Chapter 31: No More Half-Truths

The drive home was unusually quiet. Derek sensed the tension almost immediately and wisely kept his attention on the road. Freya looked out the window while Louis sat beside her, neither speaking until the hotel disappeared behind them.

At the apartment, Freya changed out of her evening dress and returned to the kitchen for water. Louis was waiting in the living room. She stopped when she saw him. "If this is about Clement, I'm too tired for another mysterious conversation."

"It's about what you said." Louis gestured toward the sofa. Freya sat opposite him. "Which part? I said several things." "About being placed in danger without knowing it."

Freya waited. Louis chose his words carefully. "Some people benefited from my collapse. They want to make sure I don't recover. That's why someone was watching the apartment." "Knox Group?" "At least part of it came from them."

She wasn't surprised. "And the rest?" "I'm still investigating." "Are you actually broke?" The question came so directly that Louis paused.

Freya leaned back. "I'm not asking for bank statements. I just need to know whether the situation you described on our first night was real." Louis remained silent long enough to give her an answer without speaking.

"I knew it," Freya muttered. "You aren't broke." "I lost a significant portion of my assets." "That's billionaire language. Significant could mean you only have five mansions left instead of ten."

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Louis almost smiled. "I don't have five mansions." "That wasn't the point."

He finally said, "The money I told you about is the money immediately available under my personal name. There are other assets that aren't accessible in the same way." Freya stared at him. "Backup funds?" "Something like that."

Her first reaction was relief. The man wasn't facing actual poverty. Her second was annoyance. "I've been calculating whether we can afford better cuts of meat."

"I never asked you to budget for me." "That's worse! You watched me compare grocery prices while secretly having a backup plan." Louis rubbed his forehead. "The current situation is complicated."

Freya crossed her arms. "How complicated?" "If I openly use certain resources, people will know which companies and accounts remain connected to me. Right now, believing I'm finished makes them careless."

That explanation made uncomfortable sense. Freya's irritation weakened. "So you're pretending to be completely bankrupt to expose enemies?" "Partly." "And Derek knows?" "Yes." "Of course he does. His weak-lungs excuse was terrible."

Louis looked confused until Freya explained Derek's suspicious coughing. For the first time that evening, the tension broke slightly.

Freya stood. "Fine. Keep your business secrets. But from now on, if something could affect my safety, tell me." "Agreed." "And don't secretly pay for my expenses." "I haven't." "Good."

As she walked toward her room, Louis asked, "You're not angry that I have money?" Freya turned around. "Why would I be angry that my supposedly ruined husband isn't actually doomed? That's good news. I'm angry that I felt sorry for you while you were probably worth more than everyone in this building combined."

Louis didn't correct the exaggeration. Freya narrowed her eyes. "That silence is suspicious." She disappeared into her room. Louis leaned back against the sofa, realizing that revealing part of the truth had somehow made living with Freya both easier and much more dangerous to his secrets.

Before sleeping, Freya changed the note in her budget from "support Louis if necessary" to "support only if Louis explains what he actually needs." It was a small correction, but an important one. She would still help him if genuine trouble came, yet she refused to play the role of an uninformed wife while everyone else understood the game. If Louis wanted her beside him, he would eventually have to trust her with more than carefully selected truths.