Chapter16
That night, Antonio came to me. I thought he wanted to learn more about the truth from me, since he realized that Celia had been lying to him.
But I was wrong. He said, “Grace, Celia is innocent. Will you drop the case?”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
I was impressed. Antonio still trusted her after all that had happened.
But, all of a sudden, I felt bad when I saw him looking so haggard.
After the Kaufman Group survived from going bankrupt, Antonio was never in a low spirit again. At least, that was what I had remembered of him.
I rubbed the straw ring in my pocket and changed the topic.
“When did it start? I mean you and her.””
There was a trace of guilt on his face. Then, he subconsciously
denied it.
I knew he would deny it. So, I showed him the footage of them kissing from a few years ago.
His face changed color as he saw it.
“Grace, I can explain it. It’s not like what you think…”
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Chapter16
I took out the straw ring from my pocket, deadpan. I grabbed his hand and placed that small ring on his palm.
?While the Kaufmans were going through their darkest days, countless debt collectors were after them. Antonio was just a kid at the time, but he was not spared.
?Debt collectors would block the door of his rental home. They would frighten him and force him to tell them where his parents were.
After he managed to get away from them, I was the first person he would come to.
He cried and said, “Grace, my family is broke now. I can’t provide you with a good life after we grow up…”
As he cried, he put this straw ring on my ring finger.
“I made this ring on my way here. Keep it, as if we were already married, OK? Will you not forget about me?”
He was incoherent, but I could feel he really didn’t want to
leave me.
After he cried, he turned around and was about to run away. But he rushed back again.
“No! No! If my family gets rich again, you’ll come back to me, will you?”
“At that time, if you don’t wanna marry me anymore, you can return this ring to me. I will let you go, even if it will hurt me!”
I was only a kid at the time, but somehow I wanted to be with Antonio to my last breath.
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But when things got to this point, I was pretty sure I had let go of Antonio.
I was in love with him for years, so it wasn’t easy for me to simply walk away.
Until the day of his wedding, I still held out the last shred of hope for our relationship.
But now, I knew that I wanted to be done with him, once and
for all.
Antonio bowed his head and stared at that ring. He also remembered his promise to me as a kid.
His eyes went round, his lips shivering.
Tears trickled down his thin jaw and splashed onto the shabby straw ring.
?He quickly wiped the tears from it and nervously clutched my hands, looking like a little boy afraid of being abandoned.
He looked at me and begged, “Grace, will you forgive me this time? I swear I will stop seeing Celia from now on!”
I raised my hand and slowly wiped the remaining tears from his face.
“My mom was so good to you. She was kinder to you than she was to me. Before she died, her last wish was to see us finally get married.
“But how did you pay her back? You say that those are old grudges from our fathers‘ generation and that what I have
heard and seen is not true!
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Chapter 16
“Well, then tell me, what is the truth?
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“You knew Celia’s mom was my Dad’s mistress, but you slept with her anyway. The things you promised me, you gave them. to Celia without a second thought. Yet, you called me vicious and bullying a dying person!”
After I poured all those words out, all I could see from his face was guilt and remorse.
He bowed his head and contemplated for a while.
Then, he raised his eyelids and said to me softly, “I’ve checked it. Celia had some problems with a friend from college, so the police took her in for a few questions.
“She is innocent. I know you want to confront someone, but your mom and Celia’s mom are both gone. Can’t you just forgive and forget?”
I stared into his face, hoping to see what he was thinking.
After all the work my mom put into him, he turned out to be such a douchebag!
Fury blinded me. I couldn’t control myself anymore and slapped him hard.
?He looked haggard again and caught my hand to slap his face.
“Grace, sorry for my poor wording. I just want you to be happy. If this can make you feel better, you can slap me as much as you want!”
His words turned my stomach.
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?I jerked my hand from his grasp.
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I shouted in rage, “Antonio, you’re like a piece of trash to me now. And I don’t collect trash!
“From the day you cheated on me with Celia, you should have known that it’s over between us!”
?But he did not want to give me up. He tried to say more,to me, but his phone rang.
It was loud, and I could hear Celia’s crying voice through his phone.
“Antonio, the police let me go. I’m outside the station now. I’m so scared. Will you come pick me up
