Chapter 5 Unfulfilled Wishes
The next morning, Grace woke up on the couch. She had used the suitcase as her pillow and the wedding dress as a quilt. After all the crying last night, Grace’s eyes were swollen, but she was oddly calm.
She took out a phone to make a call that she had been debating making for days.
“Hello. Grace? What’s the matter?” Valarie Hale, Grace’s best friend, asked.
“Valarie.” Grace’s voice was low. “I’ve decided to leave the country. Would you help me with the procedures? I want to leave as soon as possible.”
After a few seconds of silence, Valarie asked tentatively, “Grace, what happened? Is it about…Antonio?”
Grace didn’t answer the question and only said softly, “I’m counting on you.”
“OK… I’ll handle it.” Valarie choked up a little bit. “Grace, no matter what happens, we’ll stand by you.”
Grace hung up and heaved a sigh of relief. She dragged the suitcase to a corner and took out her planner book to reschedule. Before she left, she had to finish all the unfinished business.
For the next few days, Grace wasn’t the quiet woman people remembered. She handed in her resignation and bid goodbye to some colleagues. She didn’t explain and just said she
Chapter 5 Unfulfited Wishes
needed some alone time.
Her friends came by and she greeted them with smiles. But she never told them about what happened with Antonio.
One night, all her best friends came over and showed a phone. to Grace.
“Grace, look at these. We don’t want to keep you in the dark.” Valarie frowned, her expression full of concern.
Grace took the phone and saw many photos. They were photos of Antonio and Claire in places like an amusement park, the top of a mountain, and even a bridal shop. Together, they bought wedding clothes and looked at the stars. The smiles on their faces hurt Grace deeply.
The photos formed a clear timeline. Antonio and Claire were meeting more frequently than Grace did with Antonio since their last meeting.
“He loves her.” Grace stared at the screen. Her voice was calm as if it didn’t concern her. “Turns out he never loved me.”
Her friends were at a loss for words.
“Grace. Don’t be sad for a man like him. Once he sees Claire’s true color, he’ll regret this,” someone said, trying to comfort Grace.
Grace smiled and returned the phone. She raised her head and looked outside the window.
“Regret or not. It’s none of my business.” Her voice was soft with a hint of relief. “I only want to start over.”
After Grace returned to the house, she spent her days
Chapter & Alfulfilled Wishes
peacefully. She confirmed with people about the weddings. and planned carefully about every detail as if she was still the excited bride. However, Grace knew that she was staging a show with an inevitable ending.
Grace didn’t contact Antonio these days and wasn’t anticipating his messages. She sat in the empty living room alone at night. Sometimes, she would think, “What am I hanging onto? The memories we have? Or the little dignity I have left?”
When there were five days till the wedding, Antonio finally returned.
“Grace.” As soon as he walked through the door, he said casually, “How is the wedding? I heard that you’d been busy.”
Grace lifted her head and glanced at him before saying
indifferently, “I did per your request. You wanted to keep it simple, right?”
Antonio looked around the living room and frowned slightly, “The house seems a lot emptier. You removed the wedding decorations?”
“Yes. You wanted to keep it simple.” Grace said calmly. Her gaze fixed on the mug she was holding.
Her strange attitude made Antonio feel uncomfortable. He laughed dryly and echoed with a nod, “Yes. It’s nice this way.”
Antonio looked at the calendar on the wall and saw the countdown. He whispered, “Seven more days… How time flies.”
Grace put down her mug and went straight to the calendar.
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She tore two pages off.
“Our wedding is in five days,” she said flatly. Shaking her fingers lightly, she threw the pages into the trash can.
Grace wrote two wishes on those pages.
They were “A walk on campus with Antonio” and “Watch a movie with Antonio“.
For countless times, Grace had imagined she and Antonio would return to their old school hand in hand on a sunny afternoon. They’d walk the familiar trails, talk about the good memories, and plan their future happy life. However, the wish was ruined by Antonio and Claire.
Antonio noticed there were writings on the calendar and glanced at it again. He remembered that Grace talked about returning to their school with him. But he never found the time. Later, he mentioned it to Claire during their chat. Claire offered to accompany him.
That day, he and Claire took a walk on the school playground. Sunshine lit up the side of Claire’s face, making her smile look brighter. She said, “Antonio, you played soccer here in college, right? Look at that tree. It’s still there.”
Antonio smiled and nodded. It never crossed his mind that he should be doing this with Grace.
Now, Antonio looked at the torn calendar and had an uneasy feeling as if he had lost something important.
“Grace, what did you write on those pages?” Antoni asked carefully.
Chapter 5 Unfulfilled Wishes
Grace glanced at him and said indifferently, “Wishes that can’t be fulfilled.”
Grace was calm. Yet, for some reason, it dejected Antonio. He opened his mouth to ask more about it but was interrupted by Grace’s ringtone.
