I've Been There Before

Her eyes watered as he got on top of her. She said hoarsely, “I hate ... you.”
He stifled her unfinished sentence with a fierce kiss.
She suddenly felt a sharp pang of pain. He got into her without any notice.
She was unable to utter anything but to look at him in hatred and fear.
When the man met her eyes, his heart sank. He covered those eyes with his hand. He didn’t want her to look at him like that!
Anguish filled the man’s eyes. Now he could stop suppressing his feelings. Anyway..., her eyes were covered, and she couldn’t
see him.
She was his!
He was the one hurting her, and he was also the one feeling hurt.... So much had happened that he wondered if they had a
future.
Grace, you were so cruel!
The room smelled of sex, yet the two in bed were despaired.
This was what he wanted the most in the last three years, but he felt heartbroken and suffocated.
He felt good physically, but he was tortured inside.
He listened carefully to her groans as she endured his intrusion. He paid attention to every sound she made. Every time she
moaned, his pain grew.
I was sorry, Grace. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Don’t run away from me. Don’t. Stay with me. I would be nice to you. I would give
you everything. Don’t... run away anymore.
He knew that he was shameless. He knew he had shown her the worst of him.
He was happy physically, but miserable mentally.
He felt like he was between heaven and hell and finally went crazy.

When it was over, the man got up and the woman on the bed was numb. She stared blankly at the man’s muscular chest and
watched him get dressed elegantly. He acted like as if ... as if what had happened was just some absurd, boring drama.
He acted like he was a whoremaster who had just got laid.
She raised her finger and found that she was weak.
“You’re really a jerk.” She moved her eyes mechanically and stared at the man beside the bed blankly.
The man buttoned the collar with his slim fingers. He paused for a moment and turned around slowly. He lowered his head and
looked down at the woman on the bed.
“Didn’t you know I was a jerk a long time ago?”
He buttoned the last button slowly. He bent down and placed his palm on the bed beside her face. His handsome face was close
to hers. He curled up his thin lips and said in a hoarse, magnetic voice,
“So don’t run away. Don’t try to resist.
I was a jerk. Don’t try to provoke a jerk. “
Now he was like Satan from hell. He was dangerous and cold. But he was almost suffocating in torment.
Keep her.... He couldn’t think of any other way. He was willing to be the man she hated if he could keep her. He was willing to
live in hell if he could keep her.
But allowing her to donate bone marrow at the risk of her own life? Allowing her to take the immeasurable risk that could result in
her death?
He suddenly stood up and straightened his back. His large hands resting by his legs clenched into tight fists.... HE COULDN’T
DO THAT!
The woman on the bed was silent. Suddenly, she curled up her lips into an odd smile. The man’s heart skipped a beat.
“I’m nothing but a toy, right?” She muttered hoarsely. She seemed to be asking him, but she was more like talking to herself.
Suddenly!

The man’s face turned pale as he said coldly, “Yes, toy,” he sneered, “So be good, understand?”
With such arrogant words, the man turned away eagerly, as if he couldn’t wait to flee from the room.
The door was shut with a loud sound. The bedroom returned to the depressing silence.
The man strode out, followed by Ladd.
The more he thought about it, the sadder he became.
Toy?
If she was a toy, then he must be crazy. All he ever wanted was only this one.
Caden had never cared about his toys since he was a kid. If they broke, he would throw them away. If he was tired of them, he
would put them aside. She was his toy?
If she was a toy, why couldn’t he let go of her?
If their relationship must be like that of a toy and its owner....
Grace, if you like, I could be your toy as long as you didn’t leave me again..., okay?
Ladd opened the car door and the man got into the car. He was no longer daunting. He reached out and rubbed the space
between his eyebrows. There was only bitterness and exhaustion on his handsome face.
“Should we go back to the company, Boss?” Ladd asked.
The man seemed to have thought of something, “Is anyone looking after her?”
“Don’t worry. Saul was already in place. With Saul standing guard outside her door, Mrs. James should be fine,” Ladd reported
briefly. He knew what his boss meant.
“Watch her,” the man said evenly, “Don’t let her go to the hospital.” How could she take such a risk to get away from him!
He gritted his teeth again.
“Tell Saul to follow her if she wants to go shopping or work. She could go anywhere she wants but the hospital.”

“Yes, Boss.”
“How’s the thing I asked you to do?”
Ladd knew what he was referring to. “Deacon has already contacted them.” He fell silent after that.
He had made it clear — the other party was stalling and refusing them.
“Ask Deacon to ‘invite’ them over to the manor now.”
Ladd was surprised, “Boss, do you want to meet them personally?”
The man in the back seat waved his hand tiredly. “Do it.”
Without further questions, Ladd put on his blue-tooth headphones. He called Deacon and transferred the man’s order.
After finishing the call, he drove straight to the Shaw Manor.
Caden had moved to the large manor after he grew up.
The iron gate opened automatically, and the car passed through the gatekeeper smoothly. After driving for a while, it stopped in
front of the main building of the manor.
“Welcome home, sir,” the butler said respectfully.
He handed over a wet, warm, clean towel with the scent of lemonade.
The man wiped his hands. The warm, lemonade-scented towel smoothed his exhaustion.
Not long after...
A black commercial vehicle parked in front of the manor.
The car door opened, a pair of young mother and son was “invited” off. They looked aggrieved.
“I’m not going. I want to go back. You don’t have the right to do this!” The young woman was anxious.
The mother wasn’t stupid. This was not an invitation. They were forced to come here.
What kind of “invitation” was this?

“Our Boss is waiting for you. Please come with me. He will be unhappy if you keep him waiting for too long. And none of us can
bear the consequences.” Deacon learned that from Ladd.
Unblinking and expressionless, he forced them to the manor.
At the entrance of the reception hall....
The door was shut, and the young mother and son hesitated. Obviously, they didn’t want to go in.
“Mom, let’s leave.” The boy pulled his mother.
But it was not up to them. The door was pushed open from the inside. The butler was courteous and aloof, politely inviting them
in.
“Welcome. Mr. Shaw has been waiting for a long time. Madam, sir, would you prefer coffee or juice?”
“No need.”
The butler nodded and moved aside. At his hint, the mother and the son went into the mansion.
The butler bowed, walked out, turned around, and thoughtfully closed the door for them.
“Don’t....”
The butler interrupted her,
“Miss Dyer, please sit down.”
Nora was alert. She had a hunch that nothing good was going to happen today.
She turned around and saw the tall man leaning against the sofa.
Nora had no choice but to force herself to pull her son forward and sit down.
Sitting in the hall, Caden was impatient for any small talks. He went straight to the topic. The man pushed the coffee-colored file
bag on the table to Nora.
Nora opened it suspiciously, her face pale. She reddened and smashed the document on the table loudly. “No way! Ollie has
already done the match with his older brother, and Grace knows it!”

She emphasized Grace’s name.
Caden remained unmoved. “A fake certificate. It was done by Jafar, wasn’t it?”
“Nonsense!
Mr. Shaw! This is slander! “
Caden snorted and handed over another piece of paper.
Nora took it over impatiently and her face turned pale. “How is this possible?” It was a confession. There were only a few
sentences on the paper about the fake matching results. And the signature at the bottom of this confession was the person who
had helped forge it.
He confessed everything in this piece of paper!
Nora was short of breath, her chest heaving.
“Nothing is impossible. Jafar is not the only one who can get things done by money.”
Nora was shocked. He had made it clear enough.
“Besides, offending Jafar or me, which one is more serious?”
Nora fell silent.... Of course, it would be him.
“My child is still young.”
Could they not donate bone marrow?
“Even if the match is successful, Ollie is still a kid. Mr. Shaw, please understand us as parents. Even if we faked the document,
we did it only for the sake of our child.”
She was trying to persuade him.
The man in front of her pushed over another contract. “Sign it, take the money, and leave. Otherwise....” The man cast an icy
glance at her as if he was looking at a dead woman. “Who will get custody of an illegitimate child whose parents are dead?”

Nora’s heart skipped a beat. She stared at the man with a racing heart. She was sure that the man was telling the truth. He did
dare to do such a thing!
“Why don’t you take a look at the conditions I offer for you and your son?”
Only then did Nora breathe a sigh of relief. She almost couldn’t breathe just now. She flipped through the contract with trembling
hands.
After she read it, her heart pounded.... This time, it was not because she was frightened, but.... “Mr. Shaw, is that true?”
“Will you respect this your contract?”
Nora looked at the favorable terms on the contract with accelerated heartbeats.... 100 million in cash and a local advertising
agency.
The key point was that the advertising agency was not some unknown one. It was quite famous in the city.
The old man, Jafar, was becoming like a pervert and was stingy to her.
Jafar no longer had the James Group. Even if she tried all she could, she couldn’t let Ollie inherit the group.
Moreover, the tough man in front of him had already made it clear that he wanted to get into this.... “Is it for her?”
For some reason, Nora blurted out in jealousy.
“This is not what you should care about. Your job is to decide whether to sign or not.”
Nora looked at the handsome, outstanding man in front of her.... Why didn’t she meet such a man? Thinking of the old pervert at
home, Nora was even more envious.
But at least she knew what was best for her. She knew clearly what she was doing and what was important.
She took a look at the contract in her hands and turned around to the boy. “Ollie, with these, you won’t be ordinary. These are
enough to give you a better life.”
She said, “It’s for your own good.”
With that, she gritted her teeth and signed the contract.

“Mr. Shaw, you have to keep your word.”
Caden curled up his lips into a smile. “I’ll have someone transfer 50 million to your account right now. I’ll give the rest to you
when the bone marrow transplant operation is done.”
His smile was even more bewitching. Nora’s heart skipped a beat. She looked at the contract in her hand, then at the remarkable
man in front of her before she left the hall reluctantly.
His phone rang suddenly. Caden stopped rubbing his fingers between his eyebrows and picked up his phone on the table.
“What?”
There was an imperceptible weariness in his low voice. But he still sounded calm and magnetic.
The man on the other end of the phone reported, “Boss, I’m sorry. I was tricked by Miss Grace and let her run away.”
Caden was suddenly taut. His relaxed body tensed up again. His eyes were burning with rage, “I’ll go find her! I’ll deal with you
after I find her!”
He stood up and turned on the phone’s location function.
There was a bright, moving spot on the screen. The man’s thin lips twisted into a cold smile ... Sure enough, she was still trying
to escape!
He had installed a locator device on her phone.
“Follow me! Find her!”
He said, gritting his teeth as he hurried down the stairs and past Ladd.
Ladd was shocked. Before he could ask more, he chased after his boss automatically.
“I’m driving!” The man pulled Ladd away and said, “Sit over there.” He pointed to the passenger seat.
The bright spot on the screen was still moving.
The car sped out and the engine roared angrily.
He was seething with anger.

The air in the car was depressing. Ladd asked despite of himself, “Saul slacked off and Miss Grace ran away?” This was all he
could think of.
The man nodded calmly without loosening the accelerator.
They followed the navigation and headed to the hospital.
The closer he got to the hospital, the angrier he looked.... Sure enough, she ran to the hospital!
He chased after her. Just as he was about to catch up, he found that the pin spot stopped moving.
There was a trace of confusion in his eyes.
...
On the other way...
With a loud bang, a small car was hit by an SUV into the green belt.