Chapter 132 The Question
Chapter 132 The Question
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The bigshot was clearly just being modest. The novel had spelled it out plainly–even the male lead himself had admitted that without insider information, there was no way he could’ve beaten Louis. Now that Louis was on his way back up, with his own skills and a tight–knit group of friends backing him, there was no doubt he’d succeed.
Freya pressed her lips together. “Well, I’m sure you’ll become incredible again.”
Louis thought she had something more to say, but that was it. After waiting a beat, he simply responded, “Appreciate the vote of confidence,”
“Do you want to order anything else?” Freya motioned toward the menu in front of him. Since it might be their last meal together, she was already prepared to be generous.
“I’m good.” Louis assumed she wanted the menu herself and pushed it gently toward her. Freya glanced down at the prices and winced internally. Despite herself, she only ordered two drinks before handing the menu back to the waiter.
Neither of them said much after that. Freya struggled to come up with a conversation topic, but nothing came. The little voice in her head just shrugged and said, See? You two really aren’t from the same world. Even sitting together, there’s nothing to talk
about.
“Does your project still need funding?” She couldn’t take the silence anymore and blurted out the question–only to immediately realize it was a dumb one.
Think about it. If Louis needed money, one of his friends could easily pitch in–each of them probably had more money than she could ever imagine. Asking something like this was just another knife to twist in an already awkward situation. What, did she think selling off her luxury items would help fund a company?
Wait… hold on.
She suddenly realized something.
R&D projects weren’t something that could be done overnight. If Louis‘ project was already showing results, then he must’ve started preparing ages ago. And someone as capable as him would definitely have set aside emergency funds. Which meant- he might not have been as strapped for cash as he’d appeared to be.
No, actually… aside from that very first time, Louis had never actually said he was broke.
As the pieces clicked into place, Freya saw the whole picture. The “broke” act must’ve been for the sole purpose of shaking off the burdensome original character.
So this whole time… all the hardship she thought he’d been going through–it was all in her head. Louis had been playing the long game. Pretending to be weak.
A cold emptiness spread through her chest. She’d thought she was helping him, maybe even repaying him in some way. But to Louis, it was probably just the original character pestering him yet again. Who knew how much he’d been guarding against
her?
“No. I’ve already secured investment.” Louis could tell something was off with her and didn’t beat around the bush. “What’s wrong? Don’t say it’s nothing–your face and your mood are clearly different.”
He didn’t want to believe she was like the original–that now that she knew he might be back on top, she was suddenly planning something,
Freya asked the question, her voice low and tight, “Have you been wary of me all this time? Worried that I might have bad intentions, that I’d try to harm you or take your money–so you kept the truth from me, pretending things were worse than they really were?”
Louis heard the shift in her tone and felt a tug in his chest. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with being cautious- but hearing it said out loud like this… it didn’t feel great.
