My gorgeous wife is an ex-convict (Grace) novel Chapter 5

“Because…”

Jason swallowed what was left of the steamed bun he was holding as he waited for her to finish her sentence.

Grace struggled to find her words. As an attorney, she’d thought out every argument and calculated conversation to be convincing and compelling. But she wasn’t looking to sell him on something or to try and win him over. He either wanted her company or he didn’t.

She took a bite of one of the steamed buns he’d brought. The taste was subpar. In the past, she probably would not have liked them, but now, the taste was secondary. The most important thing for her was to fill her stomach.

A dozen different arguments filled her head, for ‘why’ she should be his sister, but in the end, she went for an honest explanation.

“Jay, we are the same kind of people. We’ve both been abandoned by others and can only look for a living on the bottom-most rung of society. No one will want people like us, and no one will care about us, but at least we can keep each other warm. I can care about you, and you can also care about me, right?”

“Is that so?” he said. She felt her smile wobble. If he were to describe her expression, what would he see? Hope, loneliness, desire, and also some uncertainty.

She’d been so guarded the last three years. She understood what she was feeling now: vulnerability.

“It seems that we really are the same kind of people…” he muttered. His gaze was like that of a hunter watching a small animal fall into his trap.

“Sister.” He nodded as if coming to some agreement.

In the blink of an eye, her smile turned as bright as the starry sky.

After dinner, Grace took Jason with her and left for the night market to buy some clothes. He was bemused by her efforts, but apparently, she was taking this whole ‘sister’ thing seriously.

Perhaps the days were really becoming too boring for him. He could easily get whatever he wanted with a wave of his hands, but now this game was becoming somewhat interesting to him.

So he indulged her, following behind her like some lost puppy.

Now there was a thought, maybe he should just get her a dog and call it a day.

It wasn’t his place to ease her loneliness.

A handful of his normal garments were worth more than the entirety of what was in this store, but he saw the way her eyes widened as the cash register tallied his clothes. She nodded resolutely and paid, and it left him feeling…something he couldn’t describe, to see her sacrifice her hard-earned money to buy some spare clothes for him.

“Here,” she said. “Put this on.”

The cotton jacket was thick, but not particularly attractive.

“Is it warmer now?” she asked.

“Yes,” Jason answered indifferently. He lowered his eyes and looked at her. She was almost a head shorter than him. “Actually, you don’t need to buy these clothes for me. I am used to the cold. I’d be fine even if I were to only wear my previous clothes.”

“It doesn’t mean that you should be cold just because you’re used to it,” she said. “I don’t have much money and I can’t buy a lot of clothes for you, but I can at least let you wear something warmer.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” he asked quietly.

“Because I am your sister.” She smiled and accidentally touched his hands. She found that his hands were freezing, so she held his hands with her own, lowered her head, and blew on his fingers before starting to rub them back and forth.

“Your hands are too cold. Rubbing them like this should make them a little warmer,” she said.

His hands, no, his whole body stiffened for a minute. Never had a woman rubbed his hands like this before just to warm them.

He had never liked physical contact with other people, but it seemed that he did not reject her touch as much. Perhaps he was fine with her touch because, right now, she was an important part of this game for him.

Seeing that he had no reaction, she suddenly seemed to think of something and glanced at her hands, which were full of calluses. “Did I hurt you? My hands are quite rough…”

As she spoke, she quickly let go of him.