Chapter 24 Her Counterattack

He glanced at the caller ID, frowned, and said to Freya, "Mrs. Austin, please wait a moment. I have to take this call." Freya nodded as Frederick walked to a corner to answer the phone. "What did you say? Mr. Austin's headache has relapsed?" "Yes, the medication is no longer able to control his condition. Please find a doctor quickly." "I'll be right back," he said. Anxiously, Frederick put down the phone and made his way to the car. He said to Freya, who was standing there, "Mrs. Austin, I'm afraid we won't be able to continue shopping today. Let me take you home now." "What happened?" Freya asked curiously. For a second, Frederick debated whether or not he should tell her about Mr. Austin's condition, as she may struggle to understand. After a brief moment of consideration, Frederick suggested, "How about this, you go ahead and go shopping first. Just give me a call when you're done, and I'll pick you up." Genuinely longing for fresh air, Freya replied, "Okay." Frederick handed her a credit card and signaled the driver to promptly return. As Freya watched the car swiftly depart, a faint sense of unease crept over her. She had only had limited interactions with Frederick, but she had always seen him as a composed and experienced figure. Witnessing him in such a state of panic was highly peculiar. Once Frederick had left, Freya entered the mall with the credit card in hand and made her way to a women's clothing store on the second floor. She ran her slim fingers over the fashionable garments as she perused the racks of designer wear for women. Finally, she settled on a beautiful white dress embellished with ruffled edges. She was about to try the dress on when someone grabbed it out of her hands. "I'll take this dress!" Freya turned around, taken aback by the unexpected occurrence, only to be met with the sight of Lola. Lola's face was no longer swollen, but the redness remained, and even the heavy application of makeup couldn't hide it. It seemed that Frederick hadn't been gentle with her the previous day. Equally surprised to see Freya, Lola exclaimed, "Freya, what are you doing here?" In a low voice, Freya explained, "I'm here to buy clothes." Lola took a quick look around but didn't notice if Freya was with anyone. "You came here alone?" she exclaimed in shock. "Frederick has already returned home. He will come to pick me up later," Freya pretended to be unaware of the situation. As Lola heard this, she saw a golden opportunity to take revenge. Having suffered at the hands of Freya the previous night, Lola had been harboring resentment, and now was the perfect chance to teach Freya a lesson. "Lola, did Mr. Austin give you his credit card?" Lola cunningly asked. Freya shook her head and replied, "No, Frederick mentioned he would come later to settle the payment." Freya had to say this to hide the truth, as Lola's question had already exposed her trap. Lola aimed to exploit her financially, but Freya made it clear that she would never let herself be taken advantage of, even if she had a credit card. Lola's true colors shone through as she asked venomously, "Are you really dumb or just pretending to be? How dare you stroll into this store without money? Do you even realize how costly the clothes here are? Even a casual piece can cost a few thousand dollars." "I had no idea. In that case, I'll look elsewhere," Freya acted as if she were about to leave. Just as Freya was preparing to leave, she suddenly heard a familiar male voice saying, "Lola, have you finished shopping?" Freya recognized it was Ethan's voice. Lola quickly swooped in, latching onto his arm and saying flirtatiously, "Ethan, just wait a little longer. I'm still finding the perfect dress." Lola had been pestering Ethan a whole day to accompany her to this shopping mall. She was set on treating herself to some designer clothes so that she could flaunt her wealth among the social elite. Now that everyone in town knew she was Ethan's girlfriend, Lola felt the need to dress accordingly to match her new status. Seeing Ethan appear, Freya couldn't help but inwardly sneer. She hadn't expected him and her sister to actually end up together. Ethan had the same reaction as Lola when he saw Freya: resentment, as she was the reason why he got whipped twenty times. He grasped her hand tightly and spoke maliciously, "Well, isn't this Auntie Freya? Why are you all alone here? Where's Uncle Bradley?" Suddenly, a realization seemed to dawn on him, and he burst into laughter. "Oh, silly me! Uncle Bradley is disabled, so that's why so he can't go shopping with you." Freya clenched her fists, unable to suppress her anger. She despised it when people belittled Bradley's condition. "You have no right to insult Mr. Austin!" she retorted, her anger clearly visible. "Not only do I have the right to insult him, but I also have the right to insult you! Dimwits like you and cripples like him make the perfect match," Ethan sneered, confident that he could easily defeat her - whether she had someone by her side or not. The memory of enduring the twenty lashes still haunted him, and he resolved to teach her a lesson today. Freya's fury intensified, and she violently kicked the clothing rack in front of her, causing an avalanche of clothes to fall onto Ethan and Lola. Startled, a shop assistant hurried over and demanded, "What on earth are you doing, miss?" Freya acted innocent and smiled as she said, "Playing hide-and-seek is so much fun! Come on, my sister and my nephew, let's join in!" "You idiot! Watch as I defeat you!" After kicking the clothing rack out of the way, Ethan got to his feet and started furiously chasing after Freya. Deliberately causing chaos, Freya ran around the store, purposely bumping into clothing racks before rushing outside. She shouted, "Catch me if you can!" Ethan rolled up his sleeves and started to catch up when the shop assistant stopped him. "Sir, you must make up for all of the damage in our store." Annoyed, he argued, "Why should I compensate for all this? It's that idiot's fault for knocking everything down!" The shop assistant's frustration grew as they replied, "You have to compensate because you two are her relatives." Several store assistants blocked the exit and sternly warned, "If you refuse to compensate, we will call the police." Given that it was a high-end international brand store, even the discounted clothes were worth a significant amount. Many of the clothes that Freya knocked down were also damaged or dirtied, adding to the compensation required. Ethan's sole focus was on teaching Freya a lesson. He threw his credit card at Lola, disregarding the shop assistants, and hastily made his way outside. In his mind, he thought to himself, "That damn bitch! I swear, I'll catch her and humiliate her publicly by stripping her naked." Freya purposely slowed her pace, enjoying the sight of Ethan closing in on her. She turned around and entered a toy store. When she emerged, she had a tall teddy bear in her arms. Ethan swiftly closed the distance, but his progress was halted when the store assistant from the toy store stood in his way. "Sir, please make the payment," the store assistant politely requested. Confused, Ethan questioned, "What payment? I didn't buy anything." The store assistant explained, "The young lady just purchased a teddy bear for a total of $250." Ethan, growing irritated, gestured towards Freya as she walked away. "Since she bought it, you should ask her for the money. Why are you asking me?" The store assistant clarified, "She claimed you were her nephew and asked us to let you pay for it." Finally comprehending Freya's trickery, Ethan reluctantly paid the money and hurriedly caught up to her as she entered a jewelry store. Freya emerged from the store in less than five minutes, turned back, and playfully laughed at Ethan. "You're too slow, my little nephew!" With those words, she dashed away in the blink of an eye.