Chapter 140 Chapter 140
He watched her without speaking, his gaze deep and unfathomable. After a long moment, he suddenly asked, "If I died, how many tears would you shed for me?"
"More than just a few tears! If you died, I'd weep with joy, cry my heart out, and wail for three days and three nights straight." Her soft lips formed ruthless words.
He merely smiled, gently brushing the stray strands of hair from her temple with his fingertips. In a teasing tone, he drawled, "I won't die, Grace. I can't bear to see you cry."
Even someone as strong as Grace was nearly driven mad by his shameless words. She wanted to pounce and bite him to vent her fury.
Yet, she knew that if she lunged and bit him, she’d be falling right into his trap. She stared at him. "Benjamin," she said. "I'm not falling for your tricks."
Her reaction left Benjamin both frustrated and helpless.
He released her, and took a step back to observe her. "This is perfect. This is really enough to satisfy me.”
Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the caller ID, and frowned slightly. His eyes darted toward Grace before he turned and headed toward the study.
Grace knew immediately that the caller must be connected to her; otherwise, he wouldn't have reacted this way.
The study door was thick and soundproofed that even pressing an ear against it wouldn't reveal anything.
She didn't bother trying. Instead, she stood still, staring blankly at the study door.
It had a fingerprint lock. So far, she knew only two people could enter freely: Benjamin and Michael, who both used the fingerprint system. She had secretly tried several codes when no one was around, but none of them worked.
If only she could open that door! Who knew how many secrets lay hidden behind it? She lingered, casting a few more wistful glances, before returning to the bedroom to wash up and go to sleep.
Not long after, Benjamin unexpectedly pushed open the door himself. He went silently to the bathroom, emerged, and lay down on the other side of the bed without a word.
He had been sleeping in the guest room downstairs, but today he had moved back. Grace didn’t know if he was planning to take advantage of the situation or if he had other intentions. But she didn’t care to guess. She simply curled up on the edge of the bed and tried to stay as far away from him as possible. Then she fell into a deep sleep.
At dawn the next day, she discovered that she had somehow ended up in Benjamin’s arms. Her arm and leg were draped over him as if she were hugging a giant pillow.
Feeling awkward, she forced herself to stay calm as she climbed out of his embrace and headed downstairs to the gym for yoga. By the time she finished, Benjamin had already left for work.
When he returned that evening, he went straight upstairs.
Grace was curled up on the sofa, watching TV. After changing clothes, he asked, “Another day without going out?”
She nodded. "Yeah."
He walked over and sat beside her. He asked casually, "Why don't you go shopping with Vania? Or at least keep in touch with Kari? It's not good to just stay cooped up at home like this.”
"I'm afraid asking Vania would get her into trouble," she replied, glancing at him. "As for Kari, you said you'd talk to Vito directly. Why should I waste time making friends with a little girl?"
Benjamin didn't seem bothered by her response, merely nodding slowly. "Then should we contact Vito? Or perhaps you could come work at the company? I can arrange a position for you near him—it would make seeing him easier.”
Grace was momentarily speechless. She glared at him before turning away and refusing to acknowledge him.
He simply settled down to watch TV with her. But he wasn't the type to sit through a whole show. His patience wore thin, and he turned back to face her, leaning back into the sofa and watching her silently.
"Do you like it?" she asked suddenly.
"I do." He replied. Even though they hadn't gone out, she wore light makeup.
She had always been a woman who loved beauty and lived with refinement.
He added, "You’re very beautiful."
Without turning her head, she merely raised an eyebrow slightly. "Thank you."
That night, they slept in the same bed again. Before falling asleep, she positioned herself on the edge of the bed. Yet somehow, when she woke in the middle of the night, she found herself nestled back into his embrace.
He held her from behind, one arm cradling her neck and the other loosely around her waist. It felt less like confinement and more like a protective embrace.
She didn't believe she had done this herself. Grace felt a surge of irritation and tried to push his arm away from her waist. Instead of moving it away, she drew him closer, her entire body held tightly against his.
"Benjamin!" she snapped. "Stop pretending to sleep! Let me go!"
Only then did he open his sleep-deprived eyes. His voice was hoarse as he replied, "Oh." Then, he released her and stepped back slightly before adding, "I’m sorry. I was sleeping too deeply."
Who could believe he could sleep that deeply?
She scrambled out of his arms, turned to glare at him, and swung her leg to kick him, but he dodged it. "Go sleep downstairs! Don't sleep in my bed!"
His reflexes were sharp. He grabbed her foot and reminded her. "Grace, this is my bed."
Grace froze, then, without saying another word, turned to climb out of bed. But he held onto her foot, refusing to let go. Her anger flared, and she snapped back, "Let go! I'll give you your bed back. I'll sleep downstairs!"
How could he possibly let go? Not only did he not let go, he also pulled her ankle toward him, pulling her closer. He threatened, "Stop messing around, at least not in bed. I've held back for days. Don't tempt me.”
Grace couldn’t withstand such shamelessness anymore. She nearly exploded with curses. She took several deep breaths before forcing herself to endure it. She stopped struggling and conceded, "I'm not as shameless as you are. Let go. I won't go downstairs."
Only then did Benjamin release her. He patted the bed gently and gestured for her to lie back down. "Get some sleep," he added. "We have a lot to do tomorrow."
Grace stared at him warily. Hesitating, she picked up a long bolster pillow from the foot of the bed and placed it between them. Despite this precaution, however, when she woke the next morning, she found herself still in his arms. The pillow had vanished without a trace. She stared blankly at the ceiling. Reaching out to pat his arm, she said flatly, "Get up. Go to work."
He opened his eyes, gave her a sly grin, and got up to wash up and head to work.
Their physical closeness eased the tension between them.
One evening, when Benjamin returned from a business dinner, she addressed him directly. "Arrange a position for me at the company. Something insignificant will do. Oh, and don't let anyone know about our relationship."
He was overjoyed, but his expression remained calm as he asked, "Want to be my assistant?"
"No." She refused outright, her words cutting without mercy. "I've spent enough time with you. I don't want to see you during the day."
He didn't get angry; he just asked again. “So you want to be with Vito? But he's not at headquarters right now. If you want to follow him, I'd have to transfer him back first.”
"Is this ever going to end?" She grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa and tossed it at him, her voice dripping with resentment. "If I want to see Vito, I'll prepare myself. I don't need your help. You want to watch us fight?”
He smiled without responding and tossed the pillow back onto the couch. Leaning against the backrest, he wrapped his arms loosely around her from behind. "Then tomorrow, I'll bring you the department roster. Pick wherever you want. Is that acceptable?"
She turned her head to glance at him and wriggled out of his embrace, kneeling on the sofa. "Benjamin, be serious. If you don't want me to join Norman Science, just say so. Don't use Vito as an excuse. Do you find it amusing to treat me like a child?" She continued, her voice tinged with resignation. “Fine, you’re sharp. You saw right through my plan to use Vito to create conflict between the two of you. Now that I've been exposed, I'll find another way. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to follow your scheme?”
He narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled as he studied her. “What plan?”
"Only a fool would tell you!" She glared at him, irritated, and turned back to the TV, ignoring him.
Her tantrum stirred his desire anew, and he couldn't resist moving closer to her.
Just as he was about to tease her further, she suddenly pushed his face away with one hand, her expression disgusted. "Where were you today? You stink! Go take a shower!"
He did smell faintly of alcohol. That evening, a woman had stumbled flat on her face on level ground and crashed straight into his arms.
Benjamin felt a twinge of guilt, worried that he might have picked up her perfume. Hearing Grace say this, he didn't suspect a thing and promptly stood up. "I'll go take a shower first."
He rose from the sofa and unbuttoned his shirt as he walked toward the bathroom. Grace remained seated, waiting until she heard the faint sound of running water from the bathroom. Only then did she rise quickly and reach for his phone in his jacket pocket. Unable to find Landon's contact information, she took the risk of searching through Benjamin's phone.
Benjamin was overly confident that no one would dare touch his phone, so he hadn't set a passcode.
Though Grace was tense inside, her hands moved swiftly and steadily. She tapped the call icon, and his recent calls popped up first. To her surprise, she saw the name "Wendy." Startled, she didn't pause to process it. Instead, she quickly scrolled through the contacts list searching for Landon's name.