<h4>Chapter 17: Cut to the chase</h4>
The fresh, cool morning breeze is what usually greeted Freya whenever she opened the door in the early hours of the day. But something was different that morning. In addition to the morning breeze, an unexpected visitor was at the door.
"Mrs. Curt?" Freya called out, surprised.
"Good morning, Freya," the woman greeted, wearing a smile.
"Good morning, ma’am. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting? How long have you been here?" Freya probed, wondering if the woman had been knocking and she didn’t hear.
"Oh, don’t stress. I only just arrived," Mrs. Curt responded, bringing Freya some relief. "I see you are on your way out. Not to waste your time, I came to ask a favor."
"Okay, ma’am. What can I do for you?"
"I need to see Tessy, but I don’t have the address or phone number of Mr. Baliante. I was hoping I could get the number from you."
"Oh, sure," Freya made to retrieve the card from her bag but paused halfway and returned her gaze to the woman. "I’m sorry to ask, but Mr. Curt was given the card also. Why didn’t you get the number from... umm, never mind." Freya dropped the question halfway, already having an idea why the woman couldn’t get the number from her husband. There was no need to make her feel ufortable trying to exin. Tessy was her daughter, so she had every right to see the girl.
She retrieved the card, handed it to the woman, and thetter copied the number into her phone.
"Thank you," Mrs. Curt said, handing the card back to Freya.
"You’re wee, ma’am. I’m actually on my way to her ce now. If you want, we could go together. I’ll only make a short stop at the Smith Browns’ ce to take a few of her things left there," Freya offered.
"I appreciate your kind gesture, but I’m not prepared for it at the moment. Do extend my greetings to her. I’ll see her very soon," Mrs. Curt politely refused, bid her goodbye, and turned around to walk away.
"Ma’am," Freya called out, making the woman halt and turn around. "Please be careful with them. Mr. Baliante and the others, I mean. ording to reports and stories, they are dangerous people," Freya advised, keeping back the part where she wanted to ask why the woman didn’t oppose or speak against the man marrying Tessy.
After everything Tessy told herst night over the phone, she became scared for her friend. That led her to ask her father about Mr. Baliante and Roman, and the things she heard put her on edge.
A strange smile, which Freya couldn’t read, suddenly appeared on Mrs. Curt’s face. Freya couldn’t tell if it portrayed sadness, pain, suffering, or regret. It was confusing andplicated.
"If someone needs that warning, I assure you, Freya, that someone is not me. I know them, and yes, I know how dangerous they are. But it’s not Mr. Baliante you should worry about. It’s the one that married my daughter. Be careful," Mrs. Curt returned the warning, then walked away.
Freya watched her go, wondering why she didn’t ask her to extend the warning to Tessy. Doesn’t Tessy need to be careful also? And if she knew all this, why did she not oppose the marriage?
These questions danced around in her head even as she drove to Francis’s house. Last night, she had taken Tessy’s luggage, which had been packed and kept in the guest bedroom two nights ago, to her ce. However, there were still a few important documents left in Francis’s house that Tessy needed her to retrieve.
"Good morning—" Freya greeted Mrs. Smith Brown when she opened the door but was rudely cut off by the older woman.
"What do you want?"
"Easy, madam. I’m not the reason behind your frustrations. Don’t take them out on me," Freya responded to the rude question.
"Don’t talk to my mother like that. And yes, you are the reason behind our frustrations, evil friend," Francis barked from inside the house,ing to stand beside his mother. "No wonder you aren’t married. Youck the skills to keep a marriage."
"I didn’t know it requires skills to keep a marriage. Howe you have the skills and couldn’t keep yours?" Freya retorted, getting increasingly annoyed.
Francis fumed. "You s—"
"Shut it, Francis," Mrs. Smith Brown cut him off.
"You want to ruin me? Hahaha... You fail, Freya. I’ll ruin you both first before you get the chance," Francis threatened.
"You can’t threaten me. I’m not Tessy. I hope you remember that. Now go to your bedroom and get me all of Tessy’s documents from thest drawer beside the bed, so I can leave this godforsaken ce. Your presence disgusts me. I believe I don’t need to remind you that nothing should be missing."
Mrs. Smith Brown pulled Francis in and shut the door. A whileter, she reappeared with the file and handed it to Freya. "Don’te back here, you disrespectful child."
Freya held back on responding and just walked away. She had a lot to say, but maybe that was not the right time. She climbed into her car and turned on the ignition, only for someone she recognized to knock on the ss by the shotgun seat. She wound the ss down to reveal Rachel’s smiling face.
"Hi, Freya. I’m Rachel."
"I know," Freya said.
"I don’t think we’ve had the chance to get to know each other properly. Can Ie in?" Rachel asked.
"No. I’m kind of in a hurry and heading somewhere important. Also, I don’t think your boyfriend would appreciate your talking to his enemy," Freya responded.
"Who? Francis? Haha... Don’t worry about him. We’re not married, and what we have is not even that serious," Rachel dismissed, waving her hand. "I see you’re not dressed for work. Are you perhaps going anywhere close to Mr. Baliante?"
"What do you want, Rachel?"
"Alright, let’s cut to the chase. I need Mr. Baliante’s contact. You see, he’s been my idol for a very long time, and I’ve been wishing..."
Freya wound up the ss the moment she heard what thedy wanted, and without hesitation, she stepped on the gas and sped off.
"Keep wishing," Freya muttered in annoyance.
She drove for a few minutes before she brought the car to a stop. Taking out her phone, she dialed a number.