?Chapter 1199:

    Freya pressed her lips together. Did he really have to take it this far?

    Ellis saw right through her hesitation, reading every flicker of thought on her face. “Why the silence?”

    “I was just worried it might be hard for you to hold back.” Freya finally got the words out after a long pause, her ears tinged with red. “Greta said that constantly holding back one’s desires could cause problems.”

    Ellis chuckled. “Greta said that?” His tone rose ever so slightly.

    Freya’s heart thudded louder, nerves ring in her chest. This wasn’t good. Greta was about to be dragged into this mess.

    Right in front of her, Ellis dialed Greta’s number.

    On the other end, Greta answered with her usual breezy tone. “What’s up?”

    “What did you tell Freya?”

    “Huh?”

    “She told me you said holding back one’s desires could lead to problems.” Ellis kept his gaze locked on Freya, his tone light and deceptively gentle. “Because of that, she’s made me sleep separately for several nights.”

    “Yeah, I said that,” Greta replied without missing a beat, fanning the mes further. “But she probably misunderstood what I meant.”

    Freya didn’t like the sound of that one bit. She had a sinking feeling she’d been set up. “What exactly did I misunderstand?”

    “I meant you should take the initiative a little more,” Greta said breezily. “You two have been close before, and you’ve even proposed. As long as you’re careful, there’s no reason to hold back.”

    “That’s not what you said before…”

    “I’ve got some things to handle right now, so I won’t keep you. Bye.” Greta cut her off and hung up instantly. Internally, she was panicking. Thankfully, her quick thinking had saved her from getting into serious trouble. It was one thing to upset Freya—but offending Ellis? That was a risk she wasn’t willing to take.

    “Anything else you want to say?” Ellis asked calmly.

    “She lied to you.” Freya pulled out her phone, scrolling to her chat with Greta. “Here, read it for yourself.”

    “Even if she did lie, you still asked me to sleep alone because of her advice.” Ellis, as cunning as ever, spoke in a voice both smooth and maic. “Isn’t that a bit unfair, huh?”

    Freya bit her tongue. She knew perfectly well that she was out of excuses. From the moment he came upstairs to confront her, whether it was her own decision or Greta’s suggestion, it didn’t matter. The end result was the same: Ellis had won.

    There was only one path left now. Her final option.

    “Why aren’t you saying anything?” Ellis asked, noticing how she dropped her head.

    “I was wrong,” Freya confessed without resistance, her head still lowered. “I won’t do it again.”

    Ellis looked at her with quiet satisfaction. Seemed she knew exactly how to appease him.

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