I've Been There Before

At night, she could not sleep well. It rained late at night. The raindrops pattered on the window. She tossed and turned.
Hours later, she still did not feel sleepy at all.
She pulled away the quilt and walked down to the ground barefoot, pacing irritably in front of the window.
She put on her nightgown and walked barefoot into the living room. She turned on the TV and found there was a children’s show
on TV. She was absent-minded for a moment. It occurred to her that she had not watched TV for a long time.
However, Caden often watched TV.
She lay on the sofa like Caden usually did. She was surprised by the cartoon named “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf” on the
screen.
Wolves eat sheep. This was the law of the jungle. Did he watched this cartoon every day?
A noise came from outside.
Grace got alert.
She listened carefully for minutes. She was sure that she heard a noise.
Was there a thief?
But that was impossible. Caden agreed to let her move out of the manor of the Shaw Family because the security measures
were pretty good here.
Maybe there was a cat, or a dog, or a kid.
She opened the door.
...
She was shocked.
It was Caden!
Her heart beat fast.

They looked at each other for nearly five minutes, with no words.
She seemed to be calm.
However, when she saw his pleading eyes, she started to melt down.
She turned around and walked into her department.
The door wasn’t closed.
She didn’t look back or checked if he had come in. She walked into the bedroom and brought out a bathrobe and towel. When
she returned to the living room, there was nobody. She looked at the door. He was standing there, staring at her.
She silently walked to the door and handed the towel and bathrobe to him.
She turned around again.
Just then, she saw the happiness in his eyes when he took the towel and bathrobe from her.
“Grace, you’re so nice.”
Suddenly, Caden’s voice appeared.
She stopped at the door of her bedroom and clenched her fist.
Then she entered her bedroom, ignoring all the sounds outside.
After she closed the door, she didn’t pretend to be cool anymore. She powerlessly leaned against the door ... Caden, what
should I do?
She never asked him why he showed up and why he came back.
Never!
Grace held her phone. She couldn’t identify whether the sound she heard came from the bathroom or the rain.
She knew that Ingemar would take him away as long as she called him.
And she wouldn’t have to suffer from the mixed feelings.

Nor would she hate herself.
She knew all she needed to do was to make a phone call.
She clenched her phone, her hands were sweating.
She closed her eyes ... At that moment, no one knew what she was thinking.
Time passed bit by bit. Her eyes suddenly opened. She stepped on the floor barefoot and walked towards the window. As she
passed by the bed, she threw her mobile phone onto the bed.
The screen of her phone was still on. It was the interface of the address book which displayed a name “Ingemar”. He called her.
She opened the window, and then the wind blew the rain into the room and rain dropped on her face and body.
“The storm didn’t come at the right time.” She murmured in a low voice.
She looked outside before the window in concentration. She was so focused that she didn’t noticed that the sound of water in
bathroom wasn’t running anymore.
Much later, she suddenly heard a noise. She looked back and saw Caden standing at the door.
She was not sure but she actually felt that he had been standing there for a long time.
At that moment, they didn’t know what to say, as if they were a couple that had been married for years.
They had got nothing to say.
She turned around, held her blanket, and walked out.
Just as she reached the door, Caden grabbed her hand.
“Grace, where are you going?”
He asked worriedly in deep voice.
Grace almost laughed out. How ridiculous and ironic the question was!

He hurriedly took the blanket from her and pushed her into the bedroom. Then he closed the door and said, “I’ll sleep in the living
room.”
They had no more words all night.
Early in the morning, they continued their normal boring life.
When Grace opened the door, the fragrance of the food floated into the bedroom from the living room. After she dressed up, she
sat down and ate breakfast.
Caden had fewer words than before. But Grace could still sense the passion in his eyes.
She raised her head and met his gaze. His eyes were dark and shining with affection. She had to lower her head and eat
breakfast to avoid meeting his eyes.
She laughed at herself because she tried to avoid his gaze.
Before she left, she turned around at the door and said solemnly to Caden who behaved like an innocent kid,
“Caden, I hope you get better soon.”
Caden was in a daze at first and then he smiled. “Sure! I will get better as you wish!”
The sunshine was warm, but Grace felt that it was too dazzling.
They seemed to have reached a tacit agreement.
One month passed.
Grace heard that Humbert got into trouble when he almost got all things done in Italy. Humbert said it was not a big deal, but it
still took time.
Grace just smiled and said to Humbert, “I thought you were kidding. Maybe you are picking up girls in Italy now and having a lot
of fun. So, you don’t want to go home.”
Humbert jokingly said to her on the phone, “Yes, I’m having fun. But, I’m also homesick.”
“Then come back.” There was an undetectable coldness in Grace’s voice.

She thought her cooperation with Cayne would end. But the cooperation continued. However, Cayne seemed to have
disappeared from her sight.
Their cooperation had entered its second phase.
The representatives of both sides were ought to meet again to discuss the specific details of the cooperation as well as nail down
some details discussed previously.
One afternoon, Vivian knocked on the door of Grace’s office. The door opened and one of her old friend came in.
“Mr. Lo, how is it going?” Grace greeted him.
When Leno Lo came over, Grace was still thinking about whether she should visit her partner after the cooperation entered the
second stage.
Unexpectedly, Leno brought her a letter.
It was an envelope that was dyed with light blue ink patterns. There was no signature and no address on the surface of the
envelope. She glanced at Leno and then opened the envelope.
A piece of paper floated down from the envelope.
The letter said, “Ms. Grace James ...”
After she read it silently, she reached out and asked Leno, “Do you have a lighter?”
“What’s it for?” Leno asked. Meanwhile, he threw a lighter to her.
Grace turned on the lighter.
She kindled the letter.
Leno’s expression changed, but he didn’t say anything.
He stared at her. In the firelight, she seemed very mysterious.
“You burned it?” asked he.

“Or what?” She asked.
Leno was dumbfounded. She was right.
“That’s woman. You know, ruthless ...”
Grace slowly raised her head.
“He asked me to do so. I agreed with him,” she said. So, she burned the letter.
“He’s a good man. Believe it or not, I’ve never seen him treat anyone like this before.”
“I believe you,” She said.
Leno did not expect that she would say that without hesitation. He stared at her for a while. Then he withdrew his gaze and said,
“I have finished my task. I have to go now.”
“I’ll see you off.”
Leno only stayed here for about ten minutes. However, within the ten minutes, he got things done.
His arrival was like a pebble rippling the lake. Then nothing was changed.
When Grace returned to her desk, the letter on the ground had already turned into ashes.
She called the concierge and said, “Have someone sweep the floor, please.”
She stared at the ashes on the ground and went into a daze for a long time. Cayne, I was not your Queen but a living dead
person who had been hurt so much by the cruel world.
After leaving the building of the James Group, Leno took out his mobile phone and called Cayne, “She burned it.” He knew it was
Cayne who asked Grace to do so.
Cayne fell silent.
Leno added, “She burned it without hesitation. Not a second.”
Then Leno heard Cayne laugh. “That’s her,” said Cayne.

“What?”
“She tries her best to get what she wants and to get rid of what she doesn’t want.”
Leno said seriously, “Now that you know her well, why did you do that?”
“No, I didn’t know her well.” Cayne said calmly, “I just realized what kind of woman she is.
She tries her best to get what she want and to get rid of what she doesn’t want. She knows who she loves and who she doesn’t
love. I don’t even have a chance to get close to her.
I’m not alone. Actually, nobody gets the chance.
She stays close with her beloved one.
She stays away from those who she doesn’t love.
Nobody has the opportunity to flirt with her.
She’s ruthless, isn’t she?”
“But I just realized at that moment,” Kane said.
That moment?
Which moment?
Leno was silent. He realized Cayne was talking about the moment when he learned that Grace burned the letter without
hesitation.