Chapter 169
Grace took off her high heels and stepped barefoot onto the floor. The cold marble made her feet recoil. She didn't turn on the lights. Using the moonlight and courtyard lights coming through the windows, she walked through the living room toward the stairs.
Her footsteps sounded especially clear in the quiet space.
Back in her own room on the second floor, she closed the door behind her without turning on the lights. Darkness wrapped around her, shutting out everything from the outside world.
She still hadn't processed what her roommates had said.
Damian chasing after her, the car accident, memory loss...
These words combined together constructed a past she had never imagined.
Grace suddenly felt completely lost, as if everything she believed about her past was a lie. For a moment, she couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't.
After some time, there was a knock on her door.
Three knocks, neither light nor heavy.
Grace lifted her head but didn't make a sound.
The person outside seemed very patient and knocked three more times.
She stood up, walked to the door, gripped the handle, hesitated for a moment, then turned it anyway.
Ethan stood outside. He was wearing dark gray silk pajamas and holding her phone, its screen still lit.
"Your phone." Ethan handed her the phone, his eyes pausing for a moment on her somewhat pale face. "It's been ringing non-stop. Over a dozen calls."
Grace took the phone. The screen showed an unfamiliar number. She glanced at it and was about to hang up.
"It's from the Serenity Springs Resort design team," Ethan said. "They couldn't reach you, so they called me. They said there's an urgent technical issue."
Grace's fingers tightened around the phone.
Serenity Springs Resort.
That name again.
Now whenever she heard that name, her chest tightened, and she could barely breathe.
"I'm not answering." Her voice was low, with a trace of hoarseness.
"They said they're waiting on site. There's a design conflict about load-bearing walls and embedded structures. Construction starts first thing tomorrow morning. They need a solution tonight." Ethan's tone was flat, just stating facts.
Grace turned to close the door.
"Grace," Ethan blocked the door with his hand. "I know you don't want to deal with this. But this project is still officially a collaboration between the Parker Group and Wolfe Corporation. If you don't handle it now, you're making things difficult for the project team and the Parker family."
Grace stood with her back to him, not moving.
She had already prepared herself—breach of contract, pay compensation, whatever the cost. She just wanted to get out of this mess as quickly as possible. She didn't want any more connection with Damian.
But those colleagues working seriously on the project team, those engineers were busy because of her design plans—they were innocent.
The phone vibrated in her palm. That number was calling again.
She looked at the jumping numbers on the screen and stayed silent for a long time.
Finally, she still swiped to answer.
"Hello." Her voice was cold.
An anxious voice came from the other end—the project manager. "Ms. Donovan! Finally got through to you! There's an urgent situation we need you to confirm..."
Grace listened quietly to the description. Her mind kicked into gear automatically, pulling up the complex blueprints from memory.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
"Drawing number A-307, the material specification in the lower right corner is wrong," she interrupted. "I remember the specification was 5000 psi concrete, and the reinforcement plan was also adjusted. You're using the original version of the drawings on site."
There was a pause on the other end, then the sound of papers rustling. "What? Yes, yes! Ms. Donovan, how did you..."
"Have the data team resend you the final version of the electronic drawings. Follow the final version for construction, and there won't be any structural conflicts." Grace calmly provided the solution. "If there are still problems, have them contact me directly."
"Okay, okay! Thank you, Ms. Donovan! Thank you so much!"
Grace didn't say anything more and hung up directly.
She held the phone, standing in the darkness, and held it out.
Ethan was still standing in the doorway, hadn't left.
"Making me come back was Damian's request, wasn't it?"
Grace suddenly spoke. Her voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet hallway, every word was crystal clear.
Grace didn't turn around, just looked at the bottomless darkness in her own room.
Ethan leaned against the door frame and was silent for a while.
"Yes," Ethan admitted it.
She'd expected this answer, but hearing it confirmed still made her heart clench with pain.
"John being seriously ill was just an excuse to lure me back, wasn't it?" she continued, her tone like she was confirming something, and also like she was talking to herself.
"Yes." Ethan's voice was calm.
Grace slowly turned around and looked at him. The hallway light outlined her thin silhouette. Her face was half in light and half in shadow, her expression unclear.
"Why?" she asked.
"Damian saw you."
"What?"
"Last year, there was an international design award abroad," Ethan said. "You were on the winners' list. You went on stage to accept the award. There was a live broadcast."
Grace remembered. That really was an important moment in her career. Her studio had also gained recognition in the industry because of that award.
She hadn't expected Damian to see that occasion.
"Damian saw you and sent people to investigate. Your studio, all your experiences abroad—everything was investigated thoroughly. Then they found out you were my nominal sister."
Ethan's tone had no fluctuation, like he was talking about something unrelated to himself.
"The Serenity Springs Resort project wasn't supposed to involve the Parker family. There are many companies in Harmony City with more resources than us. He specifically requested collaboration with the Parker Group, with only one condition—that you must be the lead designer."
Grace finally understood.
Everything, starting from Adele's phone call urging her to return home, was a huge trap.
What she thought was a family calling, what she thought was a work opportunity, was nothing more than a scheme Damian had set up. He had used his power and resources to easily pull her back from abroad into his sphere of control.
She found it absurd, and also felt a bone-chilling cold.
"He forgot me." Grace looked at Ethan and said seriously. "If he forgot me, why would he still do this?"
Ethan looked at her, his eyes somewhat complicated.
"Maybe he forgot how it happened, but he didn't forget that he loves you." Ethan smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "When he first saw you, he felt you were very familiar. Said it was like love at first sight. He said this to my face. That's also the reason he demanded you come back."
Grace's body swayed, and she instinctively grabbed the door frame.
"I don't understand."
"After the car accident, when he woke up, his memory stopped before he met you. Everyone told him the accident happened because he got distracted while driving to the airport, and he believed it. The Wolfe family also took the opportunity to block all information about you, as if your existence had been completely erased."
Ethan paused, seeming to organize his words.