bChapter /bb67 /b

Victor thought, ‘The more I interact with Skr, the more I realize she isn’t like the person Freya described/’

But what she did to Freya was like a tiny thorn in his heart. No matter how hard Victor tried, he just couldn’t pull it out.

This left Victor feeling deeply conflicted.

“Don’t mention it. That’s what family is for,” Skr said. After being hurt by the Stone family, she rarely spoke this way anymore.

The Lambert family truly made her feel at home. Now that she was back, maybe she should try opening up and giving them ba /bchance.

If things went south, she could always pull back. It was not like she’d be losing anything.

Besides, Victor didn’t seem like the type who couldn’t tell right from wrong.

Both lost in their own thoughts, they spent the journey in silence.

Upon arrival, Victor first helped Skr out of the bcar /band then went to get her suitcase from the trunk.

Skr asked, “Is this where we’re staying?”

The house before them stood old and dpidated, with a haphazardly thatched roof. Its walls were built of yellow by/bb, /bcoated in ba /byer of dust.

This ce didn’t even look fit for human habitation.

The houses were assigned based on game rankings. Thanks to Freya’s screw–upst time, their team finished deadst. So naturally, they didn’t bget /bba /bgood ce.

Victor had expected her to dislike it. After all, when Freya moved in, she wouldn’t stop grumbling about the ce.

Victor was just about to offer someforting words when Skr had already walked right in.

The ce was tiny. There was just enough space for sleeping, with no kitchen at all.

To ensure they’d have meals, Victor consulted the vigers and built,a makeshift stove outside.

Victor gave Skr a quick rundown of the house’syout and its sparse furnishings.

Skr’s gaze fell on the window, patched with just a singleyer of tattered paper.

Victor said, “Sorry, we can’t get new windows installed right now. Just bear with it for now. I’ll try my best to get a better ranking in the next round bof /bbthe /bshow, and then we can move to a better ce.”

Skr said, rolling up her sleeves. “It’s okay. Looks like it might rain in the next couple of days. bThe /bthatched roof will leak, so we’ll bneed /bbto /bbcut /bbsome /bfresh thatch to cover it.

“We can add a few moreyers of paper to the window, drape some fabric over it, and seal it with duct tape. That way, the drafts bwon’t /bbget /binb, /band we won’t have to worry about rain soaking the bedding.”

Victor was taken aback. He had expected Skr to throw a fit, but she waspletely unfazed.

He looked at her and said, “I thought you’d hate this ce.”

Skr said, “This house is already pretty good.” She had certainly lived in worse ces than this.

In prison, several of them were crammed into a single cell. After being bullied, she’d be shoved binto /bba /bbcorner/bb, /bbforced to /bbhuddle /bbthere /bbto /bbsleep /bbwithout /bbeven /b

ba /bnket.

b07:14 /bbWed/bb, /bb2 /bbJul /b

At least there was ba /bbed and nkets here. That was more than enough.

Victor felt a pang at her words, thinking, ‘How could she consider this shabby house pretty good? She must have endured btremendous /bhardships bbefore /breturning home.‘

Snapping out of her thoughts, Skr looked at Victor. “Victor, don’t just stand there. Let’s get this donei. /iOnce we’re finished, the ce will feel a lot morefortable.”

Victor froze. ‘Did she just call me Victor? Did I hear that right?‘

“Victor?” Skr called again, seeing him still frozen in ce.

Victor snapped out of it, a smile tugging at his lips. “You just got off the ne. Why don’t you sit down and rest? Let me handle itb./bb” /b

“Two pairs of hands work faster. Let’s go,” Skr said. She bent down to grab the sickle from the ground, slung the worn–out woven basket over her shoulders, and strode ahead without hesitation.

Victor quickly grabbed a knife, caught up to her in a few steps, and took the worn basket off Skr’s shoulders, slinging it onto his own back.

Since Skr had just arrived, the production team decided to give her the night off to rest, so they didn’t schedule any filming that evening.