Chapter 2 Redemption In The Shadows

• But he became paralyzed for life, and he didn’t want to be a burden to Grace so he committed suicide.
• That day, Grace was lying on the ice-cold ground and had a miscarriage.
• She couldn’t save either her grandfather… or her baby.
• When Grace was locked up in prison, Lily went to see her.
• Lily whispered to Grace, “My dog has always been obedient. Guess why my dog tackled your grandfather?”
• The dog didn’t know anything, he only followed his owner’s orders, and his owner’s heart… was vicious.
• Lily hated Grace because she was dating Sean.
• Grace had a lot of time to think while she was in prison. She blamed herself for the death of her grandfather. Lily would’ve never harmed her grandfather if she didn’t date Sean.
• Grace had a dream that her grandfather came back to life, and he told her how she was a good girl. Grace knew then it was just a dream because she was not a good girl like her grandfather said, she was a piece of garbage.
• If she could turn back time, she wouldn’t want any shinny hairpins or any nice dresses, and she most certainly wouldn’t want Sean.
• The only thing she wants is just to have her grandfather back.
• ***
• “Aah!” Grace opened her eyes suddenly. Only then did she realize that she had been dreaming of what had happened all those years ago.
• She looked down at her calloused hands.
• After three years of imprisonment, and multiple fractures and broken bones, her hands would never look or feel the same way again.
• Her fingernails had grown back, but the prison doctors hadn’t gone out of their way to reset her bones.
• Her joints looked distorted, and she had residual pain. I was nerve damage.
• There were many fine movements that she couldn’t perform very well.
• Her fingers hurt more especially when it was cold or humid outside.
• Grace flexed her hands and breathed deeply.
• It’s okay. You’re okay.
• Today is a new day.
• She repeated the mantra as she stood up and resumed working.
• Sometimes, the memories threatened to consume her.
• She’d lost more than just her freedom in that accident.
• Her future. Her boyfriend. Her grandpa.
• Everyone and everything she’d cared about was gone in an instant.
• Jennifer Atkinson whom she’d accidentally killed was the daughter of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the country. What’s more, she was the fiancée of Jason Reed—the most powerful man in the city.
• It’s okay. You’re okay.
• Today is a new day.
• You don’t need anybody.
• Grace finished mopping the room.
• She was wearing the bright-colored work suit of a sanitation worker with her long hair tied into a simple ponytail.
• She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror on the wall. Her delicate face was slightly reddish due to the cold weather, and her mouth was pressed into a thin line.
• If you were to only look at her face, you would think she was a student who had just graduated from college. But gone was that youthful ignorance.
• She’d seen how cruel the world could be.
• The eyes that stared back at her were old, far older, and duller than they should be.
• She sighed and rolled the cleaning supplies toward the door.
• Sitting down for a few minutes had been foolish.
• She hadn’t meant to drift off to sleep.
• With an eye on the time, she moved quickly and efficiently to clean the rest of the building.
• The life of a sanitation worker wasn’t glamorous, but after she left prison, this was the only job she could find.
• When she was about to leave, she heard a colleague watching the news on her mobile phone.
• “Whoa! Lily is engaged to Sean Stevens! What a lucky girl Lily is! As a superstar and a daughter of a rich and powerful family, now she is going to marry into the wealthy Stevens family too.”
• Grace shuddered, and then she hurried out of the Sanitation Service Center.
• She took a deep breath. Then another.
• She repeated her mantra and pushed the thoughts of her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée far from her mind.
• She swept the walkway as this was her routine.
• This time of year, the cold winter wind blew and it pained her hands terribly.
• She should’ve stopped to grab her coat, but she’d been too fixated on escaping her co-worker and any more ‘good news’ about the happy couple.
• A couple that had stood by and watched as she was savagely beaten.
• Suddenly, a Ferrari stopped in front of her.
• Three men and a woman got out of the car; they were obviously drunk.
• One of the men looked at Grace with a tipsy expression. He laughed cruelly. “I know you. What are the odds of finding Sean’s ex-girlfriend?”
• Grace paled. She wasn’t expecting to encounter anyone tonight, let alone someone she recognized.
• The man in front of her was a trust fund baby that she had once cussed out when he’d made a pa** at her back when she was dating Sean.
• In hindsight, many of Sean’s friends were elitist creeps. She should’ve paid more attention to that, after all, birds of a feather flock together.
• “Aren’t you a great lawyer? Why are you sweeping the road here?” Christopher Peterson asked knowingly.
• Another man stepped forward after Christopher. Grace didn’t recognize him. “Can a woman who has been in prison be a lawyer again?” he questioned.
• The woman laughed. “Bah, a lawyer? Just a janitor now!”
• Christopher stepped closer. “Surely there are better ways for you to make money. Come with me,” he said. “I’ll pay you for a night, beats sweeping the streets.”
• He held out his big, fat hand and the other three burst into laughter.
• But Christopher wasn’t asking, he was already moving in on Grace.
• Grace dodged, but the building was right behind her and there was nowhere to run. He grabbed her arms and pressed her against the wall at the side of the road.
• It was late at night, and no one pa**ed by this area.
• She screamed but she knew her coworkers inside the building wouldn’t hear.
• Christopher’s friends got back into the car. They didn’t care what Christopher did to her.
• He knocked her head back against the wall, and her vision dimmed.
• The hand around her throat tightened and she clawed at it. “L-let me go…”
• He used his free hand to pull at his belt, and Grace kicked out hard, kneeing him in the groin.
• “You bitch!”
• He backhanded her so hard that her ears started to ring.
• When she kicked again, he jumped backward, and it was just the chance she needed. Grace took off running.
• Christopher blocked the way to her building, so she had no choice but to run down the street.
• Construction on the road limited the traffic and the late hour ensured there was no one to help her—or to hear her scream.
• When the car roared to life and tires screeched, she knew he hadn’t abandoned the chase. She stuck to the sidewalk thinking she could evade them, but when she turned down a side street, the car jumped the curb and followed.
• When she came out the other side and circled back down the next street, thinking she could run back to the Sanitation Center for safety, the car cut around her and clipped her.
• She collapsed to the ground and struggled to get up.
• Christopher leaped out of the car and left it running. His two friends fanned out on either side. The headlights all but blinded her.
• She scrambled to stand as Christopher pulled off his belt. He shook his head at Grace. “You didn’t think I forgot the way you insulted me, did you, bitch? You told Sean to stop working with me, it cost my family millions!”
• He advanced on her like a predator.
• “Sean isn’t here to protect you now.” He coiled his belt around his hand like he meant to strike her with it.
• “Fight all you like, but I’m going to fuck you like the bitch you are, right here on the street.”
• Grace struggled to get up, she didn’t think anything was broken, but she was still slow and disoriented.
• When Christopher lunged, she tried to move, but his heavy body pinned her to the concrete. He fumbled at her clothes and she fought.
• “Stop! Get off me!”
• She thrashed even as he brought his hand down with the belt. It burned the skin along her arm and the buckle cut through her clothes and skin.
• “Stop it! Stop!!!” Grace cried at the top of her lungs.
• “I think you should listen to the lady.” A cold voice sounded behind her.
• Christopher froze.
• Grace turned her head to the man standing beside them. She didn’t know where he came from.
• “F*** off!” Christopher told him.
• Christopher didn’t feel scared of the man, it was three against one.
• Grace whimpered. She had no reason to think this newcomer would risk himself for some stranger on the street.