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Freya wholeheartedly agreed with what Sandra had said. She had seen too many stories where couples fell out, and the wife- lacking any means to support herself–ended up in a miserable state. And there were also plenty of cases where the husband had an accident and the wife was suddenly forced to carry the weight of the family. Either way, a woman should never give up her career or her passions.
They chatted for a while longer. Sandra felt like they had reconnected on that same wavelength they’d shared back in college -maybe even more in sync than they’d been back then. So she kept talking for a bit longer than she normally would. By the time they said goodbye, they’d even made tentative plans to hang out sometime.
Freya considered her the first real friend she’d acknowledged since coming to this world. Thankfully, the original old Freya hadn’t interacted with Sandra too frequently, so even if they started meeting up more often now, it wouldn’t raise any suspicions. It could easily be chalked up to Freya having a change of heart after going through a rough time.
The next day, Louis noticed that Freya was in an unusually good mood. When he came into the bathroom to wash his hands before dinner, he actually heard her humming. So during the meal, he couldn’t help but ask her about it.
Freya suddenly remembered what Sandra had said yesterday. She didn’t ask about Louis visiting the club–instead, she brought up money.
“Are you still busy with work stuff lately? Do you have enough money? The stuff I sold a while back brought in a decent amount, and after paying the down payment, there’s still about forty thousand dollars left. I kept it just in case, but if you need it, it’s yours.”
“If you had the money, why didn’t you just pay for the house in full back then?” Louis was a little caught off guard. He had never asked exactly how much Freya made from selling her things. In his mind, the money had been hers to use however she wanted. When she’d taken out a loan for thirty thousand dollars instead of paying the full amount up front, he’d assumed she hadn’t had enough.
Suddenly, his brows drew together. “You didn’t sell more of your clothes and bags again, did you?”
“No, no, it’s still the same stuff I’d already planned to sell. The more expensive items were harder to move, so they’ve been selling bit by bit. I just figured we might need cash unexpectedly. And since I’ve still got a steady stream of royalties coming in, I decided to hold on to some of the money just in case. Besides, worst case, I’ll have the loan paid off in three years— maybe even by next year if things go well.”
“I don’t need money right now. You keep it for yourself. And don’t be too frugal,” Louis said, glancing at the dishes on the table. Thinking back over the past few weeks, it didn’t seem like Freya had been stingy with daily necessities. At the very least, she still bought high–quality fruit. Right now, he was the one paying the rent, but it looked like Freya had been covering most of the other expenses. When he added it all up, she’d spent quite a bit too.
“How much are you making from royalties each month now?” It was the first time Louis had directly asked about her income.
“Huh?” Freya blinked a few times, mentally estimating. “Right now I’ve got three novels running, so I make a little over a thousand dollars a month.”
That kind of income wasn’t bad at all for someone in a regular salaried job. Writing wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked, and the fact that Freya was already making that much at the start clearly marked her as a rising talent.
But for someone like Louis, a thousand dollars probably wasn’t even enough to cover one of his old meals. Worried he might think it was too little, Freya quickly added, “I’ve noticed some public accounts are accepting submissions too. I can write those pretty quickly. If I do a few of those a month, I could probably push my income up to around two thousand.”
