Grace was forcefully pulled out of the Royal Club by Franklin.
They went to a busy night fair. Franklin led her through the crowd holding her hand and the vendor's hawking could be heard from time to time. Grace was not accustomed to walk hand in hand with someone. But Franklin seemed to have a tenacious nature. Even if, for several times, she found some excuses to take back her hand, he would smile and hold up her hand again.
They shuttled in the night fair and the tantalizing aroma from the stalls around drifted into their noses.
Grace walked in a slow pace, but Franklin didnât urge her.
She raised her head glanced at the back of the muscular and tall man who was holding her handâ¦
Franklin didnât urge her to walk quicker; plus, Grace even noticed that he was slowing down his pace secretly.
Usually, a night fair would attract a large number of people every night. Since today was weekend, there were even more people, and among them, there were many couples.
In the milling crowd, a handsome man was walking slowly and hand in hand with a plain woman.
This was naturally a combination that would attract peopleâs attention.
Grace subconsciously wanted to dodge the gazes from the people who were studying her⦠She hated such kind of gaze very much.
Could you please donât look at me?
Could you please donât look at me with that kind of gaze?
Those gazes seemed to penetrate through her fresh and bones.
Could you pleaseâ¦
âLet go of my hand! Let me go!â Grace desperately struggled to cast off his hand, âMr. Cordon, let go of me! Please!â
âPlease!â
She roared desperately and huskily with all her might.
Her wrist was red because of the fierce struggle, âPleaseâ¦â Her voice was finally tinged with a trace of plead after the hysterical roar.
Grace looked at Franklin, and Franklin also turned around to look at her. Suddenly, Franklin let go of her hand. But before Grace could heave a sigh of relief, Franklin held up her hand again. But this time, he held her hand more tightly. His warmth and comfort transferred from his palm to Graceâs palm.
âDonât be afraid of it. Donât care about them.â As Franklin was speaking, he suddenly pulled Grace closer to himself and then hugged Grace tightly. He then raised his head and glanced around, âDamn!
Whatâs the point of looking at us? Havenât you seen a loving couple hanging out together?â
With Franklinâs loud reproach, most of the passers-by shifted their gazes.
âLetâs go. Letâs enjoy our meal.â Franklin held Grace by her shoulders in an overbearing manner and led her into an alley. There was a beef noodles restaurant in the alley. The decoration of the beef noodles restaurant was not as exquisite as that of restaurants outside the alley, and even appeared to be obsolete and aged. Franklin then led Grace into the restaurant.
âNoah, two bowls of beef noodles, please.â
âLittle Frank, you rarely come recently, and youâre free today?â The owner of the restaurant was a middle-aged man in his fifties. There was some grey hair among his black hair. He was always smiling and appeared to be kind and friendly. When he saw Franklin, he immediately put down the plates, wiped his hands on his apron, and then poured two glasses of warm water for Franklin and Grace.
âWhoâs this?â
âIâm his friend.â said Grace.
Franklin smiled and added, âGirlfriend.â He looked up at Noah, âNoah, how does my girlfriend look like?
Sheâs great, right?â
Grace was petrified⦠G⦠Girlfriend?
She blankly watched Franklin talk to Noah, who looked so kind, from time to time.
âNoah, Franklin was talking nonsense.â
âHmmm⦠This girl looks so beautiful. She has good facial features. But she looks too thin.â
Grace was stunned again⦠She glanced at Noah with doubts. How did Noah judge that she had good features?
To be honest, Grace was beautiful three years ago. But now, her beauty had faded because of the vicissitudes of life.
âLittle Frank, I will go and make beef noodles for you.â
âBosh, Iâm not yourâ¦â
Grace wanted to explain it, but Noah had walked towards the kitchen. She was then in a daze for a long whileâ¦
âGrace, Grace, Grace⦠Seems like youâre always absent of mind, right?â
The pleasant and joking voice sounded in Graceâs ears and Grace finally came to her own sense.
When she looked at his handsome face, a strange feeling suddenly surged in her heart. She then softly and weirdly called, âLittle Frank?â
Franklin was originally playing her hands. When hearing the words, his hand paused in the air and his ears became red. He hurriedly explained, âDonât follow Noahâs suit. When I was young, my parents didnât allow me to have snacks and they were very strict in controlling my diet. So I liked to come to Noahâs restaurant and had a bowl of beef noodles behind my parentsâ back.â
âNoahâs techniques of making beef noodles was passed down from his ancestors. Itâs said that the receipt was originated from the Ming and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). And you canât have such flavor except in Noahâs restaurant.â
âLittle Frank.â A trace of smile flashed across Graceâs eyes. Right at this moment, there was a trace of childishness on her, just as she preserved three years ago. Franklin was red from ears to his necks. He anxiously said, âNoah is my senior, but you are not. Donât call me âLittle Frankâ like Noah does. You can just call me Frank.â
Grace didnât reply.
Noah put two bowls of steaming beef noodles on the table, âEnjoy it when itâs hot. If itâs not enough, Iâll add more beef and noodles in it.â He then specially instructed Franklin, âPersuade your girlfriend to have more. Sheâs so thin. Little Frank, youâre not a qualified boyfriend.â
âIâm notâ¦â Before Grace could utter the remaining words âhis girlfriendâ, she was interrupted by Franklin.
âOkay, okay, okay.â Franklin smiled and urged Noah, âNoah, go ahead with your own stuff. I and my girlfriend are dating, are you so cheeky to peep at us?â
âBullshit. Little rascal.â Noah laughed and left after saying the words.
Grace looked into Franklinâs eyes, âWhy did you deceive Noah? Iâm not your girlfriend.â
Franklin handed the chopsticks to Grace and said, âWho told you that I was deceiving Noah?â He suddenly raised his head, âGrace, please consider about me being your boyfriend.â
Grace was so shocked!
It was too sudden!
Grace felt that her ears were ringing and she blankly stared at Franklin for a long while⦠âMr. Cordon, what⦠did you say just now?
She suddenly felt the warmth on the back of her hand as Franklin said, âI said, would you like to my girlfriend? What about having a try?â
Grace hastily took back her hand and refused without hesitation, âMr. Cordon, the noodles have cooled down⦠By the way, donât joke about this matter in the future.â
âI was not jokâ¦â
âYou were!â Grace glared at him and shouted, âIt can just be a joke, Mr. Cordon.â
âIâ¦â Franklin suddenly swallowed the words he wanted to say and stared at Grace. After a long while, he sighed helplessly. âYes, I was joking just now. The noodles have cooled down. Quick, letâs enjoy it.â
Grace was so stubborn; in addition, Franklin, who had a pair of sharp and keen eyes, caught the bitterness flashing across Graceâs eyes just now.
A moment later, Franklin raised his head and asked, âYou donât like to eat scallions?â Although Graceâs action of not eating the green scallions was so subtle, Franklin still had noticed it. Without saying a word, he reached out his hand, picked up Graceâs bowl, and then put it in front of himself.
Grace was extremely dumbfounded this time. The man sitting across her was swiftly selected out the scallions in her bowl and putting them in his own bowl. âNah, I like scallions very much.â
Grace was still dumbfounded as she glanced at the bowl which was put in front of her again â there was no scallion in the beef noodles The two of them finished the noodles. Franklin held up Graceâs hand again and walked in front of her, leading her through the milling crowd and turning around to tell Grace those interesting things happened in his childhood from time to time.
Grace, who was following Franklin, stared at the clasping hands blankly. She was completely petrified and followed him without a trace of reluctance.
âFranklin, arenât you afraid of embarrassing yourself?â
She suddenly asked the question.
âWhy will I feel embarrassed?â
Grace opened her mouth. After a long while, she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, âBecause Iâm a laughing stock.â
âIf you can bring others laughter, I think tâs a positive thing. Then why should I feel embarrassed by a positive thing?â
ââ¦â Can⦠can the word âlaughing stockâ be explained in this way?
Grace lowered her head, feeling that she herself was so despicable⦠On the way when Mr. Cordon took her to the restaurant, she had been wondering: If I ask for Mr. Cordonâs help, and if I recommend myself to him, maybe I could sell my bacon at a good price.
âWhat do you want to say?â When Franklin and Grace arrived at the entrance of Royal Club, Franklin suddenly stopped Grace and asked.
Grace opened her mouth, but after a momentâ¦
âNo⦠Nothing. I have nothing to say to you.â Originally, she intended to abandon her dignity and asked him: Would you like to buy my bacon? But right at this moment, Grace just felt that her throat was so dry and her voice was so husky that she couldnât utter those words.
She glanced at Franklin, and then turned around and walked towards Royal Club hurriedly, as if she was escaping from something.
But since her legs were problematic, she couldnât walk fast and dragged one of her leg forward like a clown.
She dared not to look back at the man as she felt extremely ashamed in her heart: Grace James, youâre really despicable! Grace James, youâre really disgusting!
She stood in front of a lift. With a âtingâ sound, the door of the lift was opened. Just as she was about to step in, she raised her head and saw a handsome man in the life, whose cold expression showed that he was extremely angry.
Out of instinct, Grace stepped backward. She had a hunch that this man was extremely horrible and dangerous at this moment. The man in the lift reached out his hand and quickly dragged her into the life. Before Grace could steady herself, she was pressed on the wall of the lift by a scorching hot body;
and before she could say anything, the manâs passionate kisses landed on her lips.
Graceâs heart skipped one beat. She was annoyed and reached out to push him away. But her hands were grasped by a big hand, help up above her head, and then pressed on the wall of the lift.
âHm⦠Hmmmâ¦â Let go of me!
She struggled violently. But the man confined her with his tall figure.
She struggled violently to dodge his kisses.
He was so angry while she was so scared.
The door of the lift was opened again, and those people who stood outside the lift all gasped in shock, âG⦠Grace James?â
Graceâs heart missed one beat as her eyes widened when she peered at the people⦠âHmmm!â She struggled even more fiercely.
Caden didnât spare a glance at those people and reached out a hand to close the door.
The lift didnât stop on any other floor thereafter and ascended all the way to the 28th floor.
Caden squinted his long eyes at the breathless Grace, stooped down to carry her in his arms, and strode inside the room.
He hadnât utter a word from the very beginning and silently threw Grace onto the bed.
Graceâs body bounced on the bed. When she steadied herself and propped her upper part up with her arms, she saw Caden, who stood by the end of the bed, unclasping the buttons of his white shirt quietly.