Frey, dressed in a long beige windbreaker, bent down to pack her belongings in Ocean Villa.
Suddenly, it struck her that everything in the villa had been bought for her by Nathaniel; she hadn’t brought a single item herself. Feeling a pang of futility, Frey grabbed her bag and used a USB flash drive to copy the design drawings from the computer in the study.
Once she had finished, she reset the computer, erasing all traces of herself from the room.
With her bag slung over her shoulder, she started down the stairs. When she saw Nathaniel sitting on the sofa in the living room, her steps faltered.
Frey had thought Nathaniel had left, but he was still here.
She wasn’t sure how long Nathaniel had been sitting there. His eyes were closed, and he looked utterly exhausted. He sat motionless, like a statue.
Ms. Lovett and Higgins stood nearby, looking on with caution. Koen and Taylor were also present, the latter sporting medical gauze on Taylor's forehead from the previous night’s incident with Jacob’s bottle.
Everyone turned to look at Frey as she descended the stairs, except for Nathaniel, who remained still.
It felt as though he was waiting for her to beg for mercy and admit her mistake. Waiting for her to acknowledge that betraying Mr. Nathaniel, a renowned figure in Saeville, was a grievous error.
He sat there, waiting for her to apologize, as if he might forgive her if she did. If he truly hated her, he wouldn’t have waited for hours until they both sobered up.
Nathaniel had even concocted a reason for Frey’s betrayal. He reasoned that if she had intended to kill him, she would have acted long before now, rather than waiting until the present. If she hadn’t worked together with his friend, he would have continued to care for her.
Ms. Lovett’s eyes lit up when she saw Frey. She quickly smiled and said, “Ms. Frey, I’ve made porridge and salad, your favorite.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The President’s Mistake A Tale of Love and Regret