Chapter 46

Although Grace looked the same as before, she seemed to have weathered many storms. She was no longer wearing high-end fashion but a fluorescent uniform.

Sean was in a daze. The scene of her crawling to him in prison, begging him to believe her appeared before his eyes again.

Back then, her gaze had been eager, hopeful, and pleading… However, she looked calm at the moment.

Like she didn’t need him. Or anyone in this world.

Her strength was a force all its own.

Lily sensed it too and her smile slipped. She was terrified, he realized.

With the cameras and press closing in and snapping photos, what if Grace were to start railing about how they’d treated her and abused her? What if she attacked them for this ridiculous stunt with the ring?

The press would devour such a story and no one would believe that this ring episode that happened at the exact place where Jennifer Steven’s murderer worked was a coincidence.

As it was, it was a stretch for Lily to be anywhere near this neighborhood.

Sean held his breath, waiting to see what Grace would do next.

Lily glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, and he knew that she was thinking the same things as him.

She smiled amicably as she handed the gift box to Grace and said, “This is for you. I’m sorry for making you search for my ring the other day.” Her behavior was entirely different from how vicious she had been previously!

Grace quietly took the gift box without saying a word and turned to leave.

After Grace got back into the center, she handed the box to Claire, saying, “Here, you take it.”

“Oh? Don’t you want to keep the clothing?” Claire asked in amazement.

“I have enough clothes,” Grace replied.

“The check’s still in here…”

“I don’t want it,” Grace said.

She looked at the clock and saw that the lunch break was about to end. After picking up the tools, she headed toward the section of a highway that she had been assigned to sweep.

Grace heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the reporters who had come for the event had left.

However, when she stepped out of the Sanitation Service Center, she saw Sean walking toward her.

Fear trickled up her spine and she hated herself for that momentary reaction.

“How… have you been?” Sean asked. He had used to hate this woman. He hated her for causing Jennifer’s death and for all the drama that followed. She had caused him to be reprimanded by his family, and his family had almost been destroyed by her. No one wronged the Reed Group. No one.

Because of Grace, he’d had to pay the price for it.

However, when he saw her wearing the sanitation worker’s uniform, he frowned. After all, he had once loved this woman.

She shook her head. “I believe that it is none of Mr. Steven’s business whether I’m doing fine,” Grace replied flatly as she tried to walk away from him.

“Grace, you don’t know what’s good for you!” Sean said as he blocked her way.

“Do I not know what’s good for me?” Grace sneered. She looked at Sean directly and asked, “Do you intend to get Lily-your fiancee to pull out my fingernails and break my fingers again? Will it make you happy if I become unable to even hold a broom in the future?

It had been three years, Sean. I still have pain!”

She shuttered down immediately, likely resenting that she said that much.

Sean rubbed his chin. He did what he’d had to do back then. And she had brought it upon herself.

Grace laughed harshly. “I can’t believe you’re even here right now.

Back then, when I had needed you the most, you treated me like some stranger on the street. You let me suffer, you encouraged people to torture me. And now you’re standing here, asking if I’m doing fine! What a joke!”

Sean frowned. What she said was true.

“You have to bear the consequences of your actions, Grace. You deserved to be punished. You caused the death of Lily’s sister, and she was within her right to seek revenge. You can’t complain about what she did to you!”

Grace’s face turned pale. “Actually, I can. We have laws, Sean. And while we both know that no one will care about the accusations of some lowly sanitation worker, the fact remains that you and Lily broke the law. You abused your power. What you did was criminal, and someday that truth might come out What then?”

“I’m not going to debate with you,” Sean said. “You killed an innocent woman. And not even your own family sympathized!” Sean snapped. Then he calmed down. “Look. The past is behind us.” After letting out a sigh, he said, “When I’m back in the office, I’ll inform the manager in my Human Resource Department to get you a clerical job in one of the companies under the Stevens Group. It will be better than sweeping the streets every day.”