Chapter 67 67
FREYA POV
I wanted to ask Steve why we were heading toward the gym in the middle of the night, but my body felt like lead. I was too weak to form the words. The physical and emotional exhaustion of the night had finally caught up to me, so I just rested my head against the cool leather of the seat.
The car pulled into a dark parking lot. The driver hurried to open Steve’s door, but Steve waved him off. He walked around to my side himself, opening the door and offering his hand. I took it, my legs still slightly shaky.
We entered the gym, but the main floor was dark and empty. It seemed like a normal, high-end fitness center, but as we walked past the heavy weight racks toward the back, Steve stopped in front of a mirrored wall. I watched in silence as he pressed a specific spot on the frame.
A section of the wall hissed and slid back. I stood there, amazed. It wasn't just a hidden room; it was a doorway to a different world.
We walked down a set of stairs into a massive underground facility. The interior was modern and stark—high ceilings, industrial lighting, and polished concrete floors. To the left, there was a section filled with monitors and hardware that looked like a high-level hacking station. To the right, there were glass-walled offices.
As we walked through the center corridor, men in dark suits stopped what they were doing and bowed deeply as Steve passed.
The question that had been hunting me ever since I met Steve came back: Who exactly is Steve?
A loud, muffled scream echoed from a hallway ahead. I flinched, but Steve’s expression didn't change. We reached a heavy steel door guarded by two men. One of them stepped forward and pulled it open.
The first thing I heard was the loud blare of a television. The volume was turned up high.
"He’s waiting for you," Steve said, his voice flat.
"Who?" I asked, my heart beginning to throb in my throat.
Steve simply nodded toward the door. I took a deep breath and stepped inside without saying another word.
In the corner of the room, a man was sitting on the floor. At the sound of the door closing, he jerked his head up. His face was bruised, and his hair was a matted mess.
"Freya?" he gasped. He scrambled to his feet and tried to rush toward me.
I instinctively stepped back, my back hitting the door in fear, before the realization hit me r. "Mark?"
I looked around the room. The only light came from a massive TV screen mounted on the wall. It was playing a live news feed of Lila’s recovery party. On the screen, the media was swarming her, and she was desperately trying to cover her face while Victor stood by with a cold expression.
I understood it then. Mark was the "someone" Steve said was watching. Steve had locked Mark in this room and forced him to watch me destroy his mistress on national television. Steve had handled Lila in public and Mark in private.
“God”
"How did you end up here?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
"That bitch..." Mark growled, pointing a trembling finger at the screen where Lila was being humiliated. "She did this. She set us all up."
I looked at him. He was a dirty, broken mess. He looked nothing like the arrogant man who had asked for a divorce. I felt a strange surge of emotions—it was successful revenge, but seeing him like this made a small part of me feel pity. I hated that I felt it, but I did.
Mark suddenly dropped to his knees. Tears began to stream down his face, leaving tracks through the dirt on his skin.
"Freya, I'm sorry," he sobbed. He didn't look at the screen anymore; he looked at my shoes. "I was a bad person. I was a manipulator. I tried to dim your star because I couldn't handle how bright you were. I ruined everything."
He cried so hard his shoulders shook, admitting to every lie and every moment he had held me back. I stood there speechless. The anger I had carried for months felt like it was evaporating, leaving me empty. Somehow I want to stay and listen to him, somehow I wanted to leave. I couldn't breathe in this room anymore.
As I turned to walk away, Mark lunged forward and grabbed the hem of my dress, holding onto my legs.
"Don't forgive me," he choked out. "I don't deserve it. But if it’s just once... I need to see Luna. I need to ask her for mercy."
I looked down at him, by this time my own tears were threatening to spill. But I managed to fight them back.
"Luna also missed you," I said quietly. "You can meet her. You can try to explain to her why she won’t be seeing you constantly. But I promise you, she will be fine. We will be fine."
I felt a presence behind me. Steve was standing in the doorway. He walked forward and dropped a heavy yellow envelope of money onto the floor next to Mark.
"I promised to get your money back from the accounts Lila drained," Steve said, his voice cold and final. "You are free to go home, Mark. The debt is settled."
Mark looked at the envelope and burst into fresh tears, bowing his head until it touched the floor. He was a broken man, but he was finally an honest one.
Steve placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me out of the room. As the steel door clicked shut behind us, I felt the final chapter of my old life close for good.
Steve led me out of the room. We walked back through the underground hallway, We went up the stairs and back into the dark, empty gym.
The air in the gym was cool. my legs felt weak. I turned toward Steve and put my arms around his waist. I pressed my face against his chest and just stayed there. I could hear his heart beating. It was steady and slow.
Steve wrapped his arms around me and held me against him. He leaned down and spoke near my ear.
"I gave you permission to cry," he whispered. "You can do it now."
I moved back a little to look at his face. I felt calm. The anger was gone, and the excitement of revenge had disappeared. I felt very tired. I looked at Steve, and his expression told me it was okay to let go.
I waited to sob, but I didn't. Only one drop of a tear fell down my cheek. I wiped it away with my hand. I looked at Steve and gave a small, tired smile.
"I am used to crying in other ways," I said. My voice was a bit rough. "Not this way."
I looked around the dark gym. My eyes went to a specific spot near the heavy weight racks. I remembered it clearly. That was the spot where Steve had first shown me romance. It was where he told me that I should come back to him after my divorce was final.
I smiled when I remembered that moment. I looked at Steve and pointed toward the corner.
"Do you remember that spot?" I asked him.
Steve looked over at the area I was pointing to. He stood there for a second, looking at the empty space in the dark. Then he looked back at me, and a small, steady look came into his eyes.
"I remember," he said. His voice was deep. "I told you to come back to me."
"I’m here, so finish what you start”