Chapter 309 Grace is Clearly Showing Off!

Chapter 309 Grace is Clearly Showing Off!

Alexander was accustomed to sprawling estates—he'd never quite adjusted to flat-level penthouses.

Besides, with Grace pregnant, this apartment wouldn't have enough bedrooms. He wanted to buy something more spacious.

Grace hesitated for a long moment before finally nodding. "All right."

The next day, all five of them went house hunting.

Currently available estates with prime locations were few and far between. And with Grace pregnant, her stamina was limited. Over the course of the weekend, they only found three developments that caught their attention.

Within those three, Alexander liked the layouts of just five properties.

Now it was a matter of narrowing down the choice among those five.

But then Alexander realized something: if they bought an estate, there was another factor to consider.

All estates were sold as bare shells, with delivery dates still months away. And the renovation process for a property of that scale was a massive undertaking—two years minimum. If they chose rare or custom materials, it could take even longer.

Alexander owned several estates under his name. Some were fully renovated; others were still unfinished.

If needed, one of those could serve as a temporary residence.

Which meant their marital home would have to wait until after the wedding—until the estate renovation was complete—before they could officially move in.

Back at home, Grace spread out the five floor plans across the table, caught in a tangle of indecision.

The smallest property was 16,000 square feet. The largest was 32,000 square feet.

Among them, the best-located was Versailles Palace, only a ten-minute drive from downtown. Unit A had 12,000 square feet of titled space, with an included garden and basement. With bonus square footage factored in, the total came to 16,000 square feet—and a price tag just shy of $600 million.

A moderately located option was Champagne Lake, forty-five minutes from downtown. Unit B, with bonus space, totaled just over 23,000 square feet, priced at $400 million.

The furthest from downtown was Spring River—the largest total area—at around $400 million.

Grace preferred the layout of Spring River, but it was a full hour and a half from downtown. Far too long a commute to work.

All things considered, Versailles Palace was the most practical choice—but at 16,000 square feet, it felt cramped to Alexander, and he wasn't happy with the floor plan.

After two solid days of house hunting, Grace came to one conclusion: there was no such thing as a perfect property.

Prime locations came with mediocre layouts and sky-high prices.

Nice layouts with reasonable prices came with average locations.

The largest, best-designed property was also the farthest away.

Alexander said, "No rush. Let's start with these five. When we have time off again, we'll look at a few more developments. For now, just compare the layouts."

"Okay."

---

Monday morning at the office, Grace headed straight to HR to submit her probation completion paperwork.

Lillian happened to walk past Grace's desk and, out of curiosity, noticed a few floor plans tucked beneath her notebook.

She reached over and picked them up—then froze in shock.

Estate floor plans?

Had Grace's boyfriend taken her house hunting for their marital home over the weekend?

Real estate in Silverlight City was notoriously expensive.

Especially estates this size, in locations this prime—every inch worth a fortune.

The floor plans didn't list unit prices.

Back at her own desk, Lillian pulled out her phone, opened a real estate app, and searched for the development names printed on the plans. She checked the prices.

Three developments. Each property averaging hundreds of millions of dollars per unit.

Lillian was genuinely stunned.

A few colleagues from her team wandered over, noticing Lillian staring at estate floor plans. One teased, "Planning to buy an estate, Lillian?"

Lillian sneered, "As if I could afford a place like this. I just walked past Grace's desk and saw these floor plans sitting there! Looks like her boyfriend took her house hunting over the weekend!"

Everyone gasped in shock.

"No way!"

"Her fiancé's that loaded? He's buying an estate as a wedding house?"

"Who is this guy? You'd have to be seriously rich to afford properties like these!"

Lillian's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Who knows? Besides, they're not necessarily buying an estate! These are just floor plans, not purchase contracts! Maybe they just strolled into a sales office, played big spenders, grabbed a few floor plans, and brought them to the office to show off! How convenient that she left them sitting in plain sight, like she was dying for us to see them. If that's not showing off, what is?"

The others nodded along, convinced.

"Yeah, floor plans aren't contracts. She hasn't bought anything yet—who knows if she can even afford it?"

"If someone could actually afford to live in an estate like that, why would they bother coming to work? If I married a guy that rich, I'd stay home, take care of the family, and live the good life as a trophy wife. Why suffer at a job?"

"What did I ever do to deserve working alongside a mansion-dwelling socialite?"

Anna glanced up, noticing the heated chatter. She looked over at Grace's desk and frowned slightly.

Grace's floor plans had been tucked under her notebook. Unless someone lifted it up, they wouldn't have been visible at all.

Lillian had been snooping through Grace's things again.

Anna knew Lillian had it out for Grace, but she hadn't realized just how vindictive she could be. Now, while Grace was away, she was badmouthing her again.

It was obvious: Lillian looked down on Grace for being divorced. She couldn't stand the idea of Grace remarrying—and remarrying well.

But Anna kept her frustration silent.

After all, Lillian was her team leader. She outranked her.

When Grace returned from HR and sat back down, Anna was about to whisper something to her—when Lillian suddenly spoke up, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Grace, did you go house hunting for your wedding home the other day?"

Grace looked surprised. "How did you know?"

She glanced at her desk.

Lillian had clearly gone through her things again and tried to put everything back in place—but Grace noticed. Her notebook was sitting at a slightly crooked angle.

Lillian had been rifling through her desk again.

Grace's brow furrowed slightly. Then Lillian's mocking voice rang out.

"You brought the floor plans to the office. Left them sitting in such an obvious spot. Were you worried we wouldn't notice?"

Grace replied evenly, "I'm getting married. What's wrong with looking at wedding houses?"

Lillian didn't argue. Instead, she rested her chin in her hand, a smirk curling at her lips. "Are you planning to buy an estate as your wedding home?"

Grace smiled. "I'm not buying it. My fiancé is."

Lillian's tone sharpened. "You two aren't legally married yet, are you? So if you're looking at houses now, that's all premarital property. He's obviously doing this on purpose. After all, premarital assets stay premarital. If he buys the house before the wedding, it has nothing to do with you. He's clearly guarding against you."

Grace's lips curved into a faint smile. She could tell Lillian was trying to sow discord—but she wasn't biting.

She leaned back casually in her chair, picked up the floor plans, and flipped through them leisurely. Her tone was light and unhurried.

"We haven't decided on a house yet. We looked at a few layouts, but we're still not sure which one to choose. Though, we are going to register our marriage tomorrow."