***Grace was gasping for air, her chest tight as she struggled to breathe. With a frantic shake of her head, she tried to shake off the haunting image that had gripped her mind. She hit the buttons for the seventh floor instead of the tenth, her movements driven by sheer fear.Rushing out of the elevator, she found herself hyperventilating, her heart pounding in her ears. Then, without warning, she stumbled, crashing to the hard floor below with a loud thud. The sound echoed down the corridor, drawing the attention of those nearby. Security and staff from the seventh floor quickly came running to help her, their faces filled with concern.“Ma! Are you okay?” they rushed her with questions but she was too out of breath to answer“Oh my God, she's hyperventilating," a woman exclaimed beside her. "Quick, someone get me a bag, and please, call 919," she heard the woman urgently request.A bag was promptly placed over her mouth, and although the voices sounded muffled, she could feel the
***As Grace's eyes locked with Mrs. Vera's, she felt the heat of anger emanating from the older woman like a blazing fire.Mrs. Vera wasted no time as she stormed towards Grace with a chilling intensity, her words dripping with malice. "You slut; I explicitly warned you to stay away from my son. It seems your mother didn't raise you with an ounce of sense," Vera hissed, her hand reaching out aggressively, aiming for Grace's throat, only to be abruptly halted by Noah'."Don't even think about it, Mother," Noah's voice sliced through the air, cold and cutting as he stepped in to protect Grace."Seriously! Are you talking to me right now, Noah? Do you even know what you are doing right now? How could you even stoop so low and... Vera attempted to regain control of him, but Noah brushed her off with a causal indifference that cuts deep, showing the underlying rift between them. Family bonds be damned."James?" Noah's called out, his voice devoid of warmth or emotion."Yes, boss," James r
***Grace looked at Noah, bewildered. What did she miss? When did he propose, and what was he talking about? As she began to ponder, the car suddenly came to a stop, jolting her forward with a little force. "Why are we stopping?" she questioned, feeling a knot of anxiety form in her stomach.Noah let out a sigh and turned to face Grace, taking her hands gently in his own. "Look, Grace, I know you don’t trust me much. Not just because I'm a man, but because of my social standing. And I know you probably won’t have much trust in what I'm about to say to you. But I want you to know that it's not something I just came up with as an excuse. It's something that took me months, to come to terms with. Before I met you, Grace, I was living a life that wasn't my own. I had no control over my decisions. But since you...the crazy, stubborn Grace Bush...came into my life, I've had to learn how to stand up for myself, how to make decisions that give my life meaning and p
***"Ah.” Noah sighed as he held Grace's trembling body in his arms. Yes, he sensed something had gone wrong, but he wasn't sure what. Grace, panting, remained still, trying to collect herself. She didn't push him away, just stayed there.Noticing her reaction, or her non reaction he signed again. The moment she saw the ring he brought out, the light faded from her eyes, and it was replaced by a terrified expression as she stared at him, as if she'd seen a ghost. Mrs. Hail was right—Grace was far from okay. What he still couldn't figure out was why the sight of the ring scared her.“You know," Noah began in a calm voice, "for a second there, when I saw the terrified look on your face, I almost believed that I was holding a murder weapon and not a ring," Noah said, and in that moment, he heard her chuckle.Grace sighed. She knew what she had just seen was nothing but an illusion, something her guilty mind had conjured up when she came in contact with anything resembling an object from
****Noah took a deep breath as he parked outside his family home. Once full of joy and light, it now felt as dark as a house haunted by angry ghosts.He stood outside the door, contemplating whether to knock or just walk in. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to enter. As he opened the door and stepped inside, the servants' terrified expressions confirmed his suspicion: his mother was in a foul mood, probably drunk. Great. How would he talk to her? Noah knew she had no choice but to listen to him. She needed to hear what he had to say, whether she liked it or not.Without wasting much time, Noah marched to the inner room, his mother's favorite spot, the mini bar. He walked over to where she was sitting, pretending not to see him."Mother, you..." he began, but before he could finish his sentence, a heavy bottle of vodka went flying past his head. Thank God for his good reflexes—he would have had a split skull, if not worse."Wow, Mother, if I didn't know better, I'd think you w
The S.O. Publishing Industry, New York, Six Months Ago"If someone had told me that my dream of working here would come true, I would have probably scoffed at them," Grace muttered to herself. "How I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this." She couldn't help but cry. "Seriously, Grace, not right now. Get a hold of yourself. No thinking of the past. You need to move forward," she encouraged herself.But the fact that the boss asked her to stay behind was weird. Now, it was 8 p.m., and apart from the boss, she was the only one in the office. As if that wasn't enough, he had sent for her. "Jeez, I don’t want to lose this job. I wonder what he wants."She stood up from her desk and went to the boss's office, standing outside the heavy gold metal door with a name boldly written in silver, "Noah Creed." she muttered to herself. Then, all of a sudden, the voice that always shook her to the core spoke."You don’t need to stand there, Grace. Come in.""Oh god! That voice." With one deep breath
Six months ago in Canada."I can’t believe this; after all my hard work, I still end up here," Grace Bush mutters to herself. Working at the local publishing company in her hometown has been hell, not just physically but mentally. She had applied at Davi Publishing Firm, a big company in New York, but ended up at O.S Publishing Industry in this local town, not even at the headquarters. "OMG! Was I cursed? Am I going to die here, aren’t I? This can’t be all there is to me," she grunted loudly, gaining the attention of the front desk clerk.“Are you alright, Grace? You are sighing out loud,” Edna asked, sounding worried.“It’s Miss Bush to you, and yeah, I'm okay,” Grace replied, her frustration evident.“You don’t sound so.”“Yeah, well, that’s because you're in my face, Edna; why don’t you go do your work and leave me the hell alone, huh?” Grace snapped. She was being rude, but she didn't care; the challenges in her life were already enough.“Fine, suit yourself.”“Great, thanks. Now
***Still lost in her thoughts, fantasizing about what her life might look like five years from now, Grace was jolted back to reality by a scream.It was her mother. Startled, she opened her eyes to find her father struggling with the car's steering wheel. The brakes had failed, and a massive truck was hurtling towards them. In a split-second decision, her father swerved towards a tree at the side of the road.Through all this, Grace could still hear her mom screaming, her cries reverberating like the world itself was collapsing around them. Maybe it was because, in the next few seconds, what occurred felt like a terrible nightmare, one she desperately wished she could wake up from.As the car swerved towards a tree at the side of the road, an unexpected collision occurred. Out of nowhere, a truck carrying metal poles slammed into their car. In the chaos, Grace's father was suddenly in front of her. She couldn't comprehend how he managed to jump from his seat with the seatbelt on. Bro