Chapter 2

Right now, the Franklin family was at the height of their power, in both business and politics.

If I could successfully work out a deal with them, it would be a chance to lift up the Carter family, glamorous on the surface but already struggling and barely making ends meet. Even my own family, the Fuller family, would get a chance to rise to a new level.

To avoid repeating the same tragedy from my previous life, I made sure to prepare this time. When I went out to meet the Franklin family, I had Rose Walker hold my arm the whole way.

She was the old servant who had looked after me since I was little. She came with me when I married Greg. I also asked Ben Wood, the driver who worked for the Carter family, to come along and stay with me the whole time.

Just as I had everything ready and was about to leave for the meeting, a soft, weak voice came from behind me. "Grace, you're going out?"

I turned around. Somehow, without me noticing, Greg was helping Marian down the stairs, sick and frail as she was. Behind them followed Joanna, who kept fussing over her and telling her to put on more clothes.

I stopped in my tracks. Marian couldn't help but let out a few soft coughs. Each cough made Greg's eyes fill with tenderness and care. Then, as if she were hesitating, she said to me, "Grace, I didn't mean to stop you.

"It's just that these days, what woman goes out in public all the time? And you're pregnant. You really should lean on Greg more."

She put it subtly. But every word she said hinted that a pregnant woman going out to do business was a disgrace to the Carter family.

At that, a faint, barely noticeable smirk tugged at my lips. "Lean on him? Marian, if I really leaned on him, what would you do then?"

Marian's face went pale. She quickly tried to explain. "Grace, you've got it wrong. That's not what I meant.

"I didn't mean to get sick and take Greg's attention away from you, so he couldn't go with you to the restaurant for the business meeting. It's all my fault. Just pretend I was rambling just now."

But the harder Marian tried to explain, the harder she coughed. Joanna, beside her, couldn't just stand by and watch coldly anymore.

She stepped in for Marian. "Marian, you don't have to act so humble. You're her sister-in-law. That means she should respect you and give in to you.

"And what did Marian say that was wrong? Grace, you have no decency. You're out there with your pregnant belly, letting people gossip about you. You're dragging our family's dignity through the mud.

"Why can't you be more like Marian? She has good manners and knows how to behave. She's been a widow for nearly 20 years, loyal to her husband. Every woman out there looks up to her as an example."

If this had been my previous life, I would have been afraid of putting Greg in a difficult spot between us. I would have bowed my head and admitted I was wrong right away, to calm Joanna down.

But now? I didn't love Greg anymore. So I couldn't care less about her.

My voice turned cold. I said it straight. "Joanna, Marian, I think you've forgotten something. Ever since Greg's older brother and father died, one after the other, this family hasn't been as grand as it used to be.

"If it weren't for my parents helping out with money and me working day and night, this family would have been forgotten and left behind by now. So what 'dignity' do we even have left to talk about?"

Joanna had never seen me, always so obedient and respectful, call her out like that, without sparing her feelings. She was both angry and shocked. She glared at me, left speechless for a long moment.

I ignored Greg's sour expression as he watched me. My voice still cold, I went on, saying to Marian, "Marian, where do you think all that jewelry and money of yours comes from?

"Even those expensive supplements you take every day to keep your health up, I earn them by going out and doing business with my pregnant belly."

Marian's face, already pale, turned even whiter. She suddenly looked embarrassed and ashamed. Her thin body trembled slightly, and she started coughing softly again, one fit after another. "It... it's all my fault."

"Enough, Grace. There's a line, and you've crossed it," Joanna snapped.

Greg was still soothing Marian, whose cheeks had turned crimson from all that coughing. He finally lost his patience. His face went cold and hard. He looked at me with no warmth in his eyes at all.

He said, "Show some respect. Marian sacrificed so much and helped my mom raise me when I was little. I respect her a lot. And this is how you speak to her?"

"Apologize." By then, his voice was freezing cold, almost like he was grinding his teeth. "You must apologize to Marian today."

I just let his words go in one ear and out the other. I didn't care at all about his attitude.

I looked up at him, my face cold. "Greg, you know in your own heart whether you just 'respect' Marian or feel something more. I don't want to spell it out and make things awkward for both of us."

Then I ignored his livid, hard face and got straight into the car. I headed to Château Reverie Dining.