The Next Wife novel Chapter 56

~TWO YEARS LATER~

"So, which is why we'll be the most suitable for you to work with." Fred completed his explanation and everyone in the meeting room clapped for him.

"You're a very smart man." The CEO of the company they were planning on doing a business with said, smirking at him.

"Thank you," They both stood up to shake hands which resulted in others rising up as well.

"We'll surely work together. It'll be very beneficial for everyone." He smiled then withdrew his hand, placing both his hands behind him. "I'm glad we decided to meet you, it's a pleasure."

"Thank you, sir." Fred dashed him one of his fake smiles again, glancing at Jeremy at giving him a non-verbal sign.

Jeremy nodded in understanding.

***

The meeting was finally over then they accompanied the company members out of their own company, here in Australia, before saying their goodbyes to them.

"Man, that was great!" Jeremy laughed, rubbing Fred's back.

Fred's smiling face immediately disappeared and returned to his usual stern look. "I'm hungry." He sighed, walking away from Jeremy who had to run a little to catch up with him.

"What? Aren't you happy about it?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow at him. They both got into one of Fred's cars then Jack, Fred's new driver after Mark had resigned, started driving him to their hotel.

"I don't care to be happy about some stupid business. My happiness left me two years ago; the day Jayda left." He sighed, palming his face.

"You must be kidding me if you say you haven't forgotten Jayda." He laughed.

"Why would I? As much as she hurt me, I still love her." He sighed once more.

"What is this? Some Romance Novel where the Male lead can't forget his love of a billion year ago?" It wasn't anyhow funny to Fred but Jeremy kept laughing exuberantly.

"This isn't a joke. Why don't you tend to be serious about things like this? I know Jayda left me but that doesn't mean I'll stop loving her. As much as I want, I can't. Don't you know how I've been searching for her? I have had different professional people look for her but none of them have brought a positive result of her being found."

"You need a break?" Jeremy shook his head, wearing a serious look. "Something must be wrong with your brain. How would you say you still love her after so many years? She left you so she shouldn't be worth your emotion."

"Two years, Jerry. It's only two years. I might say I don't love her. It's very possible not to love her, but I want to see her again, clarify things; ask her why she made such a stupid decision, why she didn't come back to me, ask her different things." He snorted.

"Let's just go to a club, drink till you flush down every memory of Jayda, grab a couple of women to have fun with. We're here in Australia. Let's have some fun before we return." Jeremy said.

"A couple of women, uh?" Fred hissed, rolling his eyes. Jeremy seemed like an idiot to him at the moment.

"Wait! Don't tell me you haven't been with any woman in these two years. You haven't slept with anyone? How's that possible?" Jeremy looked really serious.

Fred didn't want to respond to the question but when he caught a glance of Jeremy's eyes, they read desperation and the need of an answer. "I do. Whenever I feel stressed out or over-think, I go to any club and just sleep around like a jobless-"

"Not everyone expresses their love and regret in their emotions. Some people just say and do some things to try and forget the mistake they've made to lose their most loved ones because the pain just hurts so much. Don't you think if I had the chance to turn back the hands of time, I would do that to avoid letting such mistakes have happened and happily be with my Freya?" He said, sounding serious for the first time in a long time.

"Do you think it's easy for me to just forget Freya? No matter how tough and nonchalant I might be on the outside, there's still the moment where you shed your secret tears. Do you know how hard I've tried to look for Freya? To find her and apologize to her with my whole life? To be with my wife and my child I never saw? Do you know how I've missed her so much?"

"You can't expect everyone to express their feelings like you? I only try to create distractions for myself but they end up being regrets." Jeremy admitted. Jack had stopped the car so Jeremy opened the door and got out of it.

"Oh, shit! What the fuck have I done?" He ran his fingers along his face.

"Jack," he said then Jack turned his head to Fred. "Please hand me the keys. You can leave, I just want to be alone." He said.

Jack nodded, ensuring that the car was properly parked before he stepped out of it.

Fred got out of the back seat then turned around to get into the driver's seat. He started the car and just drove in the streets of Australia as his car could drive.

Fred was driving slowly and going anywhere. He knew he was going to miss his way in the place he wasn't familiar with and was going to have someone locate him to take him back to his hotel.

Fred wasn't looking at the road but was lost in his thoughts. He was so deep in thought that he almost forgot that he was driving. When he shot his head upwards, he only noticed that someone was about to be hit by his car so he immediately hit the brakes but the woman he almost hit fainted. It was probably due to shock, he guessed.

He turned the engine off then rushed out of the car, running to the woman that had fainted on the floor, face-flat.

"Goodness, are you okay?" He held her shoulders to lift her up. His eyes went wide in shock and his heart froze when he realized that the woman was Jayda, his very own wife. He felt her presence dwell inside of him again.