I've Been There Before

Payne gritted his teeth and glared at Grace. “Don’t worry, I will! I will live well. Don’t regret it!” He sneered and said.
Grace quietly looked at the decisive figure until it disappeared. She tried her best to pick herself up and glanced at the people
around her. “It’s alright, go and mind your own business.”
Hearing that, the employees left quickly.
When she turned around, she saw the secretary who had been burned on hands squatting on the ground and picking up the
fragments.
“Stop picking them up. I’ll give you half a day off. Go to the hospital and bandage your burned hands. Call the cleaner,” Grace
said and thought for a moment. “Forget it. There’s no need to call the cleaner. You can go to the hospital now.”
The secretary looked at Grace gratefully and kept saying, “Thank you, Ms. Grace. Thank you. Thank you.”
“Go and be careful on the way. There’s no need to be in a hurry. If the personnel department asks, you can tell them that I
personally let your leave.” The stiffness on Grace’s face softened a lot as she looked at the simple and honest face of the
secretary.
The secretary turned around and left. “Ms. Grace, you’re so nice. You’re not like what others have said.”
After saying that, she covered her mouth with regret. Would her words make the boss think that people were gossiping behind
her? The secretary peeked at Grace in front of her, only to find that Grace didn’t seem to have heard what she had said at all.
Grace smiled and waved at her, “Hurry up and go to the hospital.”
“Yes!” She relaxed and her round face revealed a smile. “Thank you, Grace.” Even her words became cheerful and clear.
Grace looked at the young and cheerful face, and her eyes were filled with the gratification of the elders.
At this moment, she suddenly felt that she had got old after all those years of entanglement.
The surroundings became quiet. The corridor was empty. When she looked over, she could not find a single person. The familiar
feeling of exhaustion flooded over her once again. However, she could not relax for she still had a guest.
“Mr. Cayne, I’m really sorry to let you see such a scene today,” She apologized sincerely, but the tone was distant.
Hearing this, the light in Cayne’s eyes dimmed. Could he still not get close to her?

He looked at the woman in front of him. She had a polite but distant attitude, a perfect smile which seemed to be gentle but
actually very distant. He missed the girl three years ago.
“As for the supplement of our cooperation, I have already told you the James family’s opinion. You might as well consider it. The
cooperation will benefit both of us twice as much after the supplement.”
Cayne became more and more disappointed. He didn’t want to hear about the stale words about working. Couldn’t they talk
about each other and their lives?
“That was the eldest son of the James family, right?” He must be the eldest son of the James family because he had already
mentioned his identity. What Cayne wanted to say was, “I’ve heard of Payne. Was he diagnosed with leukemia recently?”
Although he was asking Grace, he spoke in a narrative tone.
Who in S City didn’t know the great changes that had taken place in the James family those days?
The news included that Payne had been diagnosed with an incurable disease.
And it included that Grace was now in charge of the James family.
Grace did not answer. She stared down at the ground and listened carefully.
Cayne noticed her reaction. The corner of his lips curved with bitterness. She was really smart.
The fact that she didn’t answer meant her rejection of the conversation on this topic.
“Grace,” he suddenly reached out and held Grace’s hand. “Grace, no matter what he had said, I believe you,” Cayne said
solemnly.
Grace did not break free from his hand immediately. She looked down and her sight moved inch by inch. She stared at her hand
being held by Cayne. It was so quiet that she could hear her breathing.
Suddenly and silently, she smiled gently and raised her eyes. Her clear eyes did not show any emotion. There was no joy in her
clear eyes. “Thank you very much.”
Her words were decisive and concise.
There was not even a single unnecessary word.

However, Cayne’s handsome face gradually became serious. The hand that held her hand tightened even more. It was as if
something in his hand was about to fly away. There was a strange sense of panic in his heart. He just wanted to grab the thing in
his hand even harder.
Grace frowned slightly. He grabbed her hand too hard and hurt her.
Her hand was grabbed so hard, but she did not take a firm stance and pulled it away.
She didn’t even tell him anything.
There was no need, was there?
A trace of self-mockery appeared in her heart.
There was sympathy in her eyes. She didn’t know the sympathy was for Cayne or herself.
Cayne was really tall, and the skeleton of a foreigner like him was big. The tall Cayne gave her the illusion that she was very
small and needed protection. But, that was just an illusion.
She raised her head and smiled comfortably. “Thank you for your trust, Mr. Cayne.” Her voice was light but without any
unnecessary emotion.
Cayne subconsciously tightened his hand again. There were more and more unfamiliar emotions in his heart. They were so
much that he couldn’t explain why he was so restless at this moment.
He grabbed her hand tighter and tighter, but the tighter he grabbed, the emptier his heart became.
It was as if there was something that could no longer be touched.
No! He suddenly let go of her hand.
“I will contemplate the proposal of Ms. Grace. I still have something to do today. See you,” he said with a grim expression.
Without waiting for Grace’s reply, he had already stridden away.
He walked quickly and hurriedly, as if he was fleeing.

Grace watched his figure disappear. She stared down at her hand that had already been grabbed red. The temperature of his
hand was still left in her palm. She raised her head and saw that there was no one at the end of the corridor.
Suddenly, the corner of his lips curled into a smile. “Thank you for your trust.”
However, she no longer needed it.
Turning around, she slowly walked towards the other end of the corridor. She walked very slowly and unsteadily.
It was the bathroom on this floor.
She walked slowly into the bathroom and turned into the compartment at the end of the bathroom. She gently opened the door
and took out a mop, a piece of cloth, a bucket and a broomstick.
She did know how to clean very well-she was a cleaner three years ago.
She picked up the cleaning tools in the compartment, took some water from the tap, and walked out of the bathroom with a
bucket in her hand, a broom and a mop in her other hand, and a piece of cloth on her arm. She limped along the quiet corridor.
She walked very slowly, not in a hurry.
At the door of her office, she put down the bucket, squatted down, and cleaned the fragments of the glass and water stains on
the ground skillfully.