Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1609

Chapter 1609: Saving Grace

A Chance or a Closure?

Haines had no idea what kind of relationship he’d thrown himself into.

To be fair, Haines was never perfect. But he usually didn’t make decisions purely based on morality. Yet, with Grace, he seemed to have made a lot of them.

It made him wonder—was it truly a mistake? Or simply nature’s way of giving him another chance at love? Perhaps even in life, fleeting as it might be.

And in a way, he wanted to believe that. Even if, from another angle, it was questionable in itself.

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When morning came, Haines’s brow twitched as his eyes flickered beneath his lids.

Soft rays of sunlight filtered through the window, landing on the upper part of his face. Before opening his eyes, he raised a hand to shield himself from the blinding assault. Slowly, he squinted them open, letting them adjust to the light spreading across the room.

Haines quietly moved his gaze, quickly recognizing the room he’d woken up in. Unlike the first time—after getting drugged by Penny—there was no sudden rush of anxiety. Instead, he turned his head to the side.

There, lying on her side, was Grace.

Her temple rested against her knuckles, eyes slightly unfocused, as if lost in deep thought. When he turned toward her, she blinked, and a flicker of awareness sparked in her gaze. But her face didn’t brighten like it usually did when she saw him. If anything, her expression remained passive.

"..." He blinked, keeping his mouth shut as he studied her reaction.

After a few seconds, her exasperated voice broke the silence.

"Say..." she began, squinting at him. "...this isn’t the part where I wake up, right?"

Haines blinked again, noting the curiosity in her eyes.

"Last night... it wasn’t a dream, was it?"

Even though parts of her body—especially the lower half—felt sore, she needed confirmation. There were just too many what-ifs.

What if it was just soreness from her new workout routine?

Haines raised a brow, half-wondering if she was serious. But the look in her eyes told him she genuinely doubted what had happened the night before.

"You..." he trailed off, eyes landing on the exposed curve of her shoulder above the sheet. "...don’t have clothes on."

Grace blinked and replied flatly, "I sometimes sleep naked. Especially when I can’t fall asleep."

Haines opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. "What do you want me to do, Gracie?"

"Not wake me up?" she shrugged. "Or make sure my alarm doesn’t ring?"

"..."

As if on cue, the alarm on the bedside table rang.

RINNGGG!

Both of them instinctively raised their brows, still staring at each other. Grace, still trying to process everything, suddenly felt an arm snake around her waist—just as Haines rolled onto his side, pulling her against his warm body.

"Morning, Gracie," he whispered, planting a soft kiss on the side of her neck.

She flinched, eyes widening.

Blink...

Blink...

After all, they’d had plenty of close calls before. Haines’ asking to stay over hadn’t immediately seemed like he wanted that.

They did it.