Chapter 16
Grace’s POV
My fiancé, who I will marry in a few weeks, is with another
woman.
While I’m right here, trying to weave through my asthma attack, he’s right there dancing with her.
His eyes are glued to her, failing to spare me a single glance, even though my chest is heaving up and down and I can barely breathe.
I’ve been in love with Antonio for eight years now. And for a while it felt like he was in love with me. But everything changed when that woman showed up.
Now, it seems like I barely exist to him.
Only when their dance is finished does he go back to me. But even then, he just leaves to go home with me. I get in the car, and once I open the glove box, I find a diamond ring.
“What is this?” I ask.
He immediately snatches it away from my grasp. “It’s not for you.”
I nod, keeping all my emotions at bay until he reaches the corner of the road. “Pull up over here, please.”
“What for?” he asks, but I don’t answer him. I just head to the
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shop in the distance.
A few months ago, I decided to have a wedding dress custom- made for me. But now, I don’t think I have any use for it. I just need to have the whole thing canceled and destroyed.
But just as I walk into the shop, Antonio follows me.
He shoves my coat on my face, shouting, “Why do you always leave your stuff, Grace? I’m tired of picking up after you.”
Antonio is a neat freak. He doesn’t like when I leave some of my stuff in his car.
But I look at the coat he tries to give me, and I notice something. “That’s not my coat.”
His irritation vanishes at once. He picks it up, his expression now considerably softer than when we started talking.
I know that it’s because the coat belongs to Cecilia Smith.
Every time she leaves something in his car, it only leads to a big fight between me and Antonio. This time, however, it doesn’t lead to anything at all. I don’t feel the need to complain
anymore.
I just approach the desk and smile at the lady. “HI, I’m the one who came in for a custom design.”
“Perfect!” the lady says. “Your wedding dress and the suit are both done. You can try them on now. I can reserve a showroom for both of you.”
I open my mouth to say no, but Antonio is already heading inside with a grumpy expression.
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I have no choice but to try on my dress. After changing into it, I head out to look at myself in the mirror. Antonio is there, watching me.
He frowns. “You don’t look good in white.”
Ignoring him, I turn to the lady and hand her my phone. “Can you take a picture of us?”
He grumbles, walking towards me as the lady gets ready to snap a picture. But just as the lady is about to click, his phone rings with that special ringtone.
The ringtone for Cecilia.
He answers without walking away, his mood already visibly improved. “Hello. Is everything okay?”
“I need my coat,” she says sweetly. “Oh, if you can just give it back to me, I would owe you.”
“I’ll be on my way” he says.
“I can just kiss you right now!” she says before they hang up.
Without looking at me, he leaves, still in his suit. I hear his car roaring away. My heart breaks. I take a deep breath and reach for the scissors in the corner, tearing a huge chunk off my wedding dress.
***
It’s late now. One in the morning to be exact. I’ve already gone home alone, and that’s the only time Antonio decides to send me a text.
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“Still at the bar,” it reads.
Eight years together, and this is the first time Antonio took the time to tell me where he is. Since I’m cleaning the house, I don’t send him a reply.
I just take a hot shower and go to bed, immediately falling asleep.
The next morning, as I was on my way out to dumb my trash, I run into Antonio. He’s marching towards my apartment with an angry expression.
“Is your phone broken or something?”
I shake my head. He lets out a breath. I know why he’s upset. It‘
s because I used to call him nonstop when he goes out late, and last night, I just slept.
He barges into my apartment, looking around like he’s expecting to see something. Then, he notices my wall. “Hold on. We used to have a picture here. Where did you put it?”
Antonio’s glance falls on the trash bag on the floor. I open my mouth to tell him that I’ve thrown it away, his phone rings.
He smiles and starts a voice message. “Hold on, Cici. I’m going to see you right away. I still have your coat.”
Strangely enough, he doesn’t leave immediately. He just watches me as I bring the trash out and come back. I’m tired, since I haven’t eaten dinner or breakfast, so I grab the toast after I wash my hands.
As I eat it, I notice that he’s watching me in disgust.
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“Are you really that hungry?” he asks. “Why do you need to shove it all in there?”
He grabs the rest of the toast and shakes it into the bin. I watch him, mouth agape. The audacity is killing me.
“I cooked for you for eight years,” I say, “but I can’t even have my full breakfast in peace without you making a big deal about it?”
Antonio fixes me a cold glance. “I own this house. I make the rules. You didn’t even ask me before you ate it. You simply have no manners.”
Shaking his head, he puts on his jacket and storms lout, leaving me to face another round of coldness.
But what else is new?
I sit down, opening my socials and seeing that Antonio added a picture to his wall.
It’s a photo of Cecilia wearing cat–ears.
I place a like on it, just so he knows I saw it.
Then I get ready for work.
During my lunch, I decide to meet with a property manager to assess the apartment. But as soon as I walk in, the first thing I see is Antonio and Cecilia sitting and smiling at each other.
I sigh. I totally forgot about the fact that we all work in the same company.
Cecilia has her back turned to him, her hair down while he’s
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trying to gather it all up into a ponytail.
When she sees me, she immediately pouts, turning to me and saying, “Grace, look at Antonio! He’s been messing with my hair all day. I mean, how much longer can he do this?”
Before I can say anything, Antonio wraps his arm around her neck like he’s playing wrestling with her. “Liars are not welcome here!”
Cecilia blushes. Antonio finally turns around to face me and says, “Good thing we all met up here, even if it’s a coincidence. Why don’t we all have lunch together?”
This is the first time he invited me for lunch, even though I know for a fact that he and Cecilia go to lunch everyday together.
But I just smile. “I can’t join you today. I’m in the middle of something. I hope you enjoy, though.”
Antonio’s smile slides right off his face. He looks at me, and I know he doesn’t expect that. But I just shrug and leave, only for them to join me in the elevator.
The thing moves, but then it sputters and turns dark. I let out a gasp and Cecilia screams. The elevator just malfunctioned.
I hurriedly open my flashlight, only to see Antonio holding Cecilia in his arms. She’s shaking like a damsel in distress, and even when the power comes back on, she still softens.
And with that, she faints.