I've Been There Before (Grace and Caden)

"Okay then, ask Mr. Cordon to come here. And he can see that his so-called best friend doesn't give a shit about his feelings." Grace wanted to laugh. Why did this man force his opinions upon her? Why did he think she didn't want Franklin to know everything?

Oh... Maybe it' was because she was a disgraceful woman in his eyes!

"You..." Cayne's eyes changed. He looked at her with more distain, "You are a disgusting woman. When you said I didn't care about Franklin's feelings, you meant that you didn't care about his feelings either. Franklin was so in love with you. I guess his has put his heart in the wrong place."

Grace said to herself in her heart: Yes, he did.

"I agree with you, Mr. Filocci."

Cayne didn't expect that Grace would admit it with no excuse!

He was so angry now! He felt angry for Franklin too!

"Don't gloat yetil will let he know what kind of a woman you are! A woman such as you is like a weed. I will never have such a weed like you stay beside my friend and hurt him!"

Then he let go of his hand.

...

Grace and Cayne almost got back to the private room at the same time.

Franklin's eye look changed. After Cayne took his seat, he raised his head and met with the darkened eyes of Franklin.

"You don't smell of cigarette." Franklin moved his thin lips and stared coldly at Cayne who was sitting across from him.

Cayne said he went out for a cigarette, but he didn't smell of cigarette at all. Besides, he and Grace came back to the room at the same time. Thinking about the seemingly offensive words Cayne said to Grace earlier, Franklin remembered that Cayne left the room right after Grace did.

All of a sudden, his face got colder.

Leon was about to drink his coffee, but now his hand paused.

"I went to greet Miss James. After all, we met in Royal Club and are old friends, aren't we?"

Franklin squinted, "I know she works in Royal Club. You don't need to make a fuss about it."

Cayne wanted to laugh. Then he reached his slender fingers to take out his cigarette box and lighted up a cigarette before Grace. He smoked it slightly.

Franklin raised his chin and said to Cayne, "You don't need to go out for it now?"

What were you doing before?

He knew it was weird. When did a man like Cayne start to care about what others think?

Leon sensed something was wrong and stood up immediately, "It just occurred to me that I still had something to deal with. But I drank some wine before. Cayne, why don't you drive me home?"

Then he dragged Cayne and left, "Miss James, see you next time."

After they left, Franklin turned to Grace and checked her from head to toe, "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing."

"Then what did he say to you?"

"Just a greeting."

Franklin frowned and looked at her. Obviously, he didn't buy what she said.

Grace didn't explain further. It was up to him to believe her or not.

"I have been busy recently. When things get better, Grace, after I handle everything, I will take you out of Royal Club."

Out of Royal Club? ...For a moment, what he had said tugged on her heartstrings.

But if it was so easy to leave Royal Club, she would have done it a long time ago.

If Caden refused to let her go, even if she left Royal Club, he would find her. Besides, the only thing that could prove who she was, her ID card, was in his hand. If she left now, she couldn't go anywhere without her ID card.

After Cayne left, he didn't go home. He met with a noble lady in a cafe. They talked, and by the time they parted, the lady kept nodding and said, "Don't worry. I will help you and make your friend see that woman as who she truly is. He will know what she is truly up to. But don't forget about what you promised me...one-night stand..." Cayne smiled and whispered to the lady's ears, "Of course. How can I resist a beauty like Miss Warner?"

The deep voice and charming face that would fascinate any woman made Miss Warner feel powerless. She continued, "Then it's settled. I will take actions tomorrow night. You should be there to witness it tomorrow in case you say I don't do a good job later."

"How can that be? Miss Warner is so beautiful and capable. Of course, I trust your ability. Besides...even if you mess up, I can't mess up on such a beauty like you."

What he said amused Miss Warmer.

"Then I shall wish you a success now." With that, Cayne turned around and walked away. In the brown pupils of his eyes, a tinge of disgust flashed over.

The night.

Franklin didn't tell Grace why he asked her to take the night off.

"Mr. Cordon asked me take the night off just to take me to ride the ferris wheel?" Looking at the giant ferris wheel, Grace couldn't believe her eyes.

"Come on. I have promised you that I will take you to ride the ferris wheel someday."

Franklin reached his hand to her, but Grace stepped back in vigilance.

"Grace?" Didn't she want to ride the ferris wheel?

Grace looked at Franklin alertly, "Mr. Cordon... I am sorry."

Sorry, "sorry" was the only thing I had for you.

Franklin froze, and in a moment, his serous face broke into a smile, "That's fine. If you don't want to ride it today, we will ride it together some other day." There was hidden meaning behind this sentence.

Grace didn't say anything and looked up at the sky, "Mr. Cordon, I am tired. Please drive me back to my dorm."

Hearing this, Franklin peeked at Grace and finally said with his fascinating voice, "Okay."

They arrived at Grace's neighborhood.

"Mr. Cordon, I have something to say to you. I don't like..." I didn't like you.

"Wait," The man in the driver's seat suddenly stopped her, "My phone is ringing. Grace, why don't you get off the car now?"

"Mr. Cordon, why can't you let me finish?" Grace set her eyes on Franklin. She was very familiar with his ringtone, and nothing rang up just now. But he lied and said his phone rang. The reason could only be that he didn't want her to finish. Other than that, she couldn't think of other reasons.

"Grace, get off the car. There are mountains of business in my company and family recently. I am very busy." Then he saw Grace's stubborn face and he got softhearted. His face softened too. He went on, "Grace, if you have something to tell me, can you wait until I deal with all the problems by hands?... Several days don't matter...right?"

Seeing the sadness in his eyes, Grace got softhearted too. Her rational self told her that she should tell him everything now. But...she looked at the frustration and sadness in his eyes again, and swallowed down what she had prepared for a long time to tell him. After a slight sigh, she said nothing and got off the car.

The second day.

At night, on her way to work, Grace was stopped by several cars which drove past her and stopped at a place which was seven to eight meters ahead of her.

In the sounds of brakes, Grace saw the familiar faces coming down from these cars and opened her eyes wide.

"Wow, isn't that Grace James?" With delicate make-up, the woman at front stepping on her high-heeled shoes walked towards Grace and said in shock, "It truly is the Grace James who lightened up the whole Shanghai years ago. But," The woman snorted, "How did you become like this? I still remember how elegant you were."

Grace surely knew the woman standing before her, Celina Warner.

More familiar faces gathered up.

"Wow, it really is Grace James! I didn't believe it when you said that. But now that I look at her carefully, she is indeed Grace James."

"But how did Grace James...become like this?"

"Yes, how, Sister Grace?"

"You still call her sister? How can you call someone who was in jail 'sister'?" Celina smiled. Then she seemingly thought of something and asked Grace with concern all over her face, "Grace, when did you get out? And how? Why didn't you tell us? We used to friends, and you didn't even tell us when you got out. Or we could have arranged a party to welcome you back."

Grace's face turned paler and paler... They could have arranged a party to welcome me back? She raised her eyes and stared at Celina, who was apparently trying make a fool out of her in front of these people.

"But that's fine. Now that we met today, we should make it up." Celina held Grace's shoulder and said, "Come on, Grace. Let's have a party to welcome you back. Come on."

"No!" Grace remained still and refused to follow them.

"How can you be absent? This is a welcome party specifically prepared for you. How can we carry on with it without the protagonist?" While saying this, Celina dragged Grace and shoved her into the back seat of her car, "Grace, if you don't come with us, you will make a fool out of us." With that, she took out her phone and said, "And if you make a fool out of us, I will send out this video."

She put the phone before Grace.

Suddenly!

Grace couldn't believe her eyes, "How did you get this! How did you get this! How did you get this video!" Her face turned pale and she cried out, "Give it to me! Give it to me!"

Celina tossed her phone to another person and said, "You want it? Take it, and I have a copy." Then she smiled coldly and crossed her arms before her chest. Clearly, she was insulting Grace. She said, "I will ask you one more time now. Are you coming to this welcome party?"

To go or not to go?

Grace looked pale and said, "Yes, I will go. Give me the copy."

"About that...I shall decide after the party."

"How did you...get this video?" The video in which she was badly defiled made Grace hurt like hell. Her heart was already torn to pieces, but this video made her relive the suffering she went through in those three years.

"You don't need to know about this." Actually, she got the video by accident.

"What on earth do you want today?"

Celina smiled, "What do we want? You will know when we arrive!" Then she continued, "You don't know how little you are worth and want to turn from a sparrow to a phoenix! Then don't blame me for this, I was only tasked by someone else." "Tasked by someone else...whom?"