"I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before."
She closed the umbrella and placed it aside, answered nonchalantly, "Maybe in a previous life."
"That’s a rather vague response."
Lucy chuckled softly, "Then how should I respond? In this life, we truly met for the first time last night."
She turned, walked past him towards the living room.
Standing at the door, looking at the familiar scene inside, it was exactly the same as the first time she came, unchanged.
Lucy’s eyes became warm and moist, no one knew that once, a woman named Lucy Eaton wasted six years in this house.
Jacob’s gaze fell on her when she was already lowering her head to change shoes.
But he still saw the sparkles in her eyes.
"From now on, have your subordinates pick me up and drop me off every day. It’s quite convenient."
"Aren’t you being a bit forward?"
"Do you agree or disagree?"
Lucy smiled, "You’re really nice."
Jacob appreciated her expression, and took her upstairs.
That night, he didn’t touch her but held her in sleep, as if she were a pillow.
Lucy didn’t dare sleep; after he fell asleep, she remained awake.
Until she couldn’t withstand the oncoming drowsiness anymore, did she finally fall into deep sleep.
She dreamt, initially about events from a previous lifetime, then the scene shifted.
She was running ahead, Grace Hughes was chasing her with a knife.
She was tired and panicked, gradually running slower, falling straight to the ground; when she got up and looked up, Grace’s face had turned into Jacob’s.
When he raised the knife to stab her, she awoke from the dream, her face full of tears, drenched in cold sweat.
At this moment, some daylight had already appeared outside, the room lights were on, beside her Jacob was leaning against the headboard looking at her.
She didn’t know how pale her face was.
"Having a nightmare?"
"What did you dream about?"
She got out of bed, "Nothing, I’m going to wash my face."
Jacob watched her back heading to the bathroom, thoughtful.
He was awakened by her crying.
When he turned on the light, he found she was crying so heartbreakingly, continually whispering his name, unaware what she was dreaming about.
Lucy came back after washing her face, completely devoid of sleepiness; while dressing, she said, "I’m going to work."
"I have to do laundry." She tied her straight hair into a ponytail casually, without using a comb. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nove1Fire.net
She didn’t look at him at all from the bathroom to the door.
Lucy had just arrived at the dormitory when James Foster came in carrying egg pancakes and soy milk.
"Who was the person who sent you back just now?"
Lucy didn’t expect him to see it, since he saw, she was frank, "Jacob came yesterday, then..."
James Foster was incredulous after hearing, "Did he really take you as a special profession?"
"Lucy, I know you aren’t someone who would sell yourself for money, since you agreed to do this, do you have other plans?"
"I do have other plans." She earnestly looked at him, "James, why didn’t I get a diploma after graduating from college? Why did that despicable man dare to give me a zero? Why are we so easily and randomly scolded by our bosses at work? Why can others bully and insult us casually? It’s because we’re not strong enough, we’re too easy to bully; in the future, I, Lucy Eaton, want to be someone others don’t dare to bully."
"Your goal is to marry Jacob?"
"Marry him?" She curled her lips with a faint smile, "No, I don’t have that plan, I just want to take this pot of gold as a starting point, to do what I want to do."
"Whatever you do, I support you." James Foster handed her the breakfast in his hand, "It’s getting cold, hurry and eat."
He was the only person she could trust, Lucy took it, "Did you eat?"
They both sat down almost simultaneously, James Foster pondered and said, "My mom called last night saying your grandfather has a broken leg, hospitalized in orthopedic here, do you want to visit?"
Based on Lucy’s character, she would straightforwardly refuse, but this time, she silently said after nearly two minutes, "How about we both go during lunch break?"
James Foster nodded, "Okay, you eat first, I’m leaving."
In college, her grandparents made her quit school claiming they couldn’t afford to support her; she declared she’d earn money to pay for her own education.
However, they were determined not to let her continue, insisted that girls marrying early is the right path, denying her education.
She firmly refused, her grandparents, in utter frustration, clearly told her they had arranged a match from a neighboring village, wanted her to marry, and even taken dowry money.
She naturally didn’t comply, ran away from home, still went to college for registration.
In her first year, a substantial part of the tuition was James Foster’s vocational training savings for hairstyling, which he gave to her, receiving harsh rebuke from his parents, yet he used it for her education.
After finding out she went to college, her grandparents called her, told her never to return, as they severed ties with her.
She visited a couple of times later, but wasn’t let into the house.
Afterwards, she never returned; her secret marriage to Jacob was known only to James Foster, not a single person from her maternal family knew.
At noon, she withdrew twenty thousand yuan from a bank ATM.
She went to the orthopedic hospital ward with James Foster.
Arriving on the second floor, nearing the ward’s door, she heard her grandfather’s bellowing.
"Didn’t expect that worthless girl to come see me; even if she does, I’ll drive her away! Shouldn’t have raised her! Just like her mother, all shameless offspring who don’t want a family!"
Lucy’s eyes dimmed, her biological mother died not long after she was born, she naturally had no impression of her biological mother, nor were there any photos of her at home.
Growing up, her grandparents never mentioned her mother; this was the first time she heard her grandfather cursing her mother behind her back.
As they approached, they heard her grandmother’s voice, "James’s mom told James, James must have told her, they’re close, if she comes, you shouldn’t lose your mind, after all we raised her, she’ll definitely have several thousand dowry money if she gets married."
"That’s right, dad, Lucy after all is a girl, soft-hearted, she’ll surely come to see you when she knows. The matter about her mother, Autumn Fletcher, is indeed our Ainsworth Family’s disgrace, it’s been years, let’s not mention it again." Lucy’s second aunt’s voice.
"Humph, thinking of that shameless woman makes me angry, an indecent thing, even before separating from Lucy’s father, she got involved with that wealthy Benjamin Quinn, didn’t care and divorced for the sake of that worthless girl! If it weren’t for Benjamin Quinn giving us a sum back then, if it weren’t for it being a disgrace we couldn’t tell outside, I would’ve exposed him in the news ages ago, let those shameless lovebirds lose face!"
Outside the door, the two were stunned facing each other, Lucy was completely shocked as she came to realize Benjamin Quinn is a famous entrepreneur in the country; he is Stellan Quinn’s father!
Stellan Quinn is a year younger than her age; this means she is her half-sister!