I've Been There Before

With exhaustion, Grace drove to the residential building, but she did not park the car in the underground garage. She sat in the
car and did not want to get off. She rolled down the car window, stretched out her head, and looked up.
Her house was lit brightly.
Before Caden came to live here, it was often very dark.
Now, the lights were bright, indicating that there was someone in the house waiting for her to return.
But why was she so resistant?
It was a very chaotic day. Cayne and Payne all came. She rushed from one battlefield to another battlefield. Home was the most
private place, but she wasn’t in a hurry to go back now.
During the day, Ingemar came to fetch the key. Without saying a word, he took the key and left. However, it made her feel that
she was not a good person. She could not even tolerate a person who had only eight-year-old’s intelligence.
The phone rang in the quiet car.
She reached for it and answered the phone call.
“Come out for a drink. Well, I’ll drink wine, and you can drink tea.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Grace subconsciously relaxed. A trace of joy appeared on her delicate face. “Sure. The usual place?”
“Yes, the usual place. I’ll wait for you there.”
After ending call, Grace put down her phone, started the car, hesitated for a moment, and then stretched out her head to look at
the brightly lit window upstairs.
She pursed her lips and pressed the accelerator. She shouldn’t be soft-hearted. Don’t be soft-hearted. He was at home and
wouldn’t get lost.
The car stopped at a club and the waiter led her to an elegant private room.
“Come and sit. Here is the new tea.”

“Gloria, you are very considerate. You know I like drinking tea.” Grace walked into the private room, put down her bag, took off
her coat, and sat down.
“You’ve been so busy, superwoman. How have you been lately?”
Gloria said as she poured tea for Grace.
Grace smiled, “Gloria, if you have something to say, just say it directly. I feel awkward to hear words like superwoman.”
“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore,” Gloria said straightforwardly, “I heard something recently.”
“Tell me.”
“Franklin, do you remember him?”
Grace stared down and said calmly, “The young master of the Cordon Group, right?”
Gloria was really smart. Hearing the tone of Grace’s words, she knew that Grace didn’t want to talk about Franklin.
Sure enough, that incident back then was still painful for Grace.
“That’s right. He’s been at night club quite often lately.”
Without waiting for Gloria to finish her sentence, Grace said softly, “Young Master Cordon has always playful. It is not surprising.”
Hearing this, Gloria’s eyes glittered. In a split second, she guessed what Grace was thinking and chuckled.
“Then you’re obviously behind time now.” Gloria gently rotated the wine glass in her hand and clicked her tongue. “Hey, Miss
James, you are already the CEO of a listed company. Your information is so scarce.”
Grace didn’t answer and drank her tea, waiting for Gloria to continue talking.
“A few days ago, I saw Young Master Cordon in Royal Club.
It was not strange for Young Master Cordon to be there, but what if he’s with Kern?”
Grace stared down and her eyelashes trembled slightly, “What do you know from that?”

“You know, I worked for boss, and I’ve been working for boss for years. I cannot compare with people like Ladd. But a woman’s
sixth sense is always accurate.”
Gloria suddenly put down the glass of wine on the table. With a loud sound, she raised her eyebrows and looked solemnly into
Grace’s eyes.
“Did something happen to boss?”
Grace was startled. Her hand trembled with the tea in it. A few drops of the tea fell on the table. Gloria’s gaze gradually shifted
downwards. In the end, her cold sight rested on the drops of the tea.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Grace said softly.
“Grace, you know me well. I’ve been in the nightclub since I was young, and you’ve been there too. You know clearly that people
who can stay in that complex place are the most observant ones.”
Gloria pointed at Grace and said, “You can’t fool me.”
Grace lowered her head, her hands still holding the tea cup. She remained silent, and time seemed to be frozen.
Gloria did not act aggressively again. Instead, she stared at Grace with burning eyes.
There was a long time of silence.
“Nothing,” Grace remained calm and said indifferently.
She trusted Gloria, but she couldn’t put him at risk.
During that period of time just now, she had clearly realized that she was not willing to put him at risk at all.
She trusted Gloria. If it was her own business, she could tell Gloria frankly.
But she didn’t want to talk about that person.
Although she didn’t want to admit it, at that moment, she clearly realized that she could hate him, blame him, or even take
revenge on him, but she couldn’t put him at risk.
Gloria didn’t ask further.

After pondering for a moment, Gloria said, “Grace, I just want to tell you that Kern is not a good person. Franklin has always
been in conflict with Kern. Everyone in S City knows that Franklin and Kern had a bad relationship and are always in conflict. It’s
been a long time since boss appeared in public.”
Grace’s eyelids twitched, and a trace of caution appeared in her eyes. She looked up at Gloria gloomily. Even Gloria had seen
that something was wrong, so what about Master Shaw?
That shrewd and powerful old man probably already had suspicion.
She took another deep look at Gloria, but Gloria changed topic at this moment.
“Boss has saved my life.”
She chuckled as she crossed her hands and placed them on the table. Her eyes were filled with memories and gazed blankly.
“Boss has done me a great favor. I, Gloria, am not an ungrateful. Grace, before I met you, I never disobeyed a single word or
order from boss. You are the only one that made me disobey him. Do you know why?”
“Gloria, you once said that I was like you back then.”
Gloria’s lips curled into a miserable smile, “Yes, you are like me back then. It’s to help myself more than help you. I helped you
as if I had helped myself back then. Even though I knew very well that I would not be able to change those past things just
because of what I did then. Grace, I wished you would be happy. It was just like I wished I could be happy back then.”
Grace had never seen such a sad side of Gloria before, and she could only feel regret for her.
“Boss really cares about you. It’s just that he doesn’t know what affection is, what love is. He ...”
“Gloria!” Grace suddenly interrupted Gloria and held the cup of tea in her hands tightly. “You invited me over today. If you want to
have a casual chat and have drinks with me, I would be very grateful to you.But I don’t want to hear anything else.”
Grace’s face was as white as a sheet of paper, and his eyes were filled with pain. “He is the tribulation of my life. To fall in love
with him was the beginning of my mistake. I loved him so much, so I almost ruined my life.”
Grace raised her head suddenly and her eyes turned red. “Gloria, is it enough to ruin my life?”