"What are you saying? What do you gain from lying?" Grace asked angrily; she couldn't believe that Raymond would stab her stepmother.
"You are so good at acting, Grace, and it's not over, I promise you that," she warned and stomped out.
Grace shivered in disbelief as Ken approached her. "Grace, what is she talking about?"
"He couldn't," she thought to herself.
"Are you involved with criminals?" Ken asked, and Grace frowned at him.
"Are you now following me and listening to every conversation of mine?"
"No, just I thought she..."
"Ken, please." She walked past him and hurried out of school. She dialed Raymond's contact number, but it went into voicemail.
Her mind was in a mess. How was Sarah? She thought.
She didn't know who to ask or where to find Raymond. It was times like this that she wished she knew where he lived.
"Grace," Steph called out, and she hurried to Steph. "Steph, the day I went to my parents, Did Mr. Xu reach out to you?"
"No"
"Then how did he know I went to my parents?"
"Because that's the only place you will go to, why are you even talking about that?"
"Because…."
"Miss Chen, to my office," the principal called out with a hoarse voice.
Steph and Grace shared a confused look, then she followed the principal to his office.
Once they got in, the principal locked the door and made sure no one was eavesdropping.
"Your father called and said that you hired some men to stab your stepmom. Did you?"
"No," she blurted at once. She will never think of doing such a thing.
"It was him, right?" he asked, and Grace was confused.
"The man who threatened me to not expel you was the one who stabbed your stepmother, right?"
Threaten? Grace asked herself, "What do you mean by threaten?"
"Thugs, guns, and now attempted murder—who did you get entangled with?"
"I am not entangled with a criminal, and if you should blame someone for attempted murder, then it will be Sarah," Grace scolded as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Bring down your voice Miss Chen, I won't want to involve the police in this."
"Go ahead, sir; involve whoever you want to. I also have a case to file against the Chen's."
The principal stared at Grace in disbelief; he couldn't even expel her because it was risky.
"Be safe, Miss Chen," he signaled the door, and Grace walked a few steps before he stopped her. "The exams are in a few days; I am sure you don't need the extra lectures. See you on the day of the exams."
"You are so unfair, sir," Grace spouted before she walked out of school.
The weather wasn't good; it was going to rain soon, so she decided to stand still and ponder her thoughts.
"Did he threaten the principal with a gun? Did he stab Sarah?" There were a lot of questions, and she needed answers. She needed them now before her mind burst.
She dialed Raymond's contact again, and this time it got connected: "I am listening."
"Can we meet now? It's important"
"Don't you have school?" He asked, and she stared at the building. Luckily, it was left less than two weeks for her to leave this hell of a school and move to university.
"I am on my way to the mansion; I will see you there," she said, ending the call.
Grace stopped a cab and got in.
"Please, let everything be false." She needed him to deny every accusation; she would only believe him and no one else.
Grace arrived at the mansion and hurried inside, but he wasn't there. "Is he here?" she asked Krish, who understood that she was asking about Mr. Xu.
"No"
She sat on the couch and waited patiently, but he didn't show up. She kept pacing around the sitting room while peeking outside.
"Why is she so uneasy?" Jen whispered to Mr. Wang.
"It's none of your business; get to work."
"I was just curious." Jen pouted but didn't leave; she wanted to know why the girl was so restless.
**
Grace spent the entire day waiting for him, but he didn't show up. Now it was late at night, and she didn't stop waiting for him.
The sound of a car echoed from outside; this caused Grace to jump down the couch and hurry outside.
She ran towards Raymond and almost stumbled, but was lucky enough to have been caught by him.
"Hey, what's so important?"
He was busy and wanted to come tomorrow, but he received a call from Mr. Wang saying that she has been waiting for him since morning and had no plans of going to bed without talking to him.
"How did you make the principal accept me back?"
Raymond frowned. "Why are you asking this now?"
"Answer, please," she folded her hand and pleaded; all she wanted was honesty.
"It's late; go to bed," he said, turning to walk in when she blocked his path.
"Did you stab my stepmom?"
"Yes, I did," he replied clearly. The sky broke into two with a loud thunderous sound, and the weather wasn't looking good.
"It's chilly out here; go inside," he said, but she shook her head as countless tears rolled down her cheeks.
She was shivering, not just because of the cold, but because she was scared—very scared. "My stepmom is in the hospital," she cried out, and Raymond was confused.
"That woman doesn't deserve to live."
"And no one deserves to take another person's life; how could you? How could you do such a thing and feel no remorse?" She scolded, and the maids leaned by the door, peeping at the scene.
"Is she stupid? She is upset because he stabbed someone who hurt her." Nel asked in disbelief.
"Go inside," Raymond ordered, but she shook her head in denial, took a step backward, and cleaned up her tears.
"Who are you?"
He didn't reply; the look on her face already reminded him of the type of person he was; all he tried to do was protect her and never once harm her. "How could you even judge me?" he asked.
"I better stay on the streets than be here with you; you are involved in illegal activities," she spouted, and he chuckled.
"Is that so?"
"Yes"
Then he moved to the side. "Feel free to do what you like."
Grace clenched her fist; she meant every word of hers. She was not going to get entangled with such a person, so she hurried past him.
"Sir..." Mr. Li drove the car, ready to follow her.
"Let her be," Raymond ordered. His hands formed a fist. "Now who is to blame for all this?" he thought.