Chapter 142 Chapter 142
Michael replied, "Not yet. We've checked all the likely places, but there's been no sign of her. Her phone has been disconnected, so we can't track it. She must have been prepared.”
A moment of silence hung in the room. Benjamin's voice grew colder. "Keep searching. We must find her." He paused, then added, "Be careful. Don't let Grace know."
As she listened, Grace grew increasingly alarmed. By the end, her mind was a chaotic jumble, leaving her feeling utterly lost.
In this world, the only people still connected to her were her parents and Adrian.
Her parents were in Chile, and Adrian was in Spain gathering evidence against Benjamin. Had his scheme been exposed?
In the study, Benjamin gave another instruction, but Grace couldn't quite make it out. Only Michael's concise, forceful "Understood" reached her ears clearly.
She knew Michael would emerge from the room soon. Almost instinctively, she stepped back, wanting to hide.
Before she could take two steps back, however, the nanny emerged from the kitchen and greeted her warmly from downstairs: "Ms. Hill, you're back?"
Grace stiffened slightly, turned to look downstairs, and replied calmly, "Mhm."
When she turned back, she saw that Benjamin had already opened the study door. He stood there watching her, his face still calm but his eyes flickering slightly.
Seeing him like this unexpectedly made Grace feel calmer. She lifted her chin slightly and met his gaze with cool detachment. Michael emerged briskly from the study, exchanged polite greetings with her, and descended the stairs.
Only Benjamin and Grace remained at the doorway.
Benjamin glanced at her before saying flatly, "Grace, come in." He turned to enter first, then gestured for her to close the door. Leaning against the desk, he fixed her with a steady gaze. His thin lips pressed together slightly before he asked, "How much did you hear?"
"Not much." Grace sat down in the swivel chair at the desk and met his gaze, hiding nothing. Her voice was cold as she demanded, "Who are you looking for? What are you trying to hide from me?"
He didn't answer immediately. After a moment, he replied, "We're looking for Wendy."
Grace paused, slightly taken aback. A weight lifted from her heart, though she dared not show it. Keeping her expression composed, she gave a faint, cold smile. "Looking for her? Going to such lengths to find her? Why?”
"Yes." Benjamin nodded, his gaze locked on hers. After a moment, he asked, "Do you remember the fingerprint file I left in Los Angeles years ago?"
Grace certainly remembered. In fact, she had once gone to great lengths to steal Benjamin's fingerprints because of that. Had Wendy not interfered, she might have succeeded. "I remember. Didn't you burn it?" she replied calmly.
"I burned the original. The photocopy is with Mrs. Meyer," Benjamin explained. Benjamin explained to her. "I had people search for it for a long time, but unfortunately, we never found it. Mrs. Meyer hid that photocopy very well."
“So there was no photocopy after all?” Grace's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she lied without flinching. "Otherwise, where could a mobility-impaired old lady possibly hide anything?"
Benjamin said, “There should be one because Wendy already got it.”
Grace finally showed genuine surprise. Recalling the call logs between Benjamin and Wendy that she had seen on his phone earlier, she couldn't help but ask, "Did she come to steal your fingerprints again?"
Seeing Grace truly believe his story, Benjamin felt slightly reassured. His expression relaxed a bit as he smiled at her. "She didn't come to steal my fingerprints. She came to blackmail me.”
"So you're searching everywhere for her now, right?" Grace pressed.
Benjamin couldn't quite read her thoughts as he studied her expression. "Grace, I have no choice. That thing's existence threatens me. I have to eliminate it."
He paused, hesitant, and studied her for a moment before adding, with a hint of guilt, "To be honest, I was involved with her before. It was just to spite you, to make you angry. I never thought it would cause trouble."
Yeah, to get back at her, he went after a little girl, deceiving her emotionally and physically.
Grace sneered. She wanted to tell him that this behavior didn't get back at her at all. But her reason remained intact. Once she learned that Benjamin wasn't after Adrian, her mind regained its calm.
Reap what you sow.
What did Wendy have to do with her anyway?
She rose from her chair and said, "Since you created this mess, you can sort it out on your own."
With that, she left the study and returned to her bedroom to change into loungewear.
Benjamin followed behind, hesitated, and then stepped up to wrap his arms around her waist from behind. He held her tightly and murmured softly, "Are you angry?"
Grace wasn't actually angry. Though she suspected that Benjamin and Wendy shared more than a friendship, what did it matter to her?
As long as he didn't interfere with her friends, she couldn't care less about how many women he touched or if he touched them at all. It only made things a bit dirtier—not that they'd ever been clean to begin with.
"Let go," she murmured, feigning a touch of jealousy. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Alright, I'll go with you." He smiled, ignoring her struggles as he lifted her toward the bathroom and undressed her meticulously.
Embarrassed and annoyed, she pushed and hit him several times, but he still carried her into the bathtub. Naked together, his intentions were impossible to hide. He held her tightly against him, lifted her face, and kissed her. She struggled a few times, but she couldn't escape. Reluctantly, she let him have his way.
The bathtub was cramped, and they were pressed tightly together. His strong, muscular body and skilled technique disrupted her breathing without her noticing.
Her mind grew hazy until he thrust forward to enter her. Only then did she come back to her senses, her voice firm: "No."
Panting heavily, he tried to coax her. "What's wrong? Don't worry. I won't come inside. We'll use a condom once we're outside."
He had been doing this lately, constantly trying to persuade her to forgo protection and even bringing up her fertile window.
Her face flushed with desire, but she remained cold and firm. The lingering discomfort over Wendy's situation made her unwilling to let him touch her today.
Knowing she couldn't overpower him, Grace changed her approach. She gently bit her lip and whispered, "My period's coming. I don't feel well. I don't want to.”
Benjamin froze. "Really?"
"Mhm." She nodded and lowered her gaze slightly, afraid he would see through her. "It'll be any day now. I can feel it.”
Disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly hid it. He bent his head down again and kissed her fiercely. His voice was unreasonable. "You little bastard. If we can't do it, why did you tempt me?"
He grabbed her hand and forced her to grasp his burning desire. He bit her ear and demanded, "What about this?"
"Wait, I'll get something." She wriggled free, grabbed a bath towel, and stepped out of the tub to cover herself. Only then did she glance back at him. Her eyes lingered briefly on his lower body before she smirked mischievously.
He froze shortly before realizing he'd been tricked. He reached out to grab her ankle.
But she was already prepared. In two strides, she dashed out of the bathroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it quickly with the key. Only then did she call out, "Take your time. Don't rush. I'll keep watch for you outside."
"Don't let me catch you!" he growled from inside. He was actually taking care of himself without hiding his sounds. At the crucial moment, his voice cracked as he called her name: "Grace... Make some noise for me."
Grace froze for a moment before understanding. Her face flushed crimson with embarrassment and anger as she snapped, "Benjamin, you pervert!"
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a long, ragged breath echoed from behind the door. After a brief pause, the sound of running water resumed. Grace angrily spat, unlocked the door, and turned to get dressed. But after just two steps, Benjamin pounced on her from behind. She gasped as he threw her onto the carpet. He looked down at her with a smug grin. "Grace, you underestimated me. There's no way I'd be done that fast."
As he spoke, he slid his hand beneath her towel and pressed her thighs together. He positioned his still-erect penis against her crotch, not penetrating her, but repeatedly rubbing against her.
"Benjamin! You bastard!" she cursed bitterly, her face flushing despite her anger.
He merely chuckled and leaned down to kiss her back, starting tenderly and growing fiercer until he finally came between her thighs.
He lifted her back into the bathroom and rinsed them both clean before carrying her out again.
Seeing her stony expression, he leaned in to coax her. He whispered softly, "Don't be angry. I didn't go all the way, did I?"
She gritted her teeth in silence and hurled a pillow at him. "Get out! Sleep somewhere else tonight!"
To her surprise, he agreed. "Fine. You're on your period anyway—you can only look, not touch. You might as well kill me. We'll sleep apart for a few days. If you miss me, come find me downstairs.”
Grace was genuinely surprised. In the past, when she had her period, he’d never avoided her like this. This time felt distinctly new. She felt a twinge of suspicion, though she gave nothing away. Her voice remained icy. “Hurry up and leave!"
That very night, Benjamin slept in the guest room downstairs.
Grace sensed that he was hiding something from her, though she couldn't pinpoint what. This uneasy feeling lingered, distracting her at work as she tried to figure out what she might have overlooked. Lost in thought, she startled when the phone on her desk suddenly rang. After a moment, she picked up the extension. "Hello?"
After a pause, a soft voice said, "Ms. Hill, this is Wendy."