I've Been There Before (Grace and Caden) novel Chapter 73

“Gloria, here you are.”

Gloria was shocked when she saw the banknotes on the table. For a long while, her mind was totally blank, “Where did you get the money?”

Her first reaction was that: Who the hell had arranged work for Grace?

Grace didn’t think much about it and briefly told Gloria what had happened last night. When hearing about it, Gloria furrowed her eyebrows, “It was him?” She looked at Grace, “Grace, didn’t I told you not to approach this man again?”

“But… He gave me the money.”

‘But… He gave me the money.’ … People who didn’t know about Grace’s characteristics or the secrets behind all these would all think that Grace was really a gold digger when hearing her saying these words.

Gloria was rendered speechless at the moment.

She was so familiar with the girl in front of her. When Grace was standing at the corner, no one would pay attention to her, just like she was not present. But Gloria was quite clear that this unimpressive girl was so stubborn.

“Grace, come hear.” Gloria looked at Grace and felt that she should give her some suggestions regarding some matters. She reached out her hand and wrapped Grace’s shoulders, and then pulled her closer to herself, “Just listen to my advice. Don’t have any associations with this man in the future. Although I haven’t experienced a lot, I’ve seen various kinds of men in Royal Club. Grace, promise me, don’t meet Mr. Cayne any longer, even if he will pay it for you.”

Grace muted for a while and then raised her head and said earnestly to Gloria, “Sorry, Gloria, I can’t.”

Gloria gripped Grace’s shoulder, “Just listen to my advice this time.”

Grace shook her head in a firmly manner, “Sorry, Gloria, I just can’t. You know, I’m in short of money. President Shaw has promised me that if I can earn five million in one month, he will not torture me any longer, and I can choose to stay here or to leave. Gloria, he’s a man of his words. The first half of my life had been entangled with his and in the end, I was hurt badly. Can I leave without him for the rest of my life?”

Grace didn’t expatiate on the entanglements between her and Caden. Since Gloria didn’t ask her, she didn’t want to bring it up either.

Caden had invaded the first half of her life. But now, she was feared, tired, flustered and cheesed. So for the rest of her life, she just wanted to let go of it.

Life without Caden was not as tough as she had imagined.

There was no Caden Shaw in the three-year imprisonment life, but she still managed to get through it.

“Gloria, I know that you advised me for my own good, and I know that Mr. Cayne was very dangerous. I know all about it. But Gloria, do you remember what I told you on the first day I came to Royal Club? I said: if I can sell my bacon, I will open my legs and say ‘welcome’ to my guest.”

A trace of bitterness flashed across Grace’s eyes. She then raised her head and said determinedly, “Therefore, no matter what Mr. Cayne wants to do, and no matter what purposes he had, even if he has some special quirks, as long as I, Grace James, have it, I’m willing to… sell it. This includes my incomplete body, and even the kidney left in my body.”

Grace didn’t know whether Gloria could understand her words or not.

But anyway, she cherished her cares and concerns towards her, for she rarely received these in her life… This time, she was bound to disappoint Gloria.

Out of no reason, Gloria felt sorry for Grace when she recalled how she felt when she heard those words when Grace just joined Royal Club. At that time, she thought that even if this woman was ugly, she had a good sense of self-acknowledge.

She even secretly praised Grace’s thoughtfulness at the time.

But right at this moment, when she heard those words again, she finally understood that the sentence carried more than its literal meaning – it also carried Grace’s lots of helplessness.

“I’m in short of money, very much. And I only have this incomplete body, then what matters even if Mr. Cayne had bad intentions? I only possess this incomplete body. If he wants it, then he can just take it.”

Gloria felt it hard to breathe… ‘I only have this incomplete body. If he wants to deceive me, what can he get from me?”

“I am a nothing-for-good and I possess nothing. I am not afraid of it.”

After finishing the words, Grace asked Gloria to help her deposit the money into her account, and then walked out of the room.

Gloria was left in the office. She stared at the banknotes on the office desk for a long while. In the end, with her eyes glittering, she put the banknotes into the safe and took out an account book, and then wrote some numbers on it.

“Grace, I’m sorry. This is all I can do for you.” Now that Caden had primed her not to arranged work for Grace any longer, it meant that he was determined to hinder Grace from earning five million within the agreed time. There was an inner meaning in his action – He had never planned to let go of Grace from the very beginning to now.

What Gloria could to was to help Grace save the banknotes. When the one-month deadline arrived, if Grace managed to scrape up five million, then Gloria would deposit all the banknotes into Grace’s account and returned the bank card to Grace. In this way, Grace could take the card and come to Caden confidently. In this way, maybe that silly woman would have a reason and a chance to leave.

…

In the washroom, Grace locked the door of a cubicle from inside and leaned with her back against the door. She blankly stared at the ceiling as Gloria’s words kept lingering in her ears.

But… I didn’t possess anything; then what should I fear of?

Grace chuckled to herself mockingly and took out her phone to check the calendar… The one-month deadline… She had never thought that one month was so short. How could she earn five million within one month?

Then she shifted her gaze away from the phone and walked out of the washroom with her head lowered.

The washroom at the basement of Royal Club was shared by men and women. But there were cubicles in the washroom, and therefore it also provided good privacy.

As Grace walked out with her head lowered… With a loud sound, she ran into a person.

“Sorry, s…”

“I find out that every time I see you, you’re apologizing to me. Are you especially fond of making apologizes?” A pleasant voice sounded from above her head. Grace raised her head, “Ah… It’s you, Mr. Cordon. Sorry, I didn’t look carefully and bumped into you. After making the apology, Grace turned around. But she was then stopped by a long arm wrapped around her waist. With some might, he pulled her closer to himself with the long arm, “Yuck, we just met, and you wanted to leave instantly? Did you dislike me?”

Franklin stopped Grace and put the other arm around her waist, and then pulled her even closer.

“Let’s have dinner together.”

How could he be so willful?

“Sorry, Mr. Cordon, I’m at work.”

“It’s so boring to work. Let’s go, I’ll take you to a restaurant.”

“But I…”

“No buts. Rest assured, I’ll ask leave for you when we return.”

As he was speaking, he gripped Grace’s arm and pulled her towards outside regardless of her will.