Chapter 21 Caden! Did You Hear It?

When a person has fallen down to a certain degree, the baseline is just to be alive.



Grace looked at Ruby. Ruby's young and soft face, and her promising and colorful life, had all been
beyond her reach her whole life.



“Grace! How can you just stand there and laugh?” Ruby stamped her feet, “Grace, I am telling you, no
matter how much money you earn, it's all useless because everyone thinks so low of you! The female
models in the P.R. departments with their sugar daddies are better than you! What you did... you don't
even have any self-respect! Who would respect you?”



Having finished saying what she wanted, Ruby snorted, not even looking at Grace anymore. Grace
stood there quietly for a long time before going back to her bedroom. Tiredness was evident on her
face and Ruby's words... I only came here to earn some money for tuition and living expenses. I would
never do anything like that for money like you.



Grace smiled... She too, just worked here to earn some living expenses, to have this place to shelter
her from the rain and wind. .Just so she could eat enough and not have to beg on the streets. Who
wanted that kind of money?





lf she had known that, at that time, in the 606 room, her concern about Ruby and what the others were
doing to her would cause her this much trouble today; if she was allowed again to choose between
stepping in or ignoring... would she do the same?



Grace fell asleep thinking about it.



She woke up to find herself in the hospital.



"You are awake"



Grace opened her eyes and called out in a low voice, “Gloria, where am I?" Her throat hurt when she
spoke.



"Hospital." Gloria replied as she peeled an apple and cut it into small pieces. She picked up a piece
with a toothpick and fed it to Grace, "Eat something first and then talk."



Grace was a little flustered at the sudden care, but she still accepted the fruit and ate it, 'Gloria, why am
I in the hospital?"





Hearing this, Gloria felt angry.



She pulled a long face, "You don't know why you are in the hospital? I want to ask you, for how many
days have you had a high fever?" If it wasn't for the fact that she didn't see Grace come to work last
night and decided to check up on her because she was worried, Grace might have died of a high fever
in the staff dormitory.



"I didn't see you in Royal Club last night, so Í went to your place to see if you were alright. Your
temperature was so high that l could even have fried eggs on you. l called 120 in a hurry. When I sent
you to the hospital, your fever was already around 42 degrees, and you were severely dehydrated.
Even the doctor said that if I was even a little bit late in sending you here, no doctor on earth would
have been able to save you.'



Saying this, Gloria who was still in shock from what happened, added, “Didn't you tell your roommates
when you had high fever? You tried to act strong, alas, but you almost ended up losing your life!”



Grace listened to Gloria ramble on and on. Although Gloria sounded really fierce, she could hear her
concern through her anger. Her heart felt warm and bitter. Her eyes that had not shed tears for many
years became tingly and moist. Glorias care somehow became the only window in her entire life in
darkness, through which a ray of light came in.





However, she was more worried about gaining and losing, for ¡f she gained nothing then there would
be nothing to lose and no pain of losing.



By this point, Grace had already had a very deep understanding of this through her experiences.



“...Why?" After a long time, Grace finally summoned up the courage to ask in a trembling voice.

Why are you so nice to me?



A piece of apple was stuffed into Grace s mouth again. Gloria gave her a complex look and said,
"There is no one in the world that is nice to you. lf even l don't treat you nicely, then who else will love
you?” Gloria saw her past self in Grace; maybe what she said to her in that moment was for her past
self too.



The world is not good to you. lf even l treat you badly then who would ever love you, Idiot!



To love Grace was also a way of loving her past self.





They both were similar kind of people.



Gloria looked at the woman lying in the hospital bed. She tried to hide her feelings, but her trembling
eyelashes revealed her inner feelings.



She sighed silently again. Aah! This idiot.



"Grace, can l ask you a question?”



"Yeah, ask."



"What happened between you and Mr. Shaw?” Caden Shaw, that man was really cruel, but he should
not be like this to a woman.



”Is it hard for you to say?” Gloria saw Graces expressions stiffen for a moment and added, "lí you can't
say it then forget it



"Three years ago, I killed the woman he loved."





Glorias hand which ¡is holding a piece of apple paused for a moment, then she fed the apple to Grace
and said, "“But you didn't actually kill her, did you?"



"You are not the kind of person to do such crazy things like killing people.' Gloria said as if she was
quite sure about it, "What actually happened?”



At this moment, Grace, who never cried or said a single word even after suffering so terribly from
repeated attacks and humiliation, burst into tears!



Caden! Did you see it? Even Gloria who met me less than six months ago knows me so well!



Caden! We've known each other for most of our lives!



Caden! Did you hear it? Someone finally believed that I did not kill anyone, that I did not do such
horrible things!



"Waaaaaa...hnnng...'





Gloria put down the toothpick in her hand. She didn't try to persuade Grace to stop crying. She just
softly touched her furry head with her palm and stroked slowly, "It's OK. I know, I know, an idiot like you
can never have the courage to kill someone. No, wait... I should say, you silly little girl, you have too
much pride to go and kill someone."



Continuing, she said, "l guess you loved him very much. But you would never kill the woman he loved
in order to get him. Grace, you have too much pride to think about doing such an unworthy thing."



Graces tears fell like rain! The feelings she had restrained for years, were suddenly released.



That afternoon, Grace didt stop crying.



She told Gloria in incoherent words, '! didn't do it. He didn't believe in me. No one believed in me. ˆ



"He hates me, the whole world knows. I thought that after getting out of the prison, I would be able to
live a peaceful life."





”Gloria, they all cursed at me, the whole world cursed at me, they said l am vicious and mean and that I
can do anything for money. Gloria, l don't care... I don't want that money either...”

”They humiliated me. They made me act like a dog; they made me crawl around like a dog wagging its
tail. They insulted me in every way. But l don't mind... All these are nothing; they are nothing comparing
to...



“In the prison, I was stripped and left naked in the cage; the high-pressure water gun was opened
directly at my body. In the extreme winter, the cold water stung my bones like daggers, but even when
suffering the pain I didn't dare to say a word. When l went back to the cell, someone would just always
turn up to beat me up. No matter how hard it was, I'd been through it all. What is this compared to
those times? "



”Gloria, she died. She died to save me. Waaaaaaaa...! lÏ'm just a vicious person who can only hurt
people. Ì owe her so much... I can't die. I have to live for her and achieve her dream of Erhai Lake for
her.'



Gloria accompanied Grace quietly and listened to her incoherent rambling. Grace vented so many
years' of grievances that day and the secret hidden in the heart also came out in broken words.



What was the dream of Erhai Lake? And who was that girl? Gloria didn't know. But she vaguely
guessed that this girl that Grace had mentioned was more important to Grace than she herself.




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