Grace stood by the door, watching the scene unfold with a speechless

expression.

"Why are you crying? You're about to turn 20-can you try acting your age?" she teased.

A look of lingering fear spread across Liam's face. He rubbed his eyes hard. "I'm never coming back to this place again. I swear, Grace, I'll never come back here for the rest of my life."

He looked like he was ready to swear it on his grave.

Grace just gave a small smile, watching him excitedly shove his books into the

car.

She drove him back to the villa, which meant, unfortunately, they'd have to run into Andrea.

The moment Andrea saw Liam return, her face lit up with joy. "Liam, you're out! This is amazing. Let's just stay here together for the rest of our lives, okay?"

The moment Liam saw her, his smile faded a few notches. He silently set the books down on the coffee table and headed for the door.

Andrea grabbed his sleeve. "Where are you going? It's almost Christmas. I want to go shopping with you!"

Liam yanked his arm free. "It's been a long time since I've had time alone with my sister. Stay here. I'll be back soon."

Andrea's expression darkened. Her hand at her side clenched tight, then suddenly flew to her stomach.

"Liam, my stomach really hurts. Can you take me to the hospital?"

Her acting was truly convincing. Cold sweat suddenly appeared on her forehead, and her whole body looked unsteady, as if she might collapse.

caught her, his

stomach hurts... I just want you with me.

helplessly

faking it. Honestly, she could've gone head-to-head with a real actress

She turned around and walked off, leaving a few words behind. "Take care of her, then. I already bought some Christmas stuff. Those string lights around your house and the wreath on the

take a step

clutching her stomach, her face drained of color as she said,

He slowly sank into

silence, anger boiling inside her. She couldn't stop caring about

away. Her phone buzzed, and she saw it was

you want me

Liam's place. Are you

cheerful as she said, "Yeah, I got a break. I'm free all week. If you're

buried in work and hadn't even considered taking time to relax. She was about

she could react, someone

of masked men with steel pipes shattered the glass. One of them grabbed a

back just in time-but then someone dumped a full bucket of gasoline through the

came a

passenger door and threw herself backward, slamming her head against the pavement so hard she almost

past

inside the villa. He ran

"Grace!"

afraid the attackers might go after him too, but they were already gone. The whole thing

her up, she could still smell the gasoline soaked into her

shaking. "What the hell

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255