Chapter 50
Just then, Farah Steele walked over, glanced briefly at Grace with unmasked contempt, and said, “Honestly, Claire, why are you talking to her?” Before Claire could reply, she went on, “This woman has been to jail! She’s taken a woman’s life!”
“Farah, we’re all colleagues. And there are privacy issues to
consider-”
“It isn’t ‘private’ if it’s all over the internet.”
She had a point.
“Why are you defending her, Claire? Grace went to jail for drunken, reckless driving. She killed someone!”
“That’s not fair, Farrah. People make mistakes, accidents happen
Claire had barely started speaking when Farah interrupted her
again. “But the person she killed was Jennifer Atkinson. Do you know who Jennifer Atkinson is? She’s Lily Atkinson’s sister! It was no coincidence that Lily was here. I was wondering why Lily wanted so many of our colleagues to look for a non-existent ring. But it’s all clear now! It was because she was targeting Grace and we all got dragged into it.”
“But didn’t she also apologize and compensate us?” Claire asked. “Farrah, that compensation is half of what many of us make in a
year.”
Farah sputtered. Her mouth turned down and her eyes narrowed. She was clearly not pleased with Claire standing up for Grace.
“I knew you would take her side,” she said. “When I told the
others…”
So it was obvious who had been the one to leak the news of
Grace’s imprisonment. No surprise there. Farrah had never made
any false show of being friendly with Grace.
“…I knew it…when I saw her on the roadside talking to Sean and
then Lily. I was like, wait for a second, this isn’t right!? I knew
things were not as they seemed.” She stared at Grace. “I don’t
know how you live with yourself. You should’ve stayed in prison. It’s what you deserve.”
“Now, hold up,” Claire argued. “That’s enough of that talk. This
is none of your business, Farrah. You can’t go harassing another
employee-”
“Harassing!?! She is a killer. Honestly, Claire, what, did your receive a bribe from Grace or something? Why are you standing up for her?”
Farah mocked her, but Claire also took a step back. She had, indeed, accepted the jacket and payment Grace received from
Lily.
Grace opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, but someone
beat her to it.
“All right, what else is there to say?” A man’s voice interrupted. “The car crash was an accident. Grace didn’t intend to do it.”
Grace saw that it was Chase defending her.
However, that only angered Farah more. Farrah was interested in Chase, but he wouldn’t give her the time of day. The fact that he was defending Grace instead of taking Farah’s side, was only instigating the situation.
Farrah’s expression turned uglier. “Chase, what’s the point of
standing up for Grace? Do you think she’ll like you? Do you
know that her ex-boyfriend is Sean Stevens? He’s the heir to the
Stevens Corporation!”
Chase’s face abruptly flushed red.
Farah continued her vicious assault. “But when Sean saw Grace
as a sanitation worker that day, it probably spoiled his appetite.” She clicked her tongue and continued, “You know, I’m thinking he’ll probably vomit in disgust when he thinks about dating Grace in the past.”
Grace looked at Farah coldly. “Are you done talking?”
“What? Are you trying to deny the fact that you were in jail or are you saying that you aren’t Sean’s ex-girlfriend?” Farah retorted proudly. “Why are you pretending to be so innocent when you’ve been to jail?”
“I’m not pretending about anything. So what if I’ve been to jail? I’ve paid my taxes and I’ve served my time. And I don’t think it’s any of your business who I dated before. Furthermore, I may be a sanitation worker now but does that mean I can’t have dated anyone before? Or is the role of a sanitation worker only to make someone throw up their dinner? Just what are you saying about
sanitation workers?”
Farrah recoiled and eyed the room warily. She’d offended many of the people here by bringing the sanitation aspect into things.
Grace spat out a succession of questions. “Farah Steele, just
because you’re an established employee in a management position, that does not mean you can look down on my
profession.”
Farah’s words stuck in her throat as some of the other workers
nodded in solidarity.
There were so many sanitation workers in the center and now they all looked angry.
“I get it,” Grace said. “You have a slightly exalted position and you want to abuse that power and look down on everybody beneath
you. Whatever. It’s fine for you to insult me, but take a good look
at the people in this room, Farrah. They’re honest and hardworking and they do what they do to support their families. Why don’t you think about that before insulting them or their professions?”
A smattering of agreement sounded behind her and Grace smirked. “You bullies, you’re all the same…”
Farah glared at her hatefully. “Grace, you… wait and see!”
Grace just nodded. “Yeah. Uh-huh. I’ll be here. You know where to
find me.”
Grace exhaled a deep breath and turned to leave, but Chase
+
shouted after her, “Wait… Grace, I… I don’t think you’re the person
Farah says you are.”
She stopped walking for a moment but she did not respond to him.
and resumed walking away.
She was very grateful that Chase was willing to stand up for her just now, but that didn’t mean anything. He knew who she was
and what shadows were in her past. Even if he’d liked her before,
those feelings would change now.
They always did.
