I Am No Longer Mrs. Hawkins

Grace took off his shirt and peppered kisses down his abdomen. Her longing for him was so intense that even her ears had turned red.

"Didn't you ask me how I became Mrs. Hawkins? Well, I nearly forgot about my main responsibility—conceiving your child."

Continuing with her actions, she said, "Right now, I'm just fulfilling my duties."

"How dare you!" Benjamin was infuriated. His muscles tensed with his rage.

"I've sprayed some aphrodisiac in the air. Bear with it. It'll end soon.

"I just ... I just want a child too."

She was getting more bold, a far cry from how gentle and obedient she had been in front of him before.

Benjamin's breathing grew heavy in response to her shameless provocation.

He did his best to suppress the effects of the aphrodisiac and fiercely grabbed her hand. "You're so disgusting, Grace!"

The burning desire in Grace's gaze dissipated at once.

"Is it so disgusting for you to make love to me?" She looked up at him with her watery eyes.

"Yes!" Benjamin replied without hesitation as he stared at her intently.

Then, he pushed her away aggressively and picked up the clothes on the floor. He hastily put them on, not even bothering to button up his shirt.

As the door slammed shut with a loud bang, the room fell into silence.

It was only then that Grace slumped to the floor, feeling dejected. She dug her nails into her palms, her eyes filled with self-deprecation.

It was time for her to give up on him.

…

The next day, Grace limped down the stairs while dragging her luggage.

The housekeepers had already set up the table with dishes. Elizabeth wasn't around since she was usually occupied with morning prayers at this time.

"Hey, Grace, are you going traveling after having just escaped death?" asked Benjamin's sister, Celia Hawkins. She was a sophomore at Pamore University.

She had always disliked Grace. "Well, even if you want to go, you'll have to do my hair and take me to school first."

Grace was pretty skilled at styling hair. Celia was often praised by her friends after having her hair done by Grace.

However, instead of giving a damn about her, Grace headed for the first floor straight away. She coincidentally bumped into her mother-in-law, Susan Ford. The latter was dressed rather elegantly.

Michael Hawkins was Benjamin and Celia's father. Susan was his second wife and Benjamin and Celia's biological mother.

Susan had always disapproved of Grace's background and her family. She was always rude when she spoke to Grace.

"Where are you going with that luggage? Put it down quickly and help Patty clean up one of the rooms. Someone will be moving in soon."

Grace's eyelid twitched. She had a vague idea of what was coming. Then, she heard Celia ask curiously, "Who is it?"

"Who else? Of course it's Yvonne!"

"What? Yvonne is back?"

"Yes! And she is pregnant with your brother's child! The environment here is good, so she'll be staying here for a while instead of returning to Quine Residence."

As Susan spoke, she looked over in Grace's direction. In her eyes, Yvonne was her ideal daughter-in-law.

If it hadn't been for that matter, Benjamin would have been married to Yvonne.

"Why are you still standing there? Get moving!" Susan said.

If the past, Grace would have obeyed her. But after hearing what Susan had just said, Grace no longer had any desire to try to please her.

Despite the fact that her heart stung like hell, she forced herself to maintain a calm facade.

"From now on, I have nothing to do with Benjamin anymore. Get someone else to do the work."

Divorce Papers

Susan couldn't believe that Grace had actually spoken to her in such a manner.

She pointed a finger, which was adorned with a large sapphire ring, at Grace. "What's with your attitude? Say that again!"

There was no hint of fear on Grace's face.

She fixed her eyes on Susan and said, "Since Yvonne is moving in, you can get her to do the work. I'll never do it again!" She articulated her words clearly.

After she spoke, Grace felt an unprecedented sense of relief wash over her.

Susan, on the other hand, completely lost her temper. "You—"

"Mom!" Celia suddenly caught Susan's arm and lowered her voice.

"Grace is angry, isn't she? I heard that yesterday Benjamin had ..."

Celia told Susan what had happened last night. Judging from how smug she looked, it was clear that she had exaggerated the story.

Susan seemed to understand the situation at once. "How dare you take it out on me when you're the one who couldn't make your husband stay?"

Grace had already walked out of the villa. She slowed to a stop. She turned around, suppressing herself from lashing out at Susan.

Then, she retorted coldly, "Haven't you been doubting my fertility for the past three years? Why don't you have Benjamin undergo a medical checkup as well?

"After all, he couldn't even get an erection after everything I did to him yesterday. I wonder whose fault it truly is that I can't get pregnant."

"You ..." Susan was at a loss for words, and so was Celia.

When Susan came to her senses, she fumed. "Grace, don't you dare think I won't have Benjamin divorce you!"

In the past, Grace hadn't wanted to get into conflict with the rest of the Hawkins family for Elizabeth's sake. So she had compromised. However, she didn't care about that anymore.

"That's up to you," Grace replied flatly, walking away without a trace of hesitation. She left Susan to fume and rage.

After she left, Susan couldn't help but think something was amiss.

"Go up and check if we have lost anything valuable. You saw how heavy her luggage was. Who knows what's in there!" she ordered Celia.

Soon, Celia hurriedly came down with a folder in her hand.

"Mom, nothing is missing. But this was on the bedside table!"

Susan took it and checked to see what it was. Her pupils shrank immediately.

Divorce papers were inside the folder.

Susan immediately called Benjamin and told him what Grace had done.

He was in a meeting at the moment. As soon as he heard Susan mention the divorce papers and that Grace had said that he was impotent, he immediately gestured for the meeting to stop.

Then, he took the coat draped over his chair and walked out of the conference room.

"Calm down, Mom," he said in a deep voice.

"I am calm! It's good that she's gone now since Yvonne is coming back. I'm just angry that she's the one who asked for the divorce!"

Susan was still whining about it when Benjamin hung up the phone. His face was thunderous.

Even now, he couldn't believe that the usually obedient Grace would be so defiant.

However, at the thought of what she had done to him yesterday, he looked for her number in his list of contacts.

This was the first time he had called her in their three years of marriage.

Before the line connected, Larry stepped out of the elevator on the top floor and rushed over to him.

"Mr. Hawkins, I just received Ms. Lewis' resignation letter in my email."

Larry was panting. "Ms. Lewis is in charge of a lot of projects, of which Darai Medical Expo is the most important.

"We haven't even done the handovers yet. What should we do now?"

Benjamin's expression was getting darker and darker, especially when he couldn't reach Grace on the phone.

"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later."

Grace had declined his call.

Looking for Benjamin

Grace was at the airport. She breathed out a sigh of relief as she stared at her phone's screen, which had already turned black.

Maybe she had been under too much pressure at Hawkins Manor for too long. Now she felt like she had gotten a weight off her mind.

She looked at the travelers around her. Was she sad that she would be leaving Pamore soon?

Perhaps she was, but what she felt more was relief.

She had thought that Benjamin didn't love her. But it turned out that he already had someone else in his heart.

In that case, what was the point of continuing to cling to him?

Grace went to the first-class check-in counter to board the plane bound for Darai.

Years ago, she had left her family and hidden her true identity to stay in Pamore.

Had it not been for her grandfather's wish to meet her and Benjamin, the medical expo deal with Hawkins Group would never have been sealed.

Yet, Benjamin had sent her there alone instead of going together.

It was time for her to return now.

The female employee at the counter tactfully said, "Miss, your flight ticket is currently on hold. I can't issue you a boarding pass at the moment."

"On hold?" Grace was stunned.

"It can't be. Can you please check again?"

"Did you book the ticket with a corporate account? There may have been some refund processing earlier. Could you please show me your identification card for verification?"

It wasn't until Grace heard that that she realized what was wrong.

Since she had been Benjamin's secretary, almost all of her accounts were managed by Hawkins Group.

As for her identification card, the HR department had taken the original for some sort of registration purpose not long ago.

Grace had wanted to leave the city as soon as possible. So she hadn't considered everything carefully.

"Sorry. I'll make a call to ask about it."

She stepped aside and pulled out her phone to call the HR department.

Before she could even make the call, she realized that her phone number had been deactivated.

How could she forget that her phone number was also managed by Hawkins Group?

"Hawkins Group!" she cursed inwardly.

As soon as she left the airport, she hailed a cab and headed to Hawkins Tower. It was starting to rain.

Soon, the towering building came into her view.

She gave 100 dollars to the driver and stepped into the futuristic building with her luggage in tow.

Fortunately, the news of her resignation hadn't been widely circulated yet. The only thing was that she looked a little disheveled due to the rain.

It took her several attempts to pass the facial recognition system and finally gain access to the elevator.

Then, she went directly to the HR department on the 12th floor.

"Oh my, Ms. Lewis, why are you in such a sorry state? Those who don't know would have thought that you were fleeing for your life," said Jason Gray. He was the director of the HR department.

He was a sissy and a good bootlicker.

Given how Benjamin treated Grace, Jason naturally wasn't respectful or kind to her either.

"Where is my identification card?" Grace cut straight to the chase.

"Identification card? Larry just came and took it away two minutes ago."

Grace was stunned. She should have expected something like this!

Benjamin was infamous for his cold and unyielding character. There was no way he would allow her to challenge his authority like that.

Just as Grace was about to go and look for Benjamin, Jason suddenly called her. "It's fine to be dismissed, but please mind your attitude, okay?

"They are having an important meeting on the top floor now, and I heard that Mr. Hawkins' fiancée is here too."