บท 3: 17:00-My Curfew

Grace's eyes flickered as she tried to balance her view with the light. "Am I in heaven?" she muttered while staring at the white ceiling.

"It must be a very beautiful place, little lotus."

She heard a man's voice and quickly sat up on the bed. Her gaze met that of a man who sat on the small chair, reading an article.

He had strong cheekbones, black, sleek hair, and was well groomed. Then her gaze moved to his black shirt, and with the first two buttons freed, she could see a tattoo.

"Who…who are you?" She became worried and looked around; it was only them in the room.

"Kendrick!" she yelled out because she remembered passing out in his arms.

"Kendrick, is he your man?" Raymond asked, and then he clicked his tongue.

"And can he protect you?" He raised a brow, and Grace frowned at the stranger.

"Who are you?" she asked again, and Raymond dropped the article before he walked to the table at the corner, filled the glass with warm water, and handed it to her.

"Drink this first," he ordered, and she was thirsty, so she took the water and drank it.

"The doctor says it will help with your menstrual pain."

Grace flashed out the water from her mouth and coughed hard. "Are you..." He was about to touch her when she extended her hand to him.

"How could you say that?" She couldn't believe he did say that word out loud; it was a word men hardly say in front of a lady currently going through it.

"What did I say?" He got confused; after all, he was a shameless man and had said worse things than that.

Grace sighed, and she walked down the bed when her stomach grumbled. This made her embarrassed.

Raymond retracted his phone and sent a message: "Sit down," he ordered, but Grace shook her head in denial.

"I need to go back home." If her parents don't find her home, then she will have to deal with her stepmother; that's something she didn't want.

"Sit down." His tone slightly increased, and she had no choice but to sit. Then the door pushed open as a nurse pushed a tray of food to Grace.

The aroma made her salivate once the nurse took off the lids. Her eyes widened in shock. There was a lot of food. Kung Pao Chicken, Mapo Tofu, and Dim Sum.

"Is this for me?" she asked excitedly. The excitement on her face made Raymond happy. He had ordered the food her mother liked, and since she liked it as well, it must mean she had the same taste as her mom.

And the face? It reminded him so much of Grace's mom. She was a tough one.

"Of course, dig in now," the nurse answered before she left the room. Raymond returned to the chair and picked up the article.

Grace had completely forgotten about him as she ate to her satisfaction; she didn't eat yesterday, and it has also been a long time since she ate such a meal.

This was Christmas for her; her propitious moment ended when she saw the time on the hospital clock.

"āiyā," she screamed in disbelief. Raymond quickly dropped the article and rushed to her.

"What happened?"

"It's 17:00, no." She became worried; she had done everything to be respectful so that her parents wouldn't have to hit her, but her curfew time at home was 17:00, whether on school days or not, and today was a weekend, and she dared go back home at such a time.

"And?" Raymond raised a brow, confused.

She glared at him. "Who are you? You brought me here, right? Why?" She burst out in anger, and this got him confused.

"You shouldn't have brought me here," she said as she walked down the bed and looked around. She couldn't find her clothes, so she rushed out of the ward, and Raymond didn't stop her.

Grace noticed that her ward was the only one in this corridor, so she hurried to the elevator and got in. It took her downstairs, and the nurses who noticed her, hurried to her.

"Where are you going?" one of them asked.

"I need to go home."

"You are not discharged." A nurse tried explaining things to her, but she shook her head in denial.

"I can't be here." Then she was about to leave when a nurse held her hand.

"Please, let's go back to the ward."

"Let her go," Seb said from the entrance door. He had received a call from Raymond to send the young lady back home. The nurses exchanged gazes before they decided to let Grace go.

So she hurried to the entrance, and Seb pulled the car door open. "I will drop you home," he said, and she shook her head in denial.

If her parents or neighbors saw her walking down in a car, then they would spread rumors around and even judge her.

"It's either I take you back home or you go back to the ward; it's your choice, Miss Chen."

She had no choice but to let him drop her off, so she got into the car, and he drove away. Grace rubbed her palms and kept tapping her foot, then her mind drifted to what her parents would do to her. Seb noticed her worried look in the rearview mirror.

"Is anything wrong? Do you feel sick?"

"Who are you?" she asked instead.

"Why did you take me from home?" Her tone was filled with anger; if they hadn't brought her to the hospital, she wouldn't have been worried about what her parents would do to her once she returned home.

"We brought you to the hospital; shouldn't you be thankful?" Seb asked in disbelief. This was the nicest thing his boss had ever done for a woman, and she was taking it for granted.

"I never asked for help. Now you have placed me in trouble."

Seb got more shocked when tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please stop crying, or else Master Xu won't spare my life."

"Who the heck is Master Xu?"

"Stop crying, then I will let you know." He had a pleading tone, and Grace sighed. "I don't want to know about him; I also don't want to know you." She believed every human was there to hurt her, so she didn't need to get entangled with more people.