Chapter 153: A New Investment

Freya decided that if she was going to explore design seriously, she would do it properly.

She did not want Louis to create a company for her, and she did not want Awake Stories paying for an unrelated experiment. So she used a portion of her own investment income to establish a small design division under a separate company.

She named it Sunroom Studio.

Louis approved of the name.

"Better than Transmigrated Interiors."

"I was never going to call it that."

"You considered it."

"For three seconds."

Sunroom Studio began with only Freya and one experienced architect, Helen Park, whom she hired specifically because Helen was willing to tell her when an idea was impractical.

Their first projects were the literacy centers.

Freya refused to charge the nonprofit full commercial rates. Instead, Awake Stories sponsored part of the work while Sunroom documented the design process.

Helen warned her not to confuse charity with a sustainable business model.

Freya agreed.

"I want commercial clients too. I just don't want luxury penthouses to be the only thing we know how to design."

Her goal became clear: practical, attractive interiors for small homes, rental apartments, independent bookstores, and community spaces.

Louis listened to the plan over dinner.

"You realize you're starting a second company because you were bored."

"I was not bored."

"You reorganized the tea."

Freya pointed her chopsticks at him. "Never mention the tea again."

Northstar later needed to redesign a small regional office.

Louis did not give the contract to Sunroom.

Freya was secretly pleased.

Instead, Northstar's facilities department included Sunroom in an ordinary competitive bid alongside four established firms.

Helen nearly refused to participate.

"We're tiny."

"Then we'll lose honestly," Freya said.

They submitted a proposal focused on flexible work areas, acoustic privacy, and lower long-term maintenance costs.

Two weeks later, Sunroom won.

Freya immediately suspected Louis.

She marched into his office with the evaluation sheet.

"Did you interfere?"

Louis looked offended.

"I recused myself from the selection."

"Derek?"

"Also recused."

Freya examined the scoring.

Sunroom had not won because it was cheapest. It had won because its design required the least structural modification and produced the best projected use of space.

Helen celebrated harder than Freya did.

The project gave Sunroom credibility.

Within a month, three small commercial clients contacted them.

Freya's schedule became ridiculous.

She wrote in the mornings, handled Awake Stories meetings around midday, and reviewed design work in the afternoon.

Louis finally said, "You know being weak-to-strong doesn't mean you need to become every profession."

Freya froze.

"Did you just use one of my novel tags?"

"I've learned things."

"That's disturbing."

But he had a point.

Freya hired another designer and delegated more work at Awake Stories.

She was no longer a woman scrambling to create multiple income streams because she feared poverty.

If she built something now, it should be because she wanted it to exist.

That difference became her rule.

Sunroom Studio could grow.

But Freya would not destroy herself proving that she could.

Freya also wrote a rule into Sunroom's planning document: no project would be accepted merely because the client was prestigious. The studio needed work that fit its skills and values. She had spent enough of her life around people who confused status with worth.

Freya made a note of the development and returned to the practical work in front of her. She had learned that a complicated life became manageable only when she separated what she knew, what she suspected, and what she could actually do next. Louis respected that habit, even when his instinct was to solve everything immediately. For now, they chose the next useful step and left the unanswered part where it belonged.