Chapter 41: A Gift with No Name

Two days later, a delivery arrived while Freya was working. The package was small, elegantly wrapped, and addressed to her, but there was no sender name. She almost opened it before remembering the surveillance problem and immediately placed it back on the table.

She photographed the label and sent it to Louis. "Did you send this?" His reply came seconds later. "Don't open it." Freya stared at the message. "That sounds reassuring."

Derek arrived twenty minutes later and inspected the package as though it might explode. Freya stood several feet away with crossed arms. "If this contains chocolates, you're making this unnecessarily dramatic."

"Louis told me not to take chances." Derek checked the shipping information, then carefully opened the outer wrapping. Inside was a velvet jewelry box. The necklace within was delicate and expensive, set with small diamonds around a blue stone.

A card lay beneath it. "You deserve better than a rented apartment. C." Freya's expression flattened. "Clement." Derek looked almost disappointed that the mystery had been solved so easily.

"Return it," Freya said. "You don't want to sell it?" "It's not mine. Also, accepting jewelry from an ex while married sounds like the opening chapter of a disaster novel."

Derek laughed and took the package with him. When Louis returned that evening, he already knew. "Clement sent you jewelry." "And I returned it." Freya continued chopping vegetables. "You don't need the murder expression."

"I don't have a murder expression." "You absolutely do." She glanced at him. "It's the same face you made when he grabbed me outside the supermarket."

Louis leaned against the counter. "Why is he still contacting you?" "Because rejection damaged his ego." "He could find someone else." "That's not how men like Clement work. He doesn't want me. He wants to prove he could have me."

Louis was silent. Freya continued, "The original—" She stopped herself just in time. "The younger me used to chase him. He liked being wanted. Now I'm not interested, so suddenly I'm valuable again."

"You understand him well." "Unfortunately." Freya put the vegetables into the pan. "Don't worry. I have no intention of returning to him."

"I'm not worried." "Then stop looking like you're planning to buy Knox Group just to fire him."

Louis looked away. The uncomfortable part was that buying enough of Knox Group to create problems wasn't entirely impossible. He simply wasn't prepared to expose his resources for something so personal.

The following day, Clement called. Freya answered only because she wanted to make the boundary unmistakable. "Did you get the necklace?" he asked.

"I returned it." "Why?" "Because I don't accept expensive gifts from men who aren't my husband."

Clement's voice hardened. "Louis can't even buy you things anymore." Freya smiled coldly. "Then I'll buy them myself." She ended the call and blocked the number.

Across the city, Clement stared at his phone in disbelief. The Freya he remembered could always be tempted with luxury. The new Freya had rejected a necklace worth more than many people's annual salary without hesitation. For the first time, he began to understand that money alone would no longer open the door he wanted.

Louis said nothing more about Clement during dinner, but later he sent Derek a single instruction: make sure future packages addressed to Freya could be traced before reaching the apartment. He told himself it was simply sensible security. Derek, who received the message at nearly midnight, read it twice and smiled before replying that he would arrange it.