"Never; your dream is to become a doctor, and you have to achieve that."
"You don't get it, Ken. I got expelled, so how do I fulfill that?" She suddenly lost her appetite, and her phone signaled a new message.
[I will pick you up after school.]
It was from Raymond; she sighed. "What's wrong?" Ken asked curiously, and she stared at him. "I need to go."
"Go? To where?"
"Where I live"
"Oh, I get it. Do you now stay with Alice?" That was the only person Ken could guess that she moved in with; he didn't want to believe the rumors that she moved in with a man.
"If you are curious, then ask me straight away." She stood up and picked up her bag before walking out, and he followed her.
"So do you stay with a man?"
"No," she answered honestly; after all, she didn't stay in the same place with Raymond.
"Do you still want to watch the movie?"
She had almost forgotten about their plan to watch a movie after school. "You should go back to school, Ken; I will be fine."
"I don't want to leave you alone."
"I am fine; trust me. It has never been better." She gave him a reassuring smile. He nodded and walked away.
Grace was about to stop a cab when one approached her. She got in and gave her location, then her phone rang. It was Raymond; she had forgotten to reply to his message.
"Hello?" she said nervously.
"Why didn't you reply to me?"
"Oh, I am sorry."
Then a car honked from behind them; this got Raymond curious: "Didn't you go to school?"
"I did; I am now going back home."
"Why?"
She sniffed back her tears; she was indeed feeling hurt but tried to keep it in her "go home directly," then he hung up.
"Some sought-of boyfriend," she scoffed. Even though she didn't know how the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship functioned, one thing she knew was that her boyfriend was meant to console her.
"Miss, you feel bad; do you mind sharing?" The cab driver asked, and she shook her head in denial.
"You know, it's easier to trust a stranger than family," he said, and she was confused. What was he getting at?
"I mean, we get into cabs every day not knowing who the driver is; is he a serial killer? Will he kill me during the drive? We don't think about that because we trust strangers more."
"So will you kill me?" She asked, and he chuckled. "Of course not."
Finally, they arrived at her location, and she walked down the cab and paid the driver. As she walked into the mansion, the driver smiled and took a picture of the building.
He sent it to someone and then received a call, "Is that where she stays?"
"Yes Macho"
"Leave then; Raymond must have tightened the security there."
-
"Mr. Wang," Grace called before dropping her bag on the couch. Then she spotted Raymond standing on the stairs with his hands in his pocket.
He walked down the stairs and approached her. "Do you want to talk?"
He was worried someone had hurt her, and he rushed here, but she looked fine.
Grace nodded, clenched her fist, and turned to him angrily. "Nora crossed the line today; she pulled my hair."
"Then they kept staring at me like I was some alien; even Ken had that judgy look."
"And the principal? He expelled me. Why? Why!!!" She threw out her frustration at him.
He raised a brow, and she finally breathed heavily and smiled. "I am good."
"Why does it bother you that Ken had a judgy look?" He questioned her, and she stared at him in disbelief.
In all the things she said just now, was that the only one he grasped?
Seeing her look, he understood that he had asked the wrong question. "When you say expel, do you mean kicked out of that low-class school?"
"Exactly," she said as she sat on the couch and pouted, then burst out in tears.
"It's left just a month for the school year to end, but I lost it all."
"I was going to graduate and get into university; all my dreams are now shattered." She kept crying, and Raymond could only stare at her.
"Did I rush here for nothing?" he thought angrily, then sighed and sat next to her.
"I could get you enrolled in a different school," he suggested, but she shook her head in denial.
"I was expelled, so if I want to go to a new school, then I might have to wait for the next school year and start over."
"Hmm," he understood her words.
"Tomorrow you will go back to school; you are no longer expelled," he stated, and she stared at him, confused.
"What do you mean? The principal said, Even money won't make him change his mind." She remembered his words clearly.
"Don't bother; you will return to school tomorrow because I said so."
Somehow, she felt like she could trust him. She chuckled and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know what you truly want from me, but in just two days at this beautiful house, I am willing to give you one of my kidneys for free," she chuckled jokingly.
"What I want is bigger than the kidney," Raymond said. She looked at him, wondering what it could be.
"What is that?"
"Don't bother; you will give it to me when it's time."
Grace got nervous; she had nothing, so what was she going to give him when it was time? "Could you ask me something now?"
After all, she wanted to pay back the favor now.
"I am hungry; you could cook." That was the only thing he could ask her; she nodded happily and jumped down the couch.
"I will get to it."
She was about to hurry to the kitchen when he stopped her. "Anything else?" she asked.
"Who brought you home?"
"A cab"
Then she hurried to the kitchen. Raymond walked out of the mansion and stood at the stairs while staring around.
There were no houses around; the building was surrounded by his men watching over Grace.
He sent a message to his men before he walked to the kitchen, leaned by the door, and watched as Grace rinsed some tomatoes.
Then Grace's phone rang. She was working, so she connected the call and placed it on a loud speaker.
"Who is it?" she thought.
"Hello?"
"So it's true, you got a phone days after running away from home, you ungrateful daughter. I won't spare you next time I see you; I am on my way to the police now; I will file a case against you," her stepmother scolded angrily.
Grace dropped the tomatoes and stared at her phone. "You will hear from me," her stepmother threatened. She ended the call when her gaze met that of Raymond's; he had a frown, and then he left. She heard his car drive out.