Chapter 114

“But… you’re wearing…”

He only then realized he was wearing the same outfit he'd worn to dinner with his grandfather the previous day.

“If I were the Jay she knows, I couldn’t afford clothes like this,” he explained. “However, after last night, I don’t want to hide my identity anymore. I’ll have to tell her eventually; this is just a little sooner than planned. And once she knows who I am, it will be easier to protect her.”

“Even dressed differently, I’m still Jay, right?” he asked, smiling faintly as he looked at her.

Even if Grace had been an idiot, she would have sensed something was amiss. She realized things weren't as she'd imagined.

“You’re not homeless?”

“I’m not,” he confessed.

“Then… why did you pretend to be homeless?” A feeling of betrayal surged within her. She glared at him, her hands clenching the bedding, her fingers trembling slightly. “The innocent, dependent younger brother I imagined… it was all wishful thinking. It’s just as Lina said. I knew nothing about him, and yet I rashly brought him home. And if he isn’t homeless, why was he staying in that cramped apartment with me? What did those days mean to him?”

“I didn’t pretend. You assumed, and I didn’t correct you,” he argued.

Grace paused, momentarily speechless.

“Then… then why did you live with me? You have a house!” she exclaimed, glaring.

“Because I enjoyed living with you, and…” He reached out to smooth her messy hair. “Back then, you were the one who wanted me. That’s why I stayed, okay?”

Grace’s face flushed and paled repeatedly as she bit her lip.

“That’s right! I was the one who took the initiative!”

She pushed back the covers, wanting to leave, but as her feet touched the floor, her legs weakened, and she stumbled forward. She felt as if her legs had turned to jelly.

He caught her. “The drugs haven’t completely left your system. You suffered all night; you have no energy.”

His words triggered her memory of the previous night. “Last night… my uncles drugged me, and… they took me to Miller’s house.”

Grace’s face went white. “Then… I was taken to Miller’s room. They closed the door, and he… he attacked me…”

Her lips trembled; her body shook. He lowered his head, studying the woman in his arms. “Right now, she’s like a small, weak animal. So fragile, as if she couldn’t withstand a blow. She’s so goddamn pitiful.”