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?

even knew it, she had gotten out of bed, squatted down, and placed her hand on his cheek. Her hand

not something from her

taken a strange man

he was already awake. His beautiful eyes

If you don’t have anywhere to go, you can also live

a hurry, but after she had

widened with

want to, just pretend I didn’t say anything,”

mouth finally opened and he spoke quietly.

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

he was just asking a simple question of “want” or “don’t want” and she assumed he meant it to mean his presence here.

her, and a smile slowly formed on his

seen him smile. Although it

***

the tiny table while Grace got ready to go back to work. When she left money on

her gone, the room

her light vanilla scent or somewhat nervous energy filled the space. He rolled up the quilt that he’d slept on and then washed

be tempted to look around, maybe snoop a bit. But he didn’t want to intrude on

the apartment, there

come out, they respectfully

Jason responded

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

contract worker of the Sanitation Service Center. She started renting her current residence

“Prison?”

Jennifer Atkinson. She was sentenced to three years of imprisonment and had her lawyer’s license revoked,” Terrence said as he

“Grace…” he whispered.

she was also a good political

would’ve thought that Jennifer would end up dying in a

relationship with

considered that twenty-dollar bill

him? Taken his hand, brought him

you can find on

sir.” Then… “Sir, are you

***

He said that since she had been released from prison,

mother died when she was

remarried only a few months after mom died, and her stepmother gave

led to her being sent to live with her maternal grandmother in the countryside. Grace’s grandmother cared for

been in college and at the top of her class, her father finally warmed to her. He eventually started to show off

of 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

love 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

To be loved.

she realized that everything was just

she stepped

three of them. Not

Same couches and tables.

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