Please Be Gentle

A Chaotic Mess

Grace's arrival was anything but ordinary. The first time she met him, she found herself in an awkward situation—removing her clothes in front of him. And now, fate had it that she became his niece's tutor. Was this some sort of strange coincidence, or was she sent by a rival to get close to him?

She certainly didn't seem like someone capable of scheming. Her clumsy, innocent appearance only added to the confusion.

Should he keep her around and observe her, or should he send her away? He wanted to get rid of her, but if she truly had some ulterior motive, he needed to make sure she knew that there were no opportunities here.

"Still not done?" Gabriel asked, his voice tinged with impatience.

"Just a second," Grace muttered under her breath, her lips moving as she struggled to make sense of the numbers. Math had never been her strong suit, and her mind was a whirlwind of emotions. She couldn’t focus.

"i***t," Gabriel muttered, reaching over to snatch the notebook from her hand, curiosity getting the best of him. What on earth was she calculating? Was this some sort of complex equation?

But no, it wasn’t. It was worse. Her calculations were all over the place, like a jumbled mess. His eyes scanned the disorganized entries, and it was clear—Grace had no idea how to keep track of anything.

June 15th - taught for one day, earned $100

Sakura asked me an advanced math question (it must've been her), but I couldn’t answer. Deduct $9.

The math problem was written out, but in a cramped, almost unreadable manner. She had tried to save paper, but it was a nightmare to decipher.

June 16th - taught for one day, earned $100

It rained, and I was late for class by 20 minutes. Though Mrs. Li said it was fine, my parents always taught me to be honest. I should deduct $16 for being late.

The entries continued with similar justifications for deductions, mostly related to math problems she couldn’t solve.

No wonder she couldn’t keep track of the money—this was impossible to follow.

An i***t. How could she even think of tutoring math when she couldn’t do the simplest problems? Gabriel shook his head, but a strange feeling started to bubble up in him as he stared at her notes. She was foolish, yes, but there was something else—something oddly endearing about her naïve, hardworking nature.

Her self-punishment for the smallest of mistakes struck him differently than he expected. Most people wouldn’t care so much about their failures.

"Sorry, I know this is all a mess. Let me try again," Grace said, snatching the notebook back from him with embarrassment, as if he had seen something too personal.

"You don’t need to calculate anything. It’s $100 a day, no less, no more. For a whole month—31 days. Since I’m terminating our agreement early, I’ll pay you $5,000." Gabriel’s tone was cool, but there was something else in it—something close to generosity.

Typically, he would never overpay someone like her. But maybe it was the sincerity she put into everything that made him feel compelled to do so.

He quickly pulled out his wallet, flipping through bills and counting off fifty $100 notes. "Here," he said, placing the money in front of her.

"I can’t accept it." Grace looked up at him, her expression firm, her eyes defiant.

The money was tempting—very tempting—but her pride was more important. She wouldn’t take charity, not even if it came in the form of a clean $5,000 bill. She had grown up with too much of that already. It made her feel worthless. No, she wouldn’t take a single cent of sympathy or pity.

"Wait," she said, rummaging through her purse. She pulled out her phone and began to open the calculator app. Gabriel’s patience was thin. He reached over and grabbed her wrist, slamming the cash onto the table.

"Don’t waste any more time. Take it or leave it. If you don’t want it, fine. But you need to leave."

His tone was sharp, dismissing her as if she were an inconvenience. He was done with this charade.

Grace met his gaze, her expression unyielding. "You may have money, Gabriel, but I won’t take anything I don’t deserve. I’ll calculate it, take what’s mine, and leave. No more, no less."

Ignoring the tension in the air, she returned her focus to the calculator and her notes, her brow furrowing in concentration. She’d seen enough of people’s true colors to know that she couldn’t let them push her around. If anything, this was one of the few moments in her life when she was certain about something.

Her face flushed from the humiliation, but her resolve didn’t waver. The money would come and go, but her integrity would stay with her forever.