Please Me Daddy (Gracie) novel Chapter 201

Did you really think I wouldn’t know?

Grace

For the past few months, ever since I walked away from this house, I had never heard from them again. Not a call, not a message, not even a rumor reaching my ears. Back then, they wanted to force me to marry Charles, even after knowing he was gay, as if my happiness had never mattered to them at all, and when I refused and left, it was as if I had been erased from their lives completely.

I didn’t know what happened during that time, I didn’t know how their lives changed, and I didn’t care enough to find out.

That was why the scene in front of me felt so unreal. The woman sitting on the couch looked nothing like the mother I remembered. She used to be lively, arrogant, someone who did whatever she wanted without caring about the consequences, someone who always held her chin high and looked down on everyone else.

Now, she looked pale and thin, her body almost frail, as if life itself had drained every ounce of color and pride from her. She looked worse than I remembered, so much worse that for a second I almost didn’t recognize her at all.

She lifted her head and looked at me, and her eyes widened in shock. A smile slowly spread across her face, one filled with relief, as if she had just seen something she had been desperately waiting for.

If this had been before, I knew exactly how I would have reacted. I would have been overjoyed. All my life, all I ever wanted was for my parents to look at me like that, to smile in relief as if they were happy to see me, instead of looking at me like an unwanted burden they couldn’t wait to throw away. I would have rushed toward her without hesitation, throwing myself into her arms the moment she smiled at me.

Even if she didn’t love me the way a mother should, even if she treated me badly, to me she was still my mother, and I loved her deeply.

This time was different. I just stood there, unmoving, staring at her with eyes that felt empty, and soulless, as if I was looking through her rather than at her.

She rubbed her eyes as if she didn’t quite believe what she was seeing, then opened them again and smiled even wider. “Oh my God, Grace,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “You’re here. It’s really you.”

She stood up quickly and rushed toward me, wrapping her arms tightly around me as if she was afraid I might disappear if she let go. “You’re finally here,” she said, holding me close. “You haven’t given up on us. Thank God, you’re back home.”

I didn’t react, hug her back or cling to her the way I used to.

When she finally noticed that I wasn’t responding, that I wasn’t clinging to her or crying like before, she slowly pulled back. She held my hands instead, her fingers tightening around mine as she smiled at me, hopeful and almost desperate.

“Grace, you have no idea what we went through after you left. So many terrible things happened.”

She took a shaky breath before continuing. “Your father’s business started to fail, and because of that he had a heart attack. He’s in a coma now.” Her voice cracked slightly, but she kept talking. “Before that happened, he owed a lot of people money. I had to sell most of the things we owned to pay them back, but it wasn’t enough.

People kept coming, taking whatever they could. We don’t have anything left anymore except this house, and even that belongs to the bank. I’ll have to leave sooner or later.”

“During all this time, I tried so hard to call you, but the calls never went through. I even hired private investigators to look for you, but they kept disappearing on me. They wouldn’t answer my calls, no matter how many times I tried.”

I looked at her quietly, my expression unchanged. I wasn’t stupid. I didn’t need to dig any deeper to know who had been blocking those people from ever getting close to me.

Apollo.

He had been protecting me in silence, shielding me from everything I didn’t even know was happening, staying by my side even when I wasn’t aware of it. He was always there, protecting me in his own way.

“What…?” my mother whispered, clearly not expecting this.

“I don’t even know whether I should feel hurt, or if I should feel stupid for ever believing we could be a family.” My chest tightened, but I didn’t look away. “How desperate was I, to force something that was never real? How badly did I want a family that I kept pretending, enduring, and giving?”

I let out a slow breath, my smile returning. “I should have known that no matter how much you give to people who don’t love you, it will never be enough. You just keep giving and giving until there’s nothing left of you, until you’re nothing but an empty shell.”

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

“I should have known that none of you ever saw me as your daughter, and you never will.” My eyes locked onto hers. “After all, who would ever see the girl they switched with their real daughter as their daughter?”

Her eyes widened instantly, all color drained from her face. She stumbled backward, her legs giving out beneath her as she fell onto the floor with a dull thud.

“G–Grace…” she stammered, her voice shaking.

I looked down at her, my expression calm, and detached. “Did you really think I wouldn’t know?” I asked quietly. “Did you think I would never find out what you people did?”

She stared at me like she was looking at a stranger.

“You switched Katherine,” I said, “your real daughter and me, the true heiress of the Jones, didn’t you?”