Filed to story: My Gorgeous Wife is an Ex-Convict Novel by Anastasia Marie
“Yes.” Grace could not help but feel her nose tingling upon hearing her grandmother’s voice.
“Grace, did…did something happen to you yesterday? I… I heard that you were later saved by an important person. Did Miller the fool take advantage of you? Did they…”
“No, Grandma, I’m fine. Nothing happened last night,” Grace explained.
“That’s good, that’s good.” Her grandmother’s tone showed her relief. “If something had happened to you, how would I face your mother when I go to heaven!”
Grace could feel a tingling sensation in her nose again.
Just then, Mr. Kelleigh’s urging tone rang out at the other end of the phone. “Why aren’t you asking Grace to rush to the police station to withdraw the case so that our children can be released!?”
“Released? Why should they be released? They’ve committed such an evil act, they should be locked up for as long as they deserve!”
“They’re your own children! Do you have to do this for a person who doesn’t share our family name?”
“What are you talking about? She’s my daughter’s daughter!
Her mother isn’t here so this old woman must support her!”
“Are you doing this so no one will care for you when you’re old? Or are you going to depend on your granddaughter who has been to prison to provide for you and attend your funeral?”
The two old people continued their argument as if they had forgotten that the call was still connected. A moment passed before her grandmother realized that the phone was still on and said, “Grace, are you still there?”
“I’m here,” Grace replied.
“I’m relieved to know that you’re fine. Your uncles, aunt, and cousins must have been blinded by money to commit such an immoral act. You don’t have to withdraw the case. Lock them up for as long as they deserve!” Grandmother exhorted in a stubborn manner and immediately hung up the phone.
Grace clutched the phone and started sobbing uncontrollably. “I had thought that Grandma was calling me to ask me to let go of the incident and not look into it. I thought she wanted me to ask the police station to release those people.
“I really never expected that Grandma would be calling to support me!
“It’s just like when I was young and Dad left me at Grandma’s and I was bullied by the other kids in town. When I was snivelling, Grandma would tug my hand and ask me to take her to look for the bullies.
“Grandma would say, ‘Grace, don’t cry. Grandma’s here. Grandma will support Grace. We shouldn’t bully others but that doesn’t mean we should be bullied by them!’
“Grandma would reason with others for my sake. If she couldn’t reason with them, she would even roll up her sleeves and act like a crazy woman.
“And yet, I found her so adorable when she acted that way. In everyone else’s eyes, I was just a kid who had lost their mother and turned into a child from a previous marriage after Dad married my stepmother.
“But in Grandma’s eyes, I was always her darling.
“Grandma always said, ‘When Grace is all grown up, I’ll be able to live in comfort! And yet, when I grew up, I went to jail just when I had become able to let Grandma live in comfort.
“At first, when Grandma heard the news of my incarceration, she was stricken with illness and struggled before recovering a little last year.
“Grandma is well aware that if she stands by my side, she will be opposing Grandpa. She’s bound to fall out with the family and might not even be able to stay in that house any longer, but she still chooses to stand with me.”
A constant stream of tears rolled down her face, dripping onto her hands, the bedcovers…
When Jason entered the room, he saw Grace hugging her phone and crying incessantly.
He frowned hard and hurried to her bedside. He held her face in his hands and asked, “Sister, what’s wrong? Do you feel ill?”
Her eyes were misty with tears as she studied the man before her and shook her head.
However, her response only made him more worried. “Sister, what happened to make you cry like this? Tell me. No matter what it is, I can help you solve it.”
He dried her tears with his hands and when his fingers touched her tears, he could feel his fingertips burning.
“Her tears are so warm to the touch, they’re scorching hot.”
“Her tears always make me feel a sense of helplessness. It’s as if I would be willing to do anything to make her stop crying.”
Grace cried out loud and suddenly leaped into Jason’s embrace, bawling noisily.
She could not explain why she had done such a thing at this time. And yet, when she hugged him with her face pressed to his chest, it was as if she did not need to suppress herself and she could release all the hurt in her heart without fear.
Jason lowered his head and studied the woman sobbing in his embrace. He hugged her gently, letting her cry her heart out.
Grace didn’t know how long she had been crying for and when it ended, it was as if there were no more tears for her to shed.
Jason used a tissue to gently wipe the tears from her face. “Sister, can you tell me what really happened?”
“It’s Grandma,” she said as she sniffled.
“Did she come to you to beg for leniency?” he asked, his gaze darkening slightly.
“No, Grandma just asked if I was fine and told me to ignore my relatives, saying that they should be locked up for as long as they deserve,” Grace replied in a nasal tone.
Jason was rather surprised. “Your grandmother is a good woman.”
“Grandma is very good to me,” Grace murmured. “It just never occurred to me that Grandma’s treatment of me would be so good. She is willing to be at odds with the entire family in the name of upholding justice for me.”
“What about you? Do you want to let your relatives go?” Jason asked.
Grace raised her gaze and stared fixedly at the man before her.
Jason continued, “If you want to let them go then I’ll inform the police station to do so. If you want to punish them, I can get a lawyer and make sure they rot in prison for the rest of their lives.”
He spoke casually, as if this was a very simple matter to him.
Grace was slightly stunned. “I studied law. I know that once the nature of the crime changes, the charge will also be substantially altered.
“But no ordinary lawyer would be able to win a case like this. To really ensure that my relatives would stay in prison for the rest of their lives, only a few truly exceptional lawyers would be able to take this to court!”
“Who are you?” Grace asked. When the question slipped out, she could feel her heart thudding from nerves and she even subconsciously held her breath.