Chapter 16
Ruben suddenly lost his grip on the phone, which fell to the floor.
The screen showed that the call was still ongoing.
The bedroom fell into a dead silence.
He thought, “I must have heard it wrong.
“Mr. Barton said ‘How could she possibly come back with me?! What did he mean by that?”
His breath was rapid, and his heart was pounding, which was somehow deafening.
He felt that he was on the verge of collapsing; with one more push, he’d have a breakdown.
His mind went blank; after quite a while, he picked up his phone.
“Mr. Barton, I didn’t follow. What … did you say?”
John’s voice grew farther and farther away from him.
As he listened, he finally lost it.
John said, “Others might not follow, but I’m sure you can, Mr. Parrish.
“You withdrew at the last moment, or Grace would not have gotten this place.
Chapter 16
“She said you withdrew for that girl–Lacey, right?”
Ruben’s face went ghastly pale.
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It was a cold winter’s day, but his forehead was dripping with
cold sweat.
He had never been this terrified.
He frantically wanted to hang up the phone as if it were a hot potato.
Yet, his hands were out of his control somehow.
John’s words began to play back in his mind again and again like a spell.
“Others might not follow, but I’m sure you can, Mr. Parrish.
“You withdrew at the last moment, or Grace would not have gotten this place.
“For that girl Lacey…”
That was not true.
His name was on that list of participants at first.
He decided to pull out at the last moment because he couldn’t bear to leave Grace behind.
With their parents gone, he was worried that if he really left, Mason couldn’t take good care of her.
Just as she said–certain people in this world had to sacrifice, like their parents.
Chapter 16
So, after a long time of struggling, he finally made up his mind.
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But when he was about to leave, he couldn’t; he still couldn’t give up the family affection after all.
It was never for Lacey. How could it be?
How come Grace thought he did it for Lacey?
Was that why she chose to go?
Was this really happening? How could she…
Beads of cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
He felt as if his body were burning on fire while he had fallen through the ice.
He gasped for breath but still felt suffocated..
No way. It couldn’t be…
John sounded baffled. “Mr. Parrish, surely, you knew, right?
“Grace called you before she went to the research institute.”
