Chapter 3

“Are you hungry?”

His dark eyes studied her and he tilted his head. “What?”

When he still didn’t reply, she wrung her hands together. “I’ll get you something to eat.”

Grace moved to the tiny stove and threw some noodles and eggs into the pot to make a simple bowl of noodles for him. She didn’t have any meat, but she chopped what vegetables she had and added them too.

She set the tiny table and poured them both a glass of water from the sink. He moved cautiously to take a seat when she set the bowls down.

“Eat, but don’t eat too fast. It’s quite hot,” she said.

She didn’t mean to treat him like a child, but his presence made her nervous even as there was something incredibly calming about him.

He lowered his head and ate his noodles quietly. Grace also stared at him in silence.

Normally, she’d come home and hate the feeling of being alone, confined in a tiny space. For some reason, the loneliness that she’d usually feel seemed to have disappeared. Could it be due to the presence of another person in the room?

After he had finished eating, Grace cleaned up the plates. “I usually sleep with the lights on. I hope you don’t mind,” she said. Ever since she was released from prison, she had gotten into the habit.

“That’s fine.”

Grace took her pajamas into the bathroom and shut the door to brush her teeth and change. Was it weird having a man alone beside where she’d sleep? Yeah. Probably.

But she didn’t feel triggered by his presence of fearful.

If he’d wanted to hurt her, he wouldn’t have defended her on the street.

When she exited and lay down on the bed, he took his position on the floor.

The room was silent save for the sound of the heater. If she listened hard enough, she could hear each breath he took.

It was a steady rhythm, peaceful even.

Grace closed her eyes and focused on sleeping. This was her routine every night because it was almost impossible for her to relax. Even being out of jail, at night she would always dream of her time in prison.

She would be beaten, shamed, and abused… and every finger would burn with the pain of being broken and the nails being torn off…

She’d wake up screaming, fingers curled, terrified, and heart pounding.

However, oddly, that didn’t happen tonight.

She slept until sunrise and was not visited by her usual nightmares.

As she awakened, she rolled over to look at the figure lying on the ground beside her bed.

Still here.

Was it because of him? Because she was no longer alone in this room?

squatted

real, and not

taken a strange man into her

was already awake. His beautiful eyes were

face heated with embarrassment. “I… I just… that… If you don’t have anywhere to go, you

a hurry, but after she

widened with a trace

don’t want to, just pretend I

and he spoke quietly. “Do you want

other man, it would’ve sounded like they were flirting

“don’t want” and she assumed he meant it to mean his presence here. She didn’t read any ambiguity into his words, even if there had been, she realized her answer would be

at her, and a smile slowly formed on

him smile. Although it was very light… it looked

***

ready to go back to work. When she left money on the table for him to buy himself some

her gone, the room was

her light vanilla scent or somewhat nervous energy filled the space. He rolled up the quilt that

tempted to look around, maybe snoop a bit. But

he finally left the apartment, there were already people waiting

they respectfully greeted him,

Jason responded

parked in front of him. Jason got into it and looked at the twenty-dollar bill in his hand. It had been many years since someone had given him money like this. On the contrary, for as long as he could remember, people only wanted to take money

his gaze in the rearview mirror. “The woman who was with you last night is a contract worker of the Sanitation Service Center. She started renting her current residence here a

“Prison?”

Stevens family. She was convicted of reckless driving and killing Jennifer Atkinson. She

“Grace…” he whispered. “Well, this

on marrying him and that she was also a good political marriage candidate, he thought that if he had to marry someone, then

would end

knew about his past relationship with Jennifer, how would

considered that twenty-dollar

brought him into her

I want all the information you can find on Grace Cummins on

Then… “Sir, are

***

a call from her father asking her to go home. He said that since she had been released from prison, she should go home to

when she was

only a few months after mom died, and her

“new” family, which led to her being sent to live with her maternal grandmother in the countryside. Grace’s grandmother cared for her until third grade,

and at the top of her class, her father finally warmed to her.

pretense. Even her half sister tried to get on her good side—something that had never happened before. From the moment Evelyn was born, she’d taken the role of the favorite child, and she’d scarcely bothered to even

in her family’s eyes. She knew it was only because he was the heir of the Stevens Corporation. However, at that time, she still couldn’t help but long for familial affection. She’d just wanted to

To be loved.

accident, she realized that everything

she stepped into her

the same. Pictures of the three of them. Not a single photo of her

Same couches and tables.

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