Chapter 140: The Adaptation Deal

Negotiations over Freya's adaptation rights lasted nearly three weeks. The streaming company returned with a revised offer that preserved more of her creative protections while increasing the option payment.

Her rights manager recommended accepting.

Freya still read every page herself.

Louis found her at two in the morning comparing clauses.

"You have lawyers," he reminded her.

"Lawyers tell me what the contract means. I still need to know what I'm signing."

Louis could not argue with that.

The final agreement became the largest professional deal Freya had ever signed in either life. Awake Stories would receive the payment, and Freya retained meaningful consultation rights.

When the signature was complete, her team opened a bottle of sparkling juice in the office.

Freya stood among four employees and felt absurdly emotional.

She had started writing in her previous life because she wanted independence. After waking in the novel, writing became survival. Now it had become something larger: a business, a craft, and a future she controlled.

Louis sent flowers.

The card read: FOR THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED THE ENDING.

Freya immediately called him.

"That is dangerously romantic."

"Should I ask for the flowers back?"

"Try it."

That evening they celebrated at a quiet restaurant instead of a luxury banquet. Freya preferred it.

During dinner, Louis mentioned that one of Northstar's investors wanted to purchase a minority stake in Awake Stories.

Freya almost dropped her fork.

"Absolutely not."

Louis raised both hands. "I already told them I don't speak for you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Good answer."

He smiled.

The incident highlighted something Freya valued deeply. Louis had enough money to fund her company ten times over, yet he had never attempted to own part of it. He offered advice only when asked.

The original Louis had treated marriage as responsibility: provide money, maintain respect, keep distance. The man sitting across from her had learned partnership.

Freya had changed too. She no longer interpreted financial independence as emotional escape.

Her phone buzzed with a news alert about Adrian's upcoming preliminary hearings.

She glanced at it, then turned the screen face down.

"Not tonight," she said.

Louis nodded.

They ordered dessert.

Later, walking home, Freya realized she could go several hours without thinking about Adrian, Project Northwind, or the accident.

The realization felt almost disloyal to her parents for half a second.

Then she remembered her mother's words.

Live better than the people who made truth necessary.

Freya tightened her fingers around Louis's hand.

She was finally learning how.

Her accountant separated the adaptation payment into taxes, reserves, operating capital, and personal distributions. Freya found the process strangely satisfying. Money no longer represented escape or proof of status. It had become a tool with jobs assigned to it, which was far less glamorous and much more useful.

Her accountant separated the adaptation payment into taxes, reserves, operating capital, and personal distributions. Freya found the process strangely satisfying. Money no longer represented escape or proof of status. It had become a tool with jobs assigned to it, which was far less glamorous and much more useful.

Her accountant separated the adaptation payment into taxes, reserves, operating capital, and personal distributions. Freya found the process strangely satisfying. Money no longer represented escape or proof of status. It had become a tool with jobs assigned to it, which was far less glamorous and much more useful.

Her accountant separated the adaptation payment into taxes, reserves, operating capital, and personal distributions. Freya found the process strangely satisfying. Money no longer represented escape or proof of status. It had become a tool with jobs assigned to it, which was far less glamorous and much more useful.