Capítulo 21: "You're Living My Life."

Ann went straight to the dining to join them and bowed her head politely to Chairman Jiang when she took the seat opposite Grace.

"You look beautiful," She complimented Grace with a kind smile.

"Thanks," Grace told her with a polite nod, even though she knew Ann was actually complimenting herself.

"How was your stroll with Wang Tae-Joon?" Mrs. Jiang asked with a curious smile.

"It went well," Ann said politely before picking up her cutlery.

Grace shook her head as she watched Ann eat.. The girl lacked basic table manners, and if she didn't do anything about it, she feared her reputation would be damaged beyond repair.

"So, where did you study? And what did you study?" Chairman Jiang asked her curiously.

Grace slowly chewed her food as she wondered how to answer the question. "Korean University Business School," She said without raising her head.

"That's interesting. Very interesting. So how old are you, and when is your birthday?" Chairman Jiang asked.

"Honey, you should not concern yourself with those irrelevant details about her. Let's focus on Grace. What did you all decide about the marriage?" Mrs. Jiang asked, making Ann almost choke on her food.

Grace lifted her head slowly to look into her father's face as she waited for his response. She quickly looked down when their eyes met.

"We will go ahead with the marriage," Chairman Jiang said, making Ann look at him with a frown. What was he up to? He knew very well that she wasn't his daughter, so why was he going ahead with the marriage? She wondered.

Grace exchanged a silent look with Ann before excusing herself from the table. She really needed to figure out a way to stop the wedding from holding. If Ann ended up getting married to Tae-Joon and then they swapped bodies, she would be trapped in that bloody marriage with someone she didn't feel a thing for, and she couldn't let that happen.

If Ann wasn't being such a damned good girl with Tae-Joon, she was sure Tae-Joon would have already lost interest and insisted on not marrying her.

She paced around the little guest room as she thought about her next possible line of action. She had a lot to teach Ann and a lot to do. She couldn't afford to have her whole life destroyed because of something she didn't understand.

**********

"I can't do that. I can't marry Tae-Joon," Ann protested.

"But why my darling? You're already getting along with him so well. So why are you not interested in marrying him?" Mrs. Jiang asked with a concerned frown.

"I don't think marriage is something I should rush into, besides I'm not feeling so well at the moment, and I would rather wait until I regain my memory completely before making that decision," Ann said, looking directly at Chairman Jiang.

She didn't understand what Chairman Jiang was thinking, but whatever it was that he was thinking, he definitely wasn't going to get it through her. If Tae-Joon ended up getting married to Grace Jiang, then there was nothing she could do when she returned to her own body. Hence she wasn't going to let that happen.

************

"Come in," Grace said as she stopped pacing and sat down before the door opened.

"Let's spend the night together in your room and talk," Ann suggested. She knew that the bed in the guest room was small and Grace would feel better lying on her own bed.

"Yes, let's do that. I need to talk to you and teach you a lot of things this night. We're resuming work tomorrow, and I want you to be my exact replica by tomorrow morning so we won't be having any sleep," Grace said before stepping out of the door with Ann, who simply nodded.

"Let's start with skincare and all that," Grace said, leading her into the bathroom and pointing out all the lotions and shampoos one after the other.

"That there, is my body, and I care for it a lot. You can't do whatever you want with it as you do with your own body. You may think you're only occupying my body, but you have a greater responsibility now... You're living my life, and you'll have to live it right," Grace said over an hour later after she was sure Ann had learned all she needed to know in the bathroom.

She led her to her dressing table and started pointing out everything to her, her favorite perfume brands, how to apply the perfume, make-up brands, and how to use them. Also how she loved arranging her hair. She watched Ann practice all she had thought her and nodded in approval when Ann got it right.

She moved to the wardrobe and started teaching her color combination and the way she liked to dress.

"But I don't like exposing my body," Ann complained.

"It's not your body. It is my body. If you can't expose mine, then I'll just expose yours," Grace said with a smile as she continued teaching her about her dressing style and fashion sense.

"Can't we stop here for today?" Ann asked with a wide yawn. She was very tired and needed to sleep.

"Seeing you yawn so carelessly tells me we can't stop here. I'm yet to teach you how to walk like me. We need to work on the way you talk, How to treat the staff, the kind of work I do at the office, proper table manners, etc. So you see? You can't sleep yet... Your life is pretty easy, and you can just return to it when you want, but mine? If you make too many mistakes, then it'll be a problem for me," Grace explained before leading her back to the center of the room to teach her how to walk with her shoulders raised and her chin held up.

Six hours later, Grace gave her a smile of approval. "You really do catch up very fast. I'm glad I didn't swap bodies with a daft person," Grace said, applauding her.

"Can I sleep now? Please, it's almost 5 am," Ann complained.

"You'll have to wake up by 6:30 am. I usually get to the dining by 7 am for a light breakfast and get to the office by 8 am," Grace told her as she turned to walk out of the room.

"You're not sleeping here?" Ann asked with a frown.

"I don't like sharing a bed. Have a goodnight's rest," Grace said without turning back.

"You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the floor," Ann offered.

"With whose body? You didn't hear anything I said? If you sleep on the floor and suffer pneumonia, what will I do when I return to my body?" Grace asked, looking at her with angry eyes.

"Don't you dare do anything unhealthy with my body... and that reminds me, I really hope you didn't kiss Tae-Joon with my lips?" Grace asked, and her eyes widened in surprise when Ann blushed.

"What? You did? Oh no! What else did you do?" Grace asked in alarm. How on earth could her first kiss be from Tae-Joon?

"I promise it was only a kiss," Ann rushed to explain.

"How could you be so careless with my body? What if I had sex with someone?" Grace asked.

"You didn't, right?" Ann asked in alarm. She couldn't imagine someone she didn't know deflowering her.

"Ann, you can't do whatever you want with my body. Please," Grace added as an afterthought before walking out of the room to mourn her deflowered lips.