Grace Winslow brushed off the non-existent dust from her clothes and stood up. "Straighten everything up and clean this mourning hall for me."

"On what grounds? Who the hell do you think you are? You little bastard born from an old one! I’m telling you, get the hell out right now, or don’t blame me for what happens next." Lydia Sawyer had no intention of listening to Grace, pointing a finger right in her face as she cursed.

How could Nolan Winslow and Brandon Winslow possibly tolerate this? They looked like they were about to make a move.

Grace Winslow raised a hand to stop them. "On what grounds?"

"Because this house is mine. You’re standing in my house, so tell me, don’t I have the right to kick you out?"

Lydia Sawyer froze, then shrieked, "Impossible!"

"How could that old hag have sold this house? You say it’s yours, so where’s your proof?"

Grace Winslow scoffed. "Why would I show you any proof? What makes you think I have to prove anything to you?"

"Are you leaving or not? If you don’t, I’m calling the police."

"This is outrageous! An outsider is trying to seize the inheritance left by my brother and sister-in-law! You must have used some dirty trick! You took advantage of my sister-in-law when she was sick and not in her right mind and tricked her into signing the house over to you! I don’t care! I won’t acknowledge it! This house belongs to the Forrest family, and you’re not getting your hands on it!"

"If you don’t get out today, I’m just going to plant myself here and refuse to leave!"

"I’d like to see who the police kick out when they get here—you or me!"

Seeing Grace Winslow’s unyielding attitude, Lydia Sawyer started to feel a little flustered.

But she had been coveting this house for a long time. How could she possibly hand it over to Grace Winslow so easily?

Grace Winslow shot Nolan Winslow a meaningful look, and he quickly stepped out.

Lydia Sawyer paid him no mind, plopping herself right down on the ground and starting to wail and cause a scene.

She would grab anyone who came near and start listing off the supposed wrongdoings of Grace Winslow and Irene Lynch.

Irene Lynch didn’t say a word. She silently righted the brazier, knelt down again, and quietly resumed burning joss paper.

Before Lydia Sawyer was even finished with her tirade, another group of people arrived. They claimed to be Quinn Hale’s family, insisting that since Quinn Hale had passed away, the house she left behind should be theirs to inherit.

The two groups immediately started arguing in the courtyard, and before long, the argument escalated into an all-out brawl.

It was quite the spectacle.

When Nolan Winslow returned with police officers, the courtyard was a mess of people sprawled everywhere—men and women, young and old. Every single one of them was eloquently cursing the other’s ancestors back eighteen generations.

The corner of the responding officer’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

In the end, they took everyone down to the station.

The official reason was trespassing on private property and destruction of personal belongings.

The plants and flowers in the courtyard weren’t cheap, and quite a few had been ruined during the fight. Grace Winslow simply demanded they pay for the damages at cost. The flowerpots were antiques, she pointed out. If they didn’t pay, they’d be facing jail time.

She was absolutely unwilling to settle the matter privately.

The troublemakers were cleared out.

A few more relatives from the Forrest and Hale families showed up later. They had probably heard about Grace Winslow’s ferocity and how she showed no mercy, so they didn’t dare cause any trouble. They came in quietly, offered incense, and left one by one.

After the three-day wake, Irene Lynch and Grace Winslow saw Grandma Forrest off on her final journey.

As per Grandma Forrest’s last wishes, her ashes were interred with Grandpa Forrest’s. Their child was buried beside them, a family reunited at last.

Once Grandma Forrest’s funeral affairs were settled, Gregory Winslow had to return to work.

Their rare family get-together had been anything but a happy reunion. With all the trouble that had occurred, everyone was in low spirits.

Grace Winslow’s spirits were also low.

’Counting the days, Archer Rhys should be leaving for his mission right about now.’

’According to him, this mission was extremely dangerous. The odds were stacked against him, and he didn’t know if he’d make it back alive.’

’His confession... was that just to give himself something to cling to? A reason to fight harder to stay alive during the mission?’

Grace Winslow wasn’t sure what to make of her own feelings.

Though she had rejected Archer Rhys, she had to admit she’d had feelings for him.

He was, after all, the person she’d had a crush on in her youth. If things hadn’t taken such a turn back then, if Archer Rhys hadn’t left, she might never have married Caleb Forrest.

A large part of why she had chosen Caleb Forrest back then was because, in some ways, he reminded her of Archer Rhys.

It was only now that Grace Winslow truly understood the devastating power of one’s first love.

Fortunately, she didn’t have much time to dwell on her melancholy.

The new semester was starting, so she and Joanne Chase returned to campus.

Life at the university was always hectic.

It became even more hectic in their sophomore year.

The coursework was heavier, and there were frequent exchange events where they had to interact with foreign visitors to practice their conversational skills.

A number of students who couldn’t keep up chose to transfer to other majors.

At first, the foreign languages major had seemed like a great choice with excellent job prospects and a bright future, so many had enrolled without a second thought. But after a year, they discovered it wasn’t something you could master just through hard work—you needed a natural aptitude for it. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Suddenly, the foreign language department’s classrooms were more than half empty.

But this didn’t affect Grace Winslow or Joanne Chase.

They continued their routine of studying from dawn till dusk.

Joanne Chase found a part-time job translating simple foreign-language documents, earning a modest fee for her work.

And so, time slipped by in a flurry of activity.

In April, Claire Dunn announced the list of students for the overseas exchange program. Both Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase were on it.

The program was a six-month stay at a prestigious international university. Opportunities like this were incredibly rare—Crestwood University only had five slots in total, and their class had claimed two of them.

Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase were ecstatic.

They hadn’t been able to rest easy until the decision was finalized.

After all, several new students had transferred from other departments this semester, and rumor had it their families were well-connected. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the university had given the slots to them instead.

That sort of thing wasn’t uncommon.

Fortunately, the final result held no surprises, and the spots went to Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase.

"We leave in three days. We should go back and pack. I wonder what the weather is like over there. I’ll go ask Mr. Dunn in a little while," Grace Winslow said as she and Joanne Chase walked shoulder to shoulder toward their dormitory.

Joanne Chase, unable to hide her excitement, said, "I’ll go with you."

"Come on, let’s go together."

As Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase approached the faculty offices, they heard arguing from inside one of the rooms.

"Claire Dunn, are you out of your mind? Didn’t I tell you to give the spots for the exchange program to Tina Sinclair and Miles Dalton? Why did you give them to Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase?"

"I don’t care what you were thinking. Go get those slots back right now!"

"I already gave my word to the Sinclair and Dalton families! Those spots belong to them!"

Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase stopped in their tracks, exchanging a look.

’So that’s why,’ Grace Winslow thought. ’It always seemed strange that those students suddenly transferred to the foreign languages department. There had to be a reason. This is what they were waiting for.’