Chapter 37: What Freya Used to Be Like

Coffee with Chloe lasted far longer than Freya expected. Chloe talked easily, filling gaps whenever Freya couldn't remember a detail. Fortunately, she interpreted Freya's occasional confusion as forgetfulness rather than something supernatural.

"You were completely different before Clement," Chloe said after their conversation drifted toward university. "You were ambitious. Annoyingly ambitious, actually. You used to redesign our dorm room every two months because you said the layout offended you."

Freya blinked. That matched the original owner's interior-design degree but not the lazy socialite described in the novel. "I actually liked design?" "Liked it? You were good. Professor Lane wanted you to enter that national competition."

Fragments of memory surfaced. Sketches, models, sleepless nights, excitement after receiving praise. Freya had assumed the original owner coasted through university because that was what the later memories suggested. Apparently, the decline had happened gradually.

Chloe's expression softened. "Then Clement happened. You spent more time chasing him, stopped entering competitions, and started acting like being rich was the only thing that mattered."

Freya looked down at her coffee. "And after I married Louis?" "You changed even more. Every conversation became brands, parties, jewelry, who had what. I tried telling myself you were finally enjoying life after losing your family, but eventually we had nothing to talk about."

The explanation gave Freya unexpected sympathy for the original woman. She had lost her parents, been humiliated by Clement, and then entered a marriage with a man who treated her politely but distantly. Money had become a shield until the shield became her entire personality.

"Was I terrible to you?" Freya asked. Chloe thought about it. "Not terrible. Just exhausting." She smiled. "You never deliberately hurt me. That's why I'm sitting here now."

Freya smiled back. "Then maybe we can start again." "I'd like that."

Before leaving, Chloe mentioned that her design firm was overwhelmed with small residential projects. "We need freelancers sometimes. You probably haven't touched design software in years, though."

Freya's attention sharpened. Interior design had been her university major in her previous life too. "Actually, I might still remember enough." Chloe laughed. "If you're serious, I'll send you a sample brief. No promises." "Send it."

That evening, Freya received a small apartment redesign assignment. It wasn't official work yet; Chloe wanted to see whether she could still produce professional drawings. Freya downloaded the files and immediately felt familiar excitement.

Louis found her studying a floor plan after dinner. "What's this?" "Potential freelance work." She explained Chloe's offer. "You do interior design too?"

Freya froze for half a second. "That was literally my degree." "You haven't worked in the field since graduation." "People remember things."

Louis looked at the screen. Another skill. Another piece of the puzzle. Freya noticed his expression and became defensive. "Don't start looking suspicious again." "I'm not." "Your face is suspicious by default."

He left her to work, but the question remained. The Freya he had married had abandoned design years ago. The woman in front of him moved through professional software with practiced confidence. Meanwhile, Freya became absorbed in the project, unaware that by rediscovering the original owner's abandoned career, she was making Louis's doubts about her identity even stronger.

Freya stayed up later than planned reviewing the brief. Unlike writing, design forced her to think visually and solve physical problems, and she had missed that kind of work. If Chloe's firm accepted her proposal, she could maintain two professional paths instead of relying on a single source of income. The idea suited her perfectly. A person with several independent skills was much harder for circumstance to trap.