don’t worry about the orders or the inventory-just keep the doors open. I’m… I’m dealing with some things. I’ll be out for a while.”
“Freya…” She trailed off. She’d known me too long not to hear how wrong something was. “Okay. I’ve got it. Just… be safe, alright?”
“Thank you,” I whispered, and ended the call.
That was one less thing hanging over me. I felt a small bit of relief, a tiny weight lifting off my shoulders. I leaned my head against the cool window, closing my eyes. I didn’t know how long the drive lasted–but finally, the smooth hum of the engine slowed to a stop.
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I felt the car settle, and a second later, the guy stepped out. He walked around and opened the door for me.
I stepped out of the car, and my legs almost gave out.
Calling this place a house was a joke. It was a mansion; I mean something more than that as well. A massive, sprawling fortress of white stone and glass that looked like it belonged on a cliff in a movie, not in real life. The driveway alone was longer than my entire street, and the whole place felt so expensive it was intimidating just to look at
I stood there on the pavement, clutching that thick brown envelope. I looked up at the huge windows, then back at the two guys in suits who were just standing there, waiting for me to move.
Everything about this place felt heavy. It wasn’t just “gym owner” rich-this was “I own the city” rich.
I looked down at the diamond on my finger, then back at the giant front doors. My heart was thumping in my throat, a mix of being impressed and being absolutely terrified of what I’d just signed up for.
“Who the hell is Steve?” I whispered to myself.
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