I've Been There Before

Grace’s heart sank when she looked at the man yanking the car door open.... It was not just a car accident.
“We meet again, Mr. Venus.”
The old man looked even older than the last time she saw him. She remembered that he had been the butler of the Shawn family
all his life. She remembered him as respectable.
There were few smiles on his long face. He had always kept a straight face and looked very grim.
But now, this old man no longer had the dignity he had had when he was the butler of the Shaws. He was as thin as a rake,
looking like a dead, dry tree in the desert.
The familiar, stern face looked crazy now.
“You still remember me!
It must be hard for you to remember an old guy like me!”
An uncomfortable, wild smile touched his lips.
“Are you surprised to see me?”
“You hit the car on purpose?” Warm blood trickled down from her forehead. She didn’t reach out to wipe it off. Instead, she stared
at the old man without blinking.
Actually, there was no need to ask. The off-road vehicle crashed into her with great force. Grace glanced at the driver, who was
injured and was holding his arm. If it hadn’t been for the driver’s adaptability, she wouldn’t have just been injured.
“Yes, so what?
Are you going to get even with me?”
The old man said briskly as he stared at Grace with hatred.
“It’s a pity that I didn’t kill you on the spot.” He looked sorry. But he soon changed the topic,
“Alright, this’s not bad. It would be too easy on you if you just died.”

“Why?” she asked calmly.
He had done her harm repeatedly.
“Why do you have to ask such a stupid question?
Why?
How dare you ask me why?
If it hadn’t been for you, how could my Wallis have died? “
“Didn’t you kill her yourself?” she sneered, “You killed your own daughter. Why didn’t you know she was your daughter when you
killed her?”
“Shut up!” Enraged, he slapped Grace on the face. Unable to dodge, she was heavily struck by the slap. Her petite face swelled
up at once.
But she laughed at him sarcastically.
“You’re laughing?
It was you!
It was all you!
If it hadn’t been for you, how could I have accidentally injured my poor Wallis?
“If it hadn’t for you, how could I have killed Wallis?”
Grace almost burst into tears with laughter.
So, he killed his own daughter because she gave him a chance?
“Did I ask you to kill her?
Or did I force you to kill her? You are selfish and you killed Wallis. This is an unchangeable fact!”
“Shut up! Shut up!

I did that because I had no choice!
I did that for a reason!
I thought Wallis wasn’t my real daughter!
If it hadn’t been for what happened that night, I wouldn’t have harmed Wallis.
If I hadn’t killed her that day, I would have found out later that Wallis wasn’t other’s child. She was my daughter!
No matter how ruthless I was, I would not kill my own daughter!
I would never be so cruel as to hurt my own child!
It was your fault! It was all your faults!
“You made it impossible for her to support me after I retired. You are the culprit of this tragedy! It was all your fault!”
Grace almost couldn’t believe what she had just heard, looking at the ferocious man in disbelief. How could there be such a
person!
“It was you who killed her. It was you who killed Wallis.
You thought Wallis wasn’t your daughter.
And you set me up for it!
I didn’t come after you, but you blame me!
You wouldn’t have done it if you knew Wallis was your real daughter?
If she had not been your daughter, then you would revenge your illegitimate son on her?
Your daughter couldn’t die. But someone else’s daughter could?
You are out of your mind!
No matter who it was, it was still life. So, for you, human life is nothing?
People like you are either born vicious or are turned vicious!”

“It was you! You caused all the misfortune! It was all because of you!
If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have done that kind of thing!
No matter what you say, I will avenge my poor daughter today!
I will take you with me even if I die!”
The driver next to her probably had never expected to encounter such a horrible thing. Having a car accident was unfortunate
enough. He was angry but didn’t dare to say a word.
Grace looked at the pale, frightened driver with her peripheral vision. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him calmly.
“This is downtown. Traffic police will come soon. No matter what you want to do, you’ll be stopped by them.”
Something seemed to have occurred to the old man, and his expression changed. He dragged Grace rudely out of the car. “You
reminded me.”
With that, he dragged Grace to his vehicle and pushed her onto the passenger seat.
“I’m drowning with you!” With that, he started the car. Tires scratched the ground and let out an ear-piercing sound as the car
sped away.
The off-road vehicle sped along at an astonishing speed. Cars scattered around for fear of being hit, pulling over to make way for
this crazy machine.
Life was not easy for anyone. Everyone had a family, be it small or big. Their families were counting on them. No one wanted to
be killed by that wild car.
The car was speeding, and Grace’s stomach churned uncomfortably. She suppressed her nausea and felt dizzy, forcing herself
to calm down.
“How did you know I was in that taxi?”
It seemed to be a coincidence. But it was not. Even if she knew she was in danger, she did not want to die without knowing what
had happened.

He probably thought that Grace was going to die today anyway and that there was no need to hide it from her. The old man
sneered,
“Someone is watching you at your apartment. I got the message the moment you went out.
It must be fate. God gave me this chance to kill you.
Mr. Shaw.... No, that bastard had a guard outside your door who never left his post. I simply couldn’t find an opportunity to get to
you.
Huh, speaking of which, I should thank you for getting rid of Saul. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the chance to make a move.”
“Who is this ‘someone’?”
“You don’t need to know! The only thing you need to know is that I’m not the only one who wants you to die! There are people
who want you dead more than I do!”
Grace looked solemn.... She couldn’t figure out who this “someone” was.
The old man laughed heartily. “How pitiful you are! Since you’re going to die anyway, I’ll tell you one more thing.
Do you remember what happened that night when Kirk drove you to visit Hale?
Do you think it was just a coincidence? Kirk drove you back, and after he left, that thing happened to you.
Let me tell you. It was your own family. Your family conspired with Kirk to set you up. Kirk made sure that he would sent you to
that remote roadside and your family hired those hooligans to harm you.
Poor thing. It would be better if you had died in prison. “
He expected to enjoy her painful expression, but only to find she remained calm.
“Why are you not surprised?
Why don’t you ask me who that person is?
Why aren’t you upset?
You should cry! Cry! Cry! I tell you to cry! “

Seemingly provoked by Grace’s calmness, the old man had a wild look on his face. He got angry and stepped on the accelerator.
The car’s performance was impressive. It was so fast that it almost created a phantom.
The car was on the verge of losing control. Vehicles on both sides of the road either stopped or avoided them. Some people
even opened the door in fear and ran out of the car.
They have lived in this city for a long time. They have seen young people drive so fast late at night. They have seen rich people
speeding and running red lights because they were not afraid to get ticketed. But this was the first time they had seen people
drive that fast.
If they were hit by a car driven by a psychopath, it would be difficult for them to get compensation.
The old man was mad, “Cry! Cry in front of me!”
Slowly, Grace turned around and looked coldly at Mr. Venus.
“It was my brother, wasn’t it?”
He was so surprised that he loosened the accelerator.
She always thought the night of the attack was too strange. She was always suspicious of it. It was just that she didn’t know who
it was.
But when Sam told her about how her family had conspired with Kirk, she confirmed her speculation.
She still remembered that before the accident happened that night, Payne had gone to the company to cause trouble. She
remembered the look in his eyes as he left and the words he had said. He didn’t seem to be joking
Her lips were slightly pale. Disappointment touched the corner of her lips. She smiled as if she didn’t care.
She had hoped that she had guessed wrongly. She had hoped that she had been paranoid.
She had hoped that if only she could just forget about it.
Sam was even more enraged by her calmness. He was no longer rational. The calmer she was, the more he wanted to see her
suffer.
He just couldn’t bear to see this woman’s composure!

How could she be so calm?
Why didn’t she go crazy like him?
He had no family left. Both his son and daughter were dead. He was now a lonely, childless, and homeless man. How could the
woman, who was also involved in this, behave so calmly?
Why was she safe and sound? How could she not care about anything!
He would not allow it!
He would not allow her to be so rational!
“Since you’re so smart, have you ever thought that when your grandfather was alive, the person who kidnapped you when you
were born was someone you knew?”
Grace’s eyes twitched involuntarily. “What do you mean?”
“Since you are so bright, can’t you make a guess?
Who was of your grandfather’s age and was capable of doing such a thing. And you and I both know this person. Don’t you know
what this means?”
Grace gritted her teeth, not daring to think about it.
But—
“It was Master Shaw, the grandfather of your lover Caden!” Sam overheard it after what happened to Wallis. For fear of being
discovered, that was the only thing he heard.
That was all he knew, but ... it was enough to make this bitch suffer!
She felt as if she had been hit hard!
Her heart sank!
What did he mean by that?

She didn’t want to find out, but he wouldn’t let her!
The Shaws and the James were enemies.
Hale and Clark had a grudge against each other.
Apart from that, there was no other explanation.
But if that was the case, why ... why Grandfather allowed her to approach Caden?
Why didn’t Grandfather ever tell her about it?
Why did the outsiders not know they were enemies?
When she was in Erhai Lake, Mrs. James told her that she was kidnapped when she was born. But Mrs. James said it was
because her great-grandfather’s business was so successful that some people were jealous and played such a carrot-and-stick
trick.
However, the Shaws were massively rich for several generations. The James family were nothing compared to the them. How
could Hale envy the James? The hatred between the two families must have born from anything but business.
She remembered her grandfather’s strange attitude towards the fact that she loved Caden.
She also remembered the disgust in Hale’s eyes every time he saw her.
Grandfather had told her that it was not worth it and had tried to persuade her. However, he had just given her the runaround,
telling her to give up.
But he encouraged and even supported her in certain things.
She remembered those things. Grandfather had fixed her and Caden up many times. He had given them privacy. He had held a
birthday party for her.
That year at her eighteenth birthday party, Grandfather said she had grown up. He encouraged her to pursue her love bravely.
He said his granddaughter must be brave.
She felt he was right. Being inspired, she bravely confessed to the boy she liked in front of everyone at the birthday party.

She was confident. Grandfather said she was the best girl in the family.
She did not dare to think about it, nor did she dare to think about any more details.
Sitting in the passenger seat, she could no longer remain her composure.
There was despair on her delicate face. Her pain seemed to be dragging everything around her into the abyss. It was as if she...
had been pushed down into the pit by a very important person in her life!
At last, she somewhat understood her puzzling and strange grandfather.
No wonder that Grandfather valued her so much, but in the end, he chose Payne and said that everything in the James had
belonged to Payne.
He claimed that he was afraid she would be hurt again, so he cultivated her himself. But in fact, it was only because she was
“valued” by Hale.
Bullshit cultivation!
He did all this just to make her better than the other girls from rich families. Because there were too many rich young ladies in
Shanghai. If Grace was not outstanding enough, how could she become the successor of the Shaws?
She started to get confused. She could not tell when Grandfather was sincere to her and when he was not.
She could no longer tell which of the happy memories she had with her grandfather were genuine and which were fake. Or ...
was everything a lie?
The scenery outside the car sped backward. Staring at the backing landscape, she suddenly reached for the door handle.
She wanted to go back with the scenery outside the car. She wanted to go back to the past years, back to when Grandfather was
still alive. She wanted to ask him herself. She wanted to know. She wanted to know what the truth was and what the lie was!
She wanted to turn back the clock to when Grandfather was alive. She wanted to stand in front of him and ask him herself,
“Grandfather, do you really love me?”
“You’re crazy!” Sam did want her dead, but when he saw her crazy behavior with his own eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

He shouted urgently.
She cried out in great pain. There was only endless despair in her hoarse voice!
“I want to go back—!”
She wanted to go back. She wanted to see her grandfather!