My gorgeous wife is an ex-convict (Grace) novel Chapter 1

Prologue

The day Grace was released from prison, two men were waiting for her.

One of them sent her to prison, and the other one convicted her.

The snow was very heavy that day. They looked like two snowmen waiting outside the prison.

Grace vowed in her heart, she’d make everyone pay their price.

***

“Grace, get yourself a job and be a good person out there.”

The prison guard opened the gate and told her so.

Grace nodded. Through the iron bar on the prison window, she saw two black cars parked out of the gate. Waiting for her.

They were Jacob’s Benz G-Wagon and Sean’s Porsche Panamera.

Heavy snow has caused total chaos on the roads. Jacob and Sean were standing quietly in front of their cars.

Sean held a black umbrella and stared at the gate. Jacob kept looking at his watch.

One of them was Grace’s ex-boyfriend, and the other one was her childhood best friend.

How affectionate and caring they looked! If they hadn’t sent Grace to prison and told the other inmates to “take good care” of her, maybe she would be moved to tears.

Five years ago, Grace went to confront Lily Atkinson, and her sister Jennifer Atkinson was also there. In an unfortunate turn of events, Jennifer Atkinson died. Although it was a terrible accident, the court still decided to sentence Grace to three years in prison.

Lily dragged her sister’s lifeless body out of the car and called the police. Sean arrived soon after.

“Sean, your girlfriend killed my sister!” Lily sat on the ground and cried out.

Sean’s first reaction was to push Grace down onto the ground in case she ran away.

But Grace was already too weak to resist because she’d also been hurt. What’s more… she was pregnant with Sean’s baby.

“How could you be so evil?!” When Jacob rushed over, his eyes were blood shot as he questioned Grace.

Before Grace could explain to the two most important men in her life, she was handcuffed by the police.

In court, Lily’s lawyer was Jacob, Grace’s childhood best friend, another blow to her heart.

Jacob blamed everything on Grace. She was convicted of reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.

“Grace, you deserve this. People have to pay for their mistakes,” he said.

When Grace first got into prison, she was beaten constantly. She was beaten in places without security cameras and had her nails pulled out. She was yanked by the hair and pressed into toilets. Her back was always being kicked, and it was bruised all the time.

They even broke the bones in her finger, one by one.

At first, Grace didn’t know why. She was always stubborn and didn’t cry when they hit her.

But after a while, Grace found out why they picked on her exclusively. Grace sucked up to one of the female bosses in prison. She would wash her feet, give her massages, and even do her laundry. Finally, she gained the trust of the female boss, and she told Grace why.

“Girl, you poor little thing. Someone paid us to beat you.”

Grace knew who it was then in that instant. Sean.

This was the man who ordered two hundred drones to spell out “I LOVE YOU” in the night sky when he was pursuing her.

He said, “Grace, I will protect you from now on.”

***

Upon seeing their cars outside the prison gates, Grace begged the prison guard to let her leave from the back door, to avoid seeing either of their faces.

Besides, what if they were still angry with her and wanted to take their revenge?

I am nothing compared to them. I can’t afford to provoke them, but at least I can hide. Grace thought to herself.

In a trance, Grace remembered her confrontation with Lily. Lily stood in front of Grace while holding her dog and shouted, “My dog is worth 70,000 dollars. How much is your grandfather’s life worth?”

When Grace was three, her mother died and her father remarried. He abandoned her so her grandfather raised her all by himself.

Her grandfather worked night and day collecting junk and empty bottles for recycling.

When Grace was in junior high, she moved to the city from the countryside and lived in a small rental apartment. Her grandfather told her that they could make more money in the city because there was more junk to collect.

But Grace knew the true reason why her grandfather wanted her to go to school in the city.

The children in the city had shiny hairpins, and Grace wanted them too.

Grace’s grandfather once stood outside a small accessories store for hours, then he finally went inside to buy the expensive shiny hairpin for Grace.

When the school offered financial aid to students from poverty-stricken families, Grace’s teacher Mrs. Green helped her apply for it. That’s when Grace met Jacob, Mrs. Green’s son, whom she asked to make friends with Grace.

Jacob had the best scores at school. He occasionally helped Grace with her studies. She was clever and studious, so her grades improved very fast.

Grace’s grandfather was very grateful to Mrs. Green, but he didn’t have any money, so he offered to help tend her garden.

Mrs. Green lived in a small cottage. Her grandfather swept the garden while Jacob and Grace did their homework and played in the yard.

Mrs. Green joked to Grace’s grandfather, “Your little granddaughter is so beautiful and adorable. How about she and Jacob make a cute couple?”

“No, no, Jacob is too good. We don’t deserve him,” he rubbed his hands nervously and said.

Jacob blushed so much that he didn’t even dare to raise his head.

When Grace was accepted by a top university, her grandfather went back to the countryside. He didn’t let Grace go back with him, but she followed him back secretly anyways.

That’s when Grace saw him begging friends for money to cover her college tuition.

Grace’s grandfather did his best to give her everything. Grace vowed in her heart that she would grow up to be a top lawyer so that her grandfather would never have to work again.

He was the best grandfather that anyone could have asked for, but then… he died.

***

The year after law school, Grace started dating Sean of the rich and powerful Stevens family. Suddenly, her father wanted to be in her life again, all because of who she was dating.

“What a nice young man. Bless you two.”

This was what her grandfather said the day she took Sean to meet him.

“You are a big girl now. A big girl should have beautiful dresses. My pretty Grace should not wear shabby clothes,” her grandpa added.

So he continued to collect junk to make money behind her back.

Grace told him not to, many times. He was getting too old, and Grace was worried about his health.

It was a winter three years ago.

He was tackled by an unleashed dog in the park when he was collecting junk.

He fell unconscious on the spot and was rushed to the hospital.

It was Lily’s dog. She said it was worth 70,000 dollars.

That day, Grace’s grandpa was sent to the ICU. Due to a fracture of the cervical spine and spinal damage, he became paralyzed.

Grace needed to pay a lot of money to the hospital, so she went to Lily for compensation. It was her dog after all.

Lily stood in front of Grace and said arrogantly, “You are Sean’s girlfriend? You didn’t get money from him, so you came to me?” Lily had always liked Sean, but he was dating Grace at the time.

“My dog’s leg is broken because of your idiot grandfather, I should be the one asking you for money!”

“You and your grandpa are just a bunch of country bumpkin. You both deserve to die.”

Grace didn’t hold back. She really couldn’t. So, she slapped Lily across the face.

Lily and Grace started to fight. Jennifer, who was Lily’s sister, saw this and came to help.

Grace couldn’t fight two girls as she was pregnant and weak, so she got into her car and wanted to drive away, but Jennifer chased after her in her fancy convertible. That’s when the accident happened.

Grace was arrested by the police. She didn’t even try to escape. Her grandfather was in the hospital, but no one would listen to a “murderer”.

Grace kept shouting Sean’s and Jacob’s names. Grace hoped that at least one of them could save her grandfather’s life.

But they were on the side of Jennifer and Lily.

When Grace was detained, she heard that her grandfather had been in the ICU for 15 days and was discharged.

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.