Love Began with the First Meeting

As soon as she walked out of the shop, Freya went to the manor by taxi. For the time being, all communication devices on QY Island were disabled. The letter kept flashing on the screen of every device in QY Island that could play a video. It was repeated endlessly, like it was brainwashing the people who saw it. It occupied the sight of every person in QY Island. It only took one morning for this attack to spread across all of QY Island. People read it like they were reading a serial story, and now they were curiously anticipating for an update. When the taxi arrived at the manor, Freya practically threw her fare to the driver and got off the car as quickly as possible. Then she strode through the gates of the manor and started running towards the main house. The gatekeeper and every servant gave a salute to her as soon as they saw her, but she was not in the mood to pay attention to them. She kept running until she saw Aaron in his study. "Did Hugo know what happened between you and his brother?" Aaron asked her, though he knew clearly how useless it was to ask.

At the moment, Freya could not be more flurried. It seemed like she didn't hear Aaron's question. She only looked at Aaron in the hope that he would be able to rectify the current situation. "Your Highness, what do we do? What do we do?" she mumbled, hugging herself as if she was holding herself together. The whole thing has stressed her out to the point of madness, and not knowing what to do was making it worse. "I can't let Ximena know this. Otherwise... What can I do?" she mumbled again.

Looking at Freya, whose face looked deathly pale at the moment, Aaron's face contorted into frustration. He said, "The reason why I wanted you to leave was because of this. I was afraid that this kind of thing would happen. And surprise, it did." As long as Freya stayed by Ximena's side, she would become a time bomb sooner or later. Ximena would not live a life that had nothing to do with the past unless Freya left.

Regret could be seen in her eyes. Half a year ago, she had been unwilling to leave though she had already agreed to do. She was unwilling to part with her daughter again. She had given birth to her daughter in prison, and the baby had been taken away from her at the age of only four months. Later when she had gotten to know that the baby had been raised by Gracie, she had chosen to be silent and not reveal her identity as the set up would let her daughter be with her biological father. However, when she had discovered something later, she had begun being a walking corpse and running flesh in prison until she had gotten out.

After she had been released, she had been told that the family of three had been killed by a car accident. She had been given the opportunity to see the tombstones of the departed, and from that moment on, she had stopped caring about what she would gain from life or lose along the way. Indifference took a hold of her, and it wouldn't let go. Because of this, she had lived alone for many years. When she had thought that everyone connected to her had died or disappeared, Ximena had come out of nowhere, all of a sudden. Ximena was her beloved daughter.

With these thoughts running in her mind, Freya's eyes became red and moist. Slowly, the bitterness of despair and regret was eating her alive. "Your Highness, what should I do? What can I do to prevent Ximena from being hurt... What can I do?" she asked. Suddenly, she felt like she was being drained of all her energy. As her feet and legs became weak, she plopped down on the floor limply, sitting there and crying. The sight was heartbreaking to behold.

Looking down at Freya, Aaron felt a flurry of complicated emotions. Freya wasn't the only person having regrets. Internally, he also couldn't help but wish he had done things differently before everything came to this.

He should have been heartless half a year ago. Instead of becoming understanding and letting Freya come back because of the emotions Ximena had shown him, he should have followed his plan with unrelenting determination. Despite his position and influence in QY Island, he could not control everything.

"I don't know why Hugo is doing all of this," Aaron said in a surprisingly solemn voice. "But I'm afraid that it would not be simple." As he frowned more tightly, he continued, "First of all, you'd better try to calm down." Freya sat up straight, and tried to control her cries. "Don't throw yourself into a panic. I will isolate Ximena from the outside for some time..."

"Oh God, when will you let me go!" Freya cried out in sadness when she saw helplessness on Aaron's face. It was something she had never seen in his face before. "Isn't it enough for me to bear so much for so many years? I beg you. Don't involve my daughter... Let Ximena go... Please..."

Aaron could not help but frown at her cries. Before he was able to prevent her from crying, warning her that it might wake Ximena up, the study's doorknob started to turn. After a few moments, Ximena was already standing at the door, confused and shocked at the scene she came upon. "What do you mean?" she asked. "What is happening?" Peeling her eyes off of Freya looking like a mess on the floor, Ximena turned to look at Aaron. "I woke up because my throat was feeling sore, so I wanted a cup of water..." she said carefully. "I, I didn't mean to listen to your talks intentionally... I didn't..." She kept shaking her head weakly. Her eyes showed how she was trying to make sense of what was happening and denying what she had heard at the same time.

Looking at Ximena, who looked gaunt because of the sickness she had just been through and the shock that she was feeling right now, Aaron felt his heart ache. There was nothing else he wanted at that very moment than to have Ximena's pain for himself. He opened his mouth, "Ximena..."

"Don't say anything!" Ximena interrupted him, preventing him from finishing what he wanted to say. Her eyes were once again on Freya, who was sitting on the floor, looking stunned by her sudden appearance. "Aunt Freya, you... you," Ximena said, heaving as if she was out of breath. While she truly wanted to know what the truth was, in her heart, she already knew what it was and was dreading it with all her being. Her face, which was already deathly pale, looked as if life had already escaped it. "You, you..." she mumbled, her voice shaking. She was trying to calm herself by taking deep breaths, but it only sounded like she was barely holding on to dear life. "Aunt Freya..." she stuttered. "What did you say just now? Why... Why did you refer to me as your daughter?"

After hearing Ximena's question, Freya came back to her senses. Slowly, she stood up from the floor and looked at her daughter with teary eyes. She didn't know what to say or how to begin to explain to her everything.

Aaron looked at Ximena, his stare deep. He was afraid that Freya's wailing would wake Ximena up from her sleep, and unfortunately, it did. However, everything became worse-she heard more. "Ximena, there is something..." he started, taking the pressure off of Freya to explain. 000