Chapter 22
I didn’t wake up until it was dusk. The wounds still hurt, but I felt better.
Troy stayed home to take care of me for the next three days. He hired a female domestic worker to apply ointment for me.
On the fourth day, Antonio came furiously. The domestic worker avoided eye
contact with me nervously. Then, she opened the door and left.
“Grace.” Antonio’s familiar voice came. I shivered all over uncontrollably.
My reaction escaped his eyes. He strode to me and glared at Troy.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you call me? Tortured like that, why didn’t you fight back?”
Pale–faced, I withdrew subconsciously. But this sight hurt Antonio.
His eyes reddened.
He continued in a trembling and choking voice, “Grace, I’m sorry. I didn’t know they did those horrible things to you. I was only trying to teach you a lesson, to make you behave. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. I really didn’t know.
“Grace, go back with me, OK? I’ll find those people and make them pay. I’ll spare no one. Just go back with me, OK?”
Antonio looked rueful.
Just then, Claire came, huffing and puffing. Her eyes dripped with malevolence when she saw me. But she assumed a soft masquerade.
Chapter 22
“Grace, sorry. You must hate me. I’m terribly sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have said that. This happened to you because of me…”
She cried. Antonio reached out to wipe her face affectionately.
I sat beside Troy silently. My heart was filled with surging fear. But still, Claire wouldn’t leave me alone.
“Why are you with Troy? Were you gonna elope? What about Antonio? He’s your fiance.”
Antonio looked at Troy with hostility.
“Troy, explain this to me. You knew I was looking for Grace. Why didn’t you tell me she was here?
“Grace, come to me. Go home with me. I’ll help you take revenge, OK? No one can hurt you again.”
My face was pale. Suddenly, I cupped my head and screamed. I knelt before Antonio and begged like a crazy woman. Other voices were expelled from my ears.
“Sorry, I was wrong. Please spare me. OK? I don’t like you anymore. I’ll leave you. I’ll go to a faraway place. Please. Please spare me.
“Don’t make me go back. Please. Claire, I’m sorry. It was all my fault. I hurt you. I deserve punishment. I’m willing to do time or even die. Just don’t make me go back. OK?”
This was what my parents saw when they arrived.
My mom rushed to me and held me. She apologized to me tearfully. Red- eyed, my dad said repeatedly that he’d take me home.
“Grace, sorry. Your dad and I let you down. We were wrong. We let this
Chapter 22.
happen to you. Grace, I’m sorry.”
The thing was, my family had abandoned me. I had no home.
I cried so much I was on the brink of a mental breakdown. I tore my clothes while struggling.
“I’m begging you. Please leave me alone. I can have sex with you or play games with you. Don’t make me go back. Please!
“Or just kill me. I can die to atone for what I did. Is that good enough? I can’t go back. Mercy, please.
I’ll die if that’s what you want…”
A wrenching heart ran through my stomach. Gagging, I lay prostrate and vomited a big mouthful of blood, along with the broken glass they made. me swallow before I left Nighton.
Troy’s pupils contracted. He held me immediately.
My mom couldn’t take it anymore and fainted. Antonio hastened to kneel before me. He attempted to touch me, but I moved away.
His eyes were full of regrets.
He punched his chest hard and said, “Grace, I’m sorry. I hurt you. I let you down. Grace, what I did was wrong. Let me take you home. I’ll have you treated, OK? Put the past behind you, OK? Grace, I’m sorry.”
He reached out to carry me. Somehow, my strength returned to me. I pushed him away and staggered out of the gate.
