A Little Makeover

It had already been a week; Grace had waited, called, and even lied about the street lights, hoping that Mr. Xu would show up, but he didn't.

Unconsciously, she had cried herself to sleep last night while constantly asking why people leave her.

"Grace," Nora called as she walked out of the hall. Finally, she was done with the exams, and the only things left were school activities.

"What now? Is this the end of the road for us?" Nora asked mockingly, and Grace didn't respond.

"I heard your doctor called; he said instead of counting down years, you should now count down days." Her tone was filled with mockery.

"Thanks for the information." Grace turned to leave, but Nora blocked her path.

"For what you did to my mom, I won't spare you. I will hunt you for the rest of your life. So good luck getting away from me."

Grace sighed. "Aren't you tired, Nora? Because I am tired, fine, I don't have a future, but what about you? Can't you be bothered about your future?"

"What are you? My aunty," Nora rolled her eyes.

"See you again, sister," she bummed into Grace and left.

Grace clenched her fist; one day she was going to lose it on her "Grace." Ken called, and she stared at him with a frown.

"Grace, will you be my prom date?"

"Will the Zhang family accept you hanging out with a murderer?" She scoffed and walked out of school when he followed her.

"I didn't call you a murderer."

"Stop following me, Ken."

Then she spotted Mr. Li and hurried to the car, and Ken got into the car as well. Mr. Li was shocked. "Let me follow you to your place; I don't even know where you live."

"No, go down," she said, avoiding contact with him, and he held her hand.

"Come on, Grace, you can't hate me for that long. We have been friends since your first day of school.

She pulled her hand away from him. "You fail to understand one thing, Ken: it takes time to build friendship but requires just seconds to end it. We are no longer friends."

Grace was in a bad mood, and he was just adding to it, "You are my friend."

"You hurt Steph; why didn't you apologize to her? Is she unworthy of your apology?"

Ken didn't want to apologize to Steph; he believed that she was the one influencing Grace in the wrong direction.

So why apologize to her?

"We could all meet up at your place and fix things; text her to come," Ken suggested. He wanted to know where Grace lived by all means.

"I am sorry, Miss Chen, but I cannot take your friend to the mansion," Mr. Li explained, the other day when Grace called Mr. Xu to ask if Steph could come to the mansion.

Mr. Xu then called him and asked if the friend was a he or a she, then specifically warned him never to bring her male friends to the mansion.

"You heard the driver; now go down."

"Who gives the orders? Why will you let someone order you around?" Ken asked angrily.

"Your parents pay for your needs, and they give you orders, so why is it different if the person who pays for my needs also gives me orders?"

Ken didn't have any words to refute; he opened the car door and walked down. "I will go now."

Mr. Li drove off, and Grace hissed. She stared back and saw Ken standing there.

**

Minutes later, they arrived at the mansion, and she hurried in, then bumped into Nel, who was about to go out.

"Miss Chen, are you done with the exams?" She asked; they had bonded for the past few days and were now comfortable around each other.

"Yes,"

"I am going out; do you want to come with me?"

She shook her head in denial. "I will just sit around."

Nel clung to her arms. "There is this place where single women go to find themselves husbands. I am going there, but it's embarrassing to go there alone. Please come with me."

"Why will I follow you to such a place? Are kids allowed in?"

"I am just two years older than you; I can't probably be referred to as your aunt, right?"

"I don't want to go," she pouted. "Please, maybe you might find someone interesting there as well," she teased, and Grace had no choice but to give in.

"We won't be there for long, right? I started a new hobby."

"What hobby?" Nel asked as they walked out of the house.

"Writing, I got inspired by the story of the dom. So I am writing a book called 'The Secrets of the Dom'. It's just for fun."

Nel stared at her in disbelief. "You shouldn't have."

"Miss Chen, are you going out?" Mr. Li asked; he was about to park the car.

"Hm, we are going out." Nel pulled the car door open before they got in.

She told the driver to take them to a women's shop. Mr. Li was confused about why they were going there, but he didn't ask.

"Is that where you will find a man to marry?" Grace asked with furrowed brows.

"No, I need to do my hair and get dressed. Then we could go there."

"Oh"

Soon they arrived and walked in; there was a clothing section, hairdressing, and a lounge.

"I will sit here and wait for you," Grace said, but Nel didn't agree. She dragged her inside and let her sit.

"Let's do your hair as well."

"No, there is no need." She rejected her at once, but Nel didn't listen to her; she leaned closer. "You are a lady; you need to learn to redo your hairstyle, maybe after three months."

"But I brush it."

"Just let my friend do your hair; don't mind, she won't cut it."

After a lot of contemplation, she finally gave in and let the lady do her hair only on the condition that they wouldn't cut it.

When they were done, they went to the clothing section. "I don't want a dress." Grace pouted, but again, Nel didn't listen to her.

She chose a sleeveless blue gown and told her to try it out. "This is indecent."

"It's not"

Grace stared at her reflection in the mirror. It was her first time putting on a dress that exposed her shoulders, cleavage, and thighs. "It's exposing a lot," she complained.

"How about this?" Nel placed a transparent veil on her shoulder.

"Can I get something long? My legs…."

"Your legs are beautiful."

"It's thin," Grace muttered before she ran her fingers through her wavy hair.

"You look beautiful, Miss Chen; trust me."

Then Grace stared at Nel, who was dressed in an even more indecent dress. "This place we are going to. Is this how all the girls are dressed?"

"Yes"

"Is it a brothel?" She couldn't help but ask, and Nel shook her head.

She checked the time, and it was 19:00 p.m. "Let's go"

They hurried back to the car, and Mr. Li had a shocked look. He turned to Nel with a frown and asked, "What have you done?"

"A little makeover"

"She is the boss's woman." Mr. Li thought in disbelief, How could she dress Mr. Xu's woman this way?

"Miss Chen, if you are not comfortable, then you should change." He turned to Grace, who smiled at him and said, "I am fine."

**

The car parked in front of a nightclub. "Nel, we shouldn't be here," Mr. Li said, but Nel rolled her eyes.

"We just came to have fun."

Grace rubbed her palms nervously; since she was with Nel, she was less nervous.

Almost all the girls in her school have been to a nightclub, and they always brag about it, but she has never been out at night.

"It will be fun, right?" She questioned Nel, and Nel nodded.

"You won't regret coming."

They walked down the car and walked to the entrance. "Nel," one guard smiled at her.

"Hello,"

"It's been long since you showed up here," he said, then his gaze moved to Grace. He licked his lips and leaned closer to Nel.

"Who is this? Do you want me to keep you company?"

Nel chuckled. "She is the pope's woman."

The man sneered, "The pope has a lot of women; he won't mind giving this one out."

"Did you hear me say it was the pope's bitch?"

He scoffed and waved at them. "Just go in."

Nel held Grace's hand as they both walked in; the place was populated and noisy.

"Let's go upstairs," Nel whispered.

"What did you say?" Grace couldn't hear her "come."

She pulled Grace as they walked up the stairs; it was less populated upstairs, and then there were some guards standing in front of a door.

"Go inside there; I will get us drinks," Nel explained, but Grace shook her head in denial.

"Come on, just go inside that cabin, and I will be back. Don't go somewhere else, okay?"

Grace noticed the guards there. "But there are guards; will they let me in?"

"They are my friends; don't bother about them."

Nel hurried downstairs, and Grace frowned. "How could she leave me alone?"

Slowly, she walked to the door. The guards' faces were so frightening that she halted her steps.

"They are her friends," she reminded herself, and she walked closer to the guards.

"You can't go in," one of them said. "Nel...."

"You can't go in," the man repeated, and Grace was about to leave when she spotted a familiar man inside.

Only his side view was visible, but she knew who it was. Her eyes lit up as she ran past the guards. "Mr. Xu." She jumped on him excitedly.

Raymond stared at the lady in his arms, and everyone present became curious and alert as they stared at him.