Chapter 5
Grace hid behind a pillar outside the banquet hall, and she overheard Antonio chatting with his cousin, Rita Kaufman.
Rita frowned. “Antonio, are you really gonna keep the status quo forever? There’s no secret in this world. No matter how well you hide it, Grace will find out someday.”
Antonio smiled, “I love Grace. But since Rowena has given birth to my kids, I won’t leave Rowena behind either. I don’t see anything wrong with maintaining the status quo.”
“What if Grace finds out? What are you gonna do then?” Rita mumbled. “You cheated on her. This is so unfair to her.”
“She’s not gonna find out. It’s been two years, and she still doesn’t have a clue,” Antonio said confidently. “I know; it’s been unfair to her. I’ll be even nicer to her to make it up to her.”
Rita rolled her eyes at him with disdain. “You really think love can be compensated with material things? Just a reminder, Lincoln is coming back to the country soon. You know how prim he is. He hates those who screw around the most. You better make sure he doesn’t find out about your affair, or he’ll definitely tell Grace.”
Grace slowly slid down along the pillar and slumped to the ground.
She was hurt so badly that she couldn’t feel heartache anymore; right now, she simply felt sick.
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She stumbled out of the hotel.
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Yet, she had been devastated by so many things that had happened recently, and it was too much for her. Her vision went black, and she collapsed.
When she opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar room. A man in a suit wearing frameless glasses was sitting on the couch next to the bed.
He was flipping through a thick stack of files. Though he was expressionless, his striking features gave off an inexplicable
pressure.
Grace sat up in a daze, and it took her a few seconds before recognizing him.
It was Antonio’s uncle, Lincoln Kaufman.
Lincoln had been abroad doing business all year round, and though it had been years, Grace had only seen him a handful of times. She didn’t know much about him, only that Antonio was a bit terrified of him, though he was only three years older than Antonio. Antonio was unruly when he was little, and his parents couldn’t bear to discipline him; it was always Lincoln who did the work.
According to Antonio, Lincoln was “rigid and serious“, and he was “a creature of rules“.
“You’re awake.” Lincoln closed the file in his hand. “The doctor said you had just had an abortion and had experienced great mood swings, which is why you passed out.”
He walked over to her slowly. “Antonio doesn’t know about the abortion, right? Or he would have gone mad already. And
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he wouldn’t have let you pass out alone on the roadside.”
After a long time of silence, Grace said, “Thanks for today, but please keep this between us.”
He didn’t nod or say yes, so she said with a pleading tone, “Please.”
Lincoln was stunned. Knowing that something between
Antonio and Grace must have gone wrong, he figured that he ought to tell Antonio about this.
Yet, for some reason, he wavered and chose to nod.
Then he had someone send Grace home.
Shortly after she came back, Antonio was back, too.
“Darling, what do you wanna have for lunch? I’ll cook.” Worried that the chef might not be attentive enough or that the food might not be to Grace’s liking, he always prepared the meals for her over the years regardless of how busy he
was.
Then he took out a set of jewelry. “The jewelry I have custom- made for you is here. Darling, see if you like it.”
Grace glanced at the jewelry and found it identical to the set he gave Rowena today.
She couldn’t help but laugh. All these years, she had thought she was the only one Antonio loved. Yet, she was so wrong. His love was so cheap.
“No need. I wanna go take a look at Tree Hollow.”
Tree Hollow was a manor Antonio had built for her five years
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ago; they shared a lot of precious memories there.
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Antonio had confessed his feelings for her nineteen–seven times, and the first time she said yes was at Tree Hollow.
They held hands and kissed each other for the first time there.
It was also the place where Antonio proposed to her, promising he’d love no one but her this entire life.
But Tree Hollow was in the suburbs, so after they got married, they seldom went over there.
It was noon, and she’d leave in the private jet at 3:00 p.m. She wanted to go take one last look before she left for good.
Antonio was stunned, panicking a bit. Rowena had insisted on living there, so he had given her the keys. She took the kids there today to have fun.
“OK. Let’s go over after lunch,” he said to Grace and then went into the kitchen, texting Rowena to tell her to leave.
Grace and Antonio went to Tree Hollow at 1 p.m.
The second Grace entered the entrance, she felt something off.
The roses in the garden had been replaced by lilies, the light green curtains were now pink, and there were even toys for kids in the living room.
Obviously, someone else had lived here.
But she acted as if she hadn’t noticed anything and went straight upstairs. There were a couple of their photo albums in the bedroom, and she’d take them away and burn them.
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Their existence sickened her.
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Yet, the second she opened one of the photo albums, she
froze.
It was the photos of Antonio, Rowena, and their twins in the album. They went to the lavender fields, enjoyed the view on a hot air balloon, and so on… Those were all the places Antonio had taken her, and each of them held unforgettable
memories.
It wasn’t until now that she realized he had taken Rowena and
their twins to those places, too. What was she doing back then? Probably still fantasizing about a happy life together with him. He ruined the last part of the memories that were
exclusive to them.
Noticing her ghastly pale face, Antonio walked over. “What’s wrong, Darling?”
She closed the album and smiled, “Nothing. I wanna go home.”
As she was about to go downstairs, his phone suddenly rang, and he became visibly flustered. “Darling, I need to use the bathroom. Can you wait for me downstairs?”
Grace nodded and left.
She came back several minutes later. Outside the bathroom door, she heard Antonio’s anxious voice.
“Didn’t I tell you to leave with the kids? Why are you still here?”
Rowena’s slutty voice rang out. “I wanna play an exciting
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game with you. Remember? We had sex in your bed with Grace when your wedding photo was above our heads. And now, she’s downstairs. Doesn’t this turn you on even more?”
Antonio’s breathing became heavier. “You feisty little minx.””
The sound of water rang out, mixed with some other nasty sounds.
Standing outside the door, Grace felt nothing. Only one thought occupied her mind–since when did Antonio become like this?
He was like a poppy in the mud, which was captivating yet stinky.
Maybe it was just who he was; she only came to see his true colors till now.
Suddenly, she remembered the day when Antonio first took her to meet his friends.
His friends were all trust fund kids, either rich or noble. Though they gave them their blessings, they in fact mocked Antonio for being a fool. Unlike him, they’d never stay with one person for the rest of their lives; with their money and power, they could support ten women at the same time easily.
Back then, Antonio said to her, “I’m not like them. You’re the only one I love.”
Now she realized essentially, he was just like them; they were all jerks. It was just that it took him longer to reveal his true
colors.
She sneered and walked downstairs on tiptoe.
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She came from a small village, and her mom was trafficked there. Her mom gave birth to her and not a baby boy, and because of that, she and her mom would be punished every
day.
At thirteen, she escaped. The first thing she did after that was send him to prison.
He cursed her, and though her mom was set free because of her, her mom wasn’t grateful.
The reason was simple; she represented the humiliating part of her mom’s life, something her mom wanted to get rid of
forever.
Growing up in such a twisted family, she learned to always keep her guard, maintaining her distance from everyone.
When she was eighteen, Antonio came into her world. He was like an eternal flame, melting the wall in her heart persistently while soothing away all the suffering she had ever endured tenderly.
He loved her deeply and unconditionally, and he gave her the power to love again.
But it was also he who hurt her the most when she was the happiest.
The scar he left in her heart would never heal.
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