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?

gotten out of bed, squatted down, and placed

not something from

taken a strange man

he was already awake.

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

in a hurry, but after she had said it, she felt

eyes widened with a

just pretend I didn’t say

finally opened and he spoke quietly. “Do

this had been said by some other man, it would’ve sounded like they were flirting with

the words came from him, it was like he was just asking a simple question of “want” or “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

stared at her, and a smile slowly formed

smile. Although it was very light…

***

while Grace got ready to go back to work. When she left money on the table for him to buy himself some food, he sat staring at

her gone, the room

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

a bit. But he didn’t want to intrude on

left the apartment, there were

seeing him come out, they respectfully greeted him, “Mr.

go,” Jason

It had been many years since someone had given him money like this. On the contrary, for as long as he could remember, people

gaze in the rearview mirror. “The woman who was with you last night is a contract worker of the Sanitation

“Prison?”

Cummins. She’s the ex-girlfriend of Sean of the Stevens family. She was convicted of reckless driving and killing Jennifer Atkinson. She was sentenced to three years of imprisonment and had her lawyer’s license

expression bland. “Grace…” he

Jennifer Atkinson had been set on marrying him and that she was also a good political marriage candidate, he

that Jennifer would end up dying in a car

his past relationship with Jennifer,

considered that

hand, brought him into her home, and said she’d wanted

I want all the information you can find

Then… “Sir, are you interested in

***

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

died when she

few months after mom died, and

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

the top of her class, her father finally warmed to her. He eventually started to

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

finally made her worthy of love in her family’s eyes. She knew it was only because he was the heir of the Stevens Corporation. However, at that

To be loved.

realized that everything was just her wishful

stepped into

three of them.

Same couches and tables.

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