Filed to story: My Gorgeous Wife is an Ex-Convict Novel by Anastasia Marie
Farah sputtered. Her mouth turned down and her eyes narrowed. She was clearly not pleased with Claire standing up for Grace.
“I knew you would take her side,” she said. “When I told the others…”
So it was obvious who had been the one to leak the news of Grace’s imprisonment. No surprise there. Farrah had never made
any false show of being friendly with Grace.
“…I knew it…when I saw her on the roadside talking to Sean and then Lily. I was like, wait for a second, this isn’t right!? I knew
things were not as they seemed.” She stared at Grace. “I don’t know how you live with yourself. You should’ve stayed in prison. It’s what you deserve.”
“Now, hold up,” Claire argued. “That’s enough of that talk. This is none of your business, Farrah. You can’t go harassing another employee-”
“Harassing!?! She is a killer. Honestly, Claire, what, did your receive a bribe from Grace or something? Why are you standing up for her?”
Farah mocked her, but Claire also took a step back. She had, indeed, accepted the jacket and payment Grace received from
Lily.
Grace opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, but someone
beat her to it.
“All right, what else is there to say?” A man’s voice interrupted. “The car crash was an accident. Grace didn’t intend to do it.”
Grace saw that it was Chase defending her.
However, that only angered Farah more. Farrah was interested in Chase, but he wouldn’t give her the time of day. The fact that he was defending Grace instead of taking Farah’s side, was only instigating the situation.
Farrah’s expression turned uglier. “Chase, what’s the point of
standing up for Grace? Do you think she’ll like you? Do you
know that her ex-boyfriend is Sean Stevens? He’s the heir to the
Stevens Corporation!”
Chase’s face abruptly flushed red.
Farah continued her vicious assault. “But when Sean saw Grace
as a sanitation worker that day, it probably spoiled his appetite.” She clicked her tongue and continued, “You know, I’m thinking he’ll probably vomit in disgust when he thinks about dating Grace in the past.”
Grace looked at Farah coldly. “Are you done talking?”
“What? Are you trying to deny the fact that you were in jail or are you saying that you aren’t Sean’s ex-girlfriend?” Farah retorted proudly. “Why are you pretending to be so innocent when you’ve been to jail?”
“I’m not pretending about anything. So what if I’ve been to jail? I’ve paid my taxes and I’ve served my time. And I don’t think it’s any of your business who I dated before. Furthermore, I may be a sanitation worker now but does that mean I can’t have dated anyone before? Or is the role of a sanitation worker only to make someone throw up their dinner? Just what are you saying about
sanitation workers?”
Farrah recoiled and eyed the room warily. She’d offended many of the people here by bringing the sanitation aspect into things.
Grace spat out a succession of questions. “Farah Steele, just
because you’re an established employee in a management position, that does not mean you can look down on my
profession.”
Farah’s words stuck in her throat as some of the other workers
nodded in solidarity.
There were so many sanitation workers in the center and now they all looked angry.
“I get it,” Grace said. “You have a slightly exalted position and you want to abuse that power and look down on everybody beneath
you. Whatever. It’s fine for you to insult me, but take a good look
at the people in this room, Farrah. They’re honest and hardworking and they do what they do to support their families. Why don’t you think about that before insulting them or their professions?”
A smattering of agreement sounded behind her and Grace smirked. “You bullies, you’re all the same…”
Farah glared at her hatefully. “Grace, you… wait and see!”
Grace just nodded. “Yeah. Uh-huh. I’ll be here. You know where to
find me.”
Grace exhaled a deep breath and turned to leave, but Chase shouted after her, “Wait… Grace, I… I don’t think you’re the person
Farah says you are.”
She stopped walking for a moment but she did not respond to him.
and resumed walking away.
She was very grateful that Chase was willing to stand up for her just now, but that didn’t mean anything. He knew who she was
and what shadows were in her past. Even if he’d liked her before,
those feelings would change now.
They always did.
Grace was lost in her thoughts that night when she returned to the apartment. Just as she was having dinner with Jay, someone knocked at the door.
Grace was startled because she doesn’t usually have visitors.
“Could it be your family?”
Grace wasn’t up to another visit from her dad or stepmom, and it would be a long time before she’d forgive Evelyn for her treachery.
But when she opened the door, she was surprised to see Chase standing outside.
Chase was wearing a black cotton shirt and his face was slightly
red. He looked at Grace and spoke rather uneasily, “I…” He had
barely opened his mouth when he noticed Jason, who had walked
over to stand behind Grace, and he stopped suddenly as if he was
hesitating.
“Why are you here?” Jason asked. “Are you looking for my sister?” Jason asked.
“I… I have some business to discuss with Grace privately,” Chase said with a flushed face, then he glanced at Grace and asked, “Is that okay with you, Grace?”
Jason frowned.
Grace opened her mouth to reply, but Jay interrupted her and said, “Is it something you can’t discuss here?”
“It’s…” Chase hesitated.
Grace said, “If there’s something you need to say, there’s no harm in speaking frankly, and in front of Jay.”
Chase started to wring his hands. “I… I wanted to say that I don’t
mind that you’ve been in jail. I really like you and I hope that you can be my girlfriend. I… I can wait. As long as you’re not interested
in anyone else, I can wait,” he blurted out in a single breath as if he had had to muster all of his courage to say those words.
Grace was stunned. “I, uh, Chase, I don’t know what to say.”
Chaset kept talking. “I know I’m still just a small-time driver but I will work hard to earn money to support a family, I… I just hope I can give you happiness.”
As soon as Chase was done talking, he nodded in Jason’s direction, bowed toward Grace, and hurried away. “Just consider it,” he said as his parting words.
Grace stared numbly at his back. Chase really liked her?
Only when a hand looped around her waist to pull her into the
room and the door slammed shut did she snap out of her trance.
“What are you…?”
She had barely finished speaking when Jay trapped her against the door. He leaned forward and stared at her fixedly with his dark eyes. “What are you thinking about, Sister?”
But there was a bite to his words, and the way he normally called
her sister felt more like a promise-or a threat.
“Nothing,” she replied.
He closed the space between them until she couldn’t draw a breath without breathing him in. “Let me go, Jay.”