After washing the dishes for the whole day, although James was physically strong, he still felt his back and waist aching.
Because of the low-quality cleaning liquid, his fingernails were pale, his fingers were wrinkled, and some parts of his fingers were peeling.
Yet the money he was paid was not even enough for them to have dinner.
Kara’s heart ached as she held his pale hands. She felt sorry for him, and her eyes turned red.
He was the CEO of the SA Group. His precious hands were supposed to sign documents, yet they were peeling because of washing dishes.
“Let’s go. I’ll buy you some milk candy.” James did not care at all. He took his hands out of hers and squeezed her cheek.
“I don’t want to eat candy.”
Kara held his arm and looked at the bit of money in his hands. She hated to spend a single cent.
“Be good, OK? This is only temporary.”
Life was unpredictable like this. He was all high and mighty in the past few months, and in the blink of an eye, everything vanished.
But when he saw the woman in front of him who felt bad for him, he did not feel aggrieved at all. He just wanted to hold her hands tightly and keep her in his life.
He rubbed her head gently, took her to a store, and bought two candies. He unwrapped one, put the candy in her mouth, and put the other in his pocket.
“James, it’s all my fault.” Kara cried as she ate the candy.
He chose to save her. Otherwise, he, the CEO of the SA Group, wouldn’t have had to suffer this.
James frowned and wiped her tears.
“It doesn’t hurt. What’s there to cry about?”
No one should be blamed. She belonged to him. Over his dead body could someone take her away. She was his life. How could he not protect his life?
“James, you’re killing me.” She held his hands tightly.
James stared at her hands, which were so soft and tender. If they were soaked in water, it would be a waste.
She was pregnant. He would never bear to see her do that kind of work.
They were paid two-thirds less than the average employee, and they cleaned the dishes well. The owner of the restaurant stared at them and thought for a while.
“Where are you staying tonight? Are you coming tomorrow?”
When James heard the owner’s words, he swept a cold glance at the owner. Although he was mocking the owner in his heart, his expression remained calm.
James said, “Maybe. We don’t know either, because we have not found a place to stay.”
“I see.”
The owner was not surprised. The two were in a sorry state. At a glance, he could tell that the two were poor people who wandered from place to place.
There were often homeless people from other poor areas in the town. They did dirty and hard work just to survive. They were usually paid less, yet they were dumb enough not to complain.
“You did your job fine. Why don’t you rest in my restaurant tonight and continue to work here tomorrow?”
“Do we have to pay you if we stay here? We don’t have money.” James hesitated.
“No. You can wipe the tables and rest here. You just have to get up early tomorrow and help clean,” the owner said lightly.
James nodded. Resting here was better than sleeping on the streets.
Seeing that James agreed without hesitation, the owner snorted in his heart and thought, ‘Turns out they are a pair of stupid vagrants.’
But the owner didn’t care about who those two people were, as long as they could be of help.
To keep them here, the owner offered them dinner. In fact, the food was just leftovers of the guests, and the owner was about to toss them away.
But then he thought he might as well give the leftovers to the two people. So, he poured the leftovers into two plates and gave them to James.
A trace of disgust flashed through James’ brows, but he still took the plates from the owner and led Kara to the kitchen.
“Are we going to eat this?”
Kara saw that the owner was about to throw it out. She didn’t expect that the owner would give it to them.
“Of course not. But we have to pretend anyway.” James placed the plates on the table and went to find forks.
Seeing that the two happily looked at the two dishes of leftovers, the owner sneered disdainfully and went upstairs to rest.
It was time to eat, and there were a lot of diners. The kitchen was quite busy. James was a temporary worker, so no one supervised them. When he was looking for forks, he took something. Then he led Kara out of the restaurant and went to a quiet place.
His clothes were bulging, which made Kara a little curious. He took out two cucumbers, two boxes of yogurt, and two pieces of bread.
“James, when did you take these?” She didn’t notice it, though she was standing beside him.
James pried open the bread and gave her the creamy part. Then he looked at her with a smile.
“If even you could notice it, how was I supposed to make it?”
“James, I didn’t know you could steal.” Kara took a bite of the bread. She smiled foolishly.
“I didn’t steal. I took what belonged to us.” James was starving. He gulped the bread.
Then he continued, “I washed his dishes all day, and that’s all he gave me? Even beggars could receive more.”
The owner was shrewd. Before, the owner saw that James was hiding from something. James didn’t have an ID card, so he could only be a temporary worker. The owner paid James so little because he knew James wouldn’t make a scene.
James was not stupid. Although the level of consumption in this town was not high, a temporary dishwasher could still get at least thirty after working around eight hours.
James ate half of the bread and left the rest to Kara, but she still felt hungry after eating all the food.
However, when James asked her if she was full, she didn’t say anything. She just smiled and nodded.
James stared at her, stroked her head, and told her to wait for him here.
The temperature at night was low. Kara wasn’t cold when she sat next to him, but as soon as he left, she was frozen by the cold wind and shrunk her neck.
“Where are you going?”
She would be scared if she was here alone.
“Be good. Sit here and count to a hundred. I will be back by then.”
James lowered his voice as if he was coaxing a child. After he finished speaking, he lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.
Kara pursed her lips and compromised as she began to count.
James returned to the restaurant. When Kara counted to ninety-nine, he went back to her side with some fruits and a thick blanket in his hands.
“James, how did you get these?” Kara was surprised.
“That’s not your concern. You’re hungry, right? Eat them.”
James covered her with the blanket and stuffed all the stolen things into her arms.
Kara nodded. She was worried that he was not full yet, so she fed him after she took a bite.
James didn’t mind. He ate whatever she gave him.
When she was almost done eating, she rubbed her eyes and began to feel sleepy.
She didn’t know why. Recently, she always got hungry and sleepy easily.
Perhaps it was because of the drugs that Kason injected into her body.
James was looking at the gloomy sky, thinking that he should get the money tomorrow, take Kara to a clinic, and find a way to avoid Kason’s men.
Suddenly, he felt her leaning against his arms. He looked down and saw that she was asleep.
His heart ached as he held her in his arms. He then touched her forehead. She wasn’t burning up. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief.
She had never been far from home. And now, she was in a foreign country by his side. She didn’t dare to tell him though she was hungry, and when she got sleepy, she gritted her teeth and held on. He knew. He knew everything.
He didn’t know how the baby in her belly was doing. If her pregnancy would put her life at risk, he would have to…