Chapter 17
“I love you…” said Antonio on the phone.
How sweet it was.
But ever since they got hitched three years ago, Antonio had never dropped those words on her, and she never bothered to ask.
She was aware there was someone else who held a special place in his heart.
What she didn’t expect was that after he and the Parrish family pushed her to the edge for Lucile, he would actually confess to her.
How ridiculous!
Without a word, Grace hung up quickly and blocked his number.
But before long, Antonio dialed her up again from a different number.
“Grace, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Can you give me another chance?”
He sounded wasted, his words all blurry.
Grace recalled a saying, “Even when they are drunk, men are still sober enough to put on a show that’ll make women cry.”
5
“You’ve dialed the wrong number,” said Grace.
“Grace, I know it’s you. You are still alive. I know you left because you were heartbroken. I’m sorry. It was all my fault before.”
Fed up with the conversation, Grace hung up and then blocked his
number.
Chapter 17
Fearing he would call again, she powered off her phone and asked Jonah to get her a new number the next day.
What Grace didn’t expect was Antonio showing up again on her gallery’s opening day.
Jonah asked security to boot him out, but Antonio flashed an invite, which left Jonah at a loss.
Getting rid of Antonio wasn’t a problem, but today was a big day for Grace’s gallery. Jonah didn’t want this guy to spoil the event, so he made. sure someone kept an eye on Antonio to keep him away from Grace.
To everyone’s surprise, Antonio stayed at the farthest spot from Grace the whole time, quietly observing without any out–of–line behavior.
“Fiona, why not just have someone kick him out?”
Jonah, not feeling reassured, walked up to Grace and asked, “Is his presence getting on your nerves?”
Grace glanced over and shook her head. “Let him be. The more I care, the more likely I am to get entangled.”
Actually, she understood why Antonio was so insistent on finding her.
It was just the force of habit.
She had loved him for almost ten years but suddenly stopped loving him and left, so he felt out of sorts, but that wasn’t love.
Before, she often brainwashed herself into thinking that the pampering and tenderness were love.
But compared to Lucile, Grace realized that love came from deep inside, strong enough to smash through any societal norms.
Love was not a duty; it was a physical longing.
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Chapter 17
That was how Antonio felt about Lucile, but with her, it was more about
duty.
His proposal three years ago was partly because she resembled Lucile, and partly to convince the directors of the Kaufman Group to fully empower
him.
After the opening ended, Antonio approached her. “Grace, you have a good eye, and that self–portrait looks great.”
Grace clinked her glass with his. “Thanks.”
With that, she turned to leave.
“Grace, you hate me, right?”
Antonio called out to her again, “I know you hate me because I hate myself too. You’ve been by my side for so many years, and I couldn’t see my own heart until I lost you, and only then did I realize how important you are to me.
“You were never Lucile’s substitute, and I was never involved with Lucile. I never touched her. I’m being nice to her because…”
Grace cut him off with a smile, “Sir, I’m not sure who you’ve mistaken me for, but let me tell you this. If you’ve lost someone, no amount of regret can bring them back. You can’t fix a broken mirror in this world.”
