Chapter15
I walked out of the airport, my dad on one side and my mom on the other, our faces lit up with smiles. It was a world away from Antonio’s situation.
At that very moment, Antonio was on the floor, his world crashing down. He tried calling me again and again.
Antonio had a reminder set on his phone for my birthda every year, and this year was no exception.
On the 27th, early in the morning, he was woken up by his alarm while staying in Alicia’s guest room. He got up as usual, ready to head out for groceries to celebrate my birthday.
The gift, a custom–made bracelet, was all set. But when he walked into the living room and saw Alicia, he hesitated. That was because I hadn’t apologized to Alicia yet.
He was puzzled. I was usually so compliant, so why was I being so stubborn this time?
Feeling uneasy at Alicia’s place for half a day and getting no messages from me, he decided to head home.
When he opened the door to the house he knew so well, the decor made him doubt if he went to the wrong place.
He left and entered again, but the house was still the same, with the same cold colors from seven years ago. In a daze, he
searched every room for any trace of me.
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He searched high and low but couldn’t find anything that was mine. “What’s going on?”
He mumbled to himself as he took out his phone to call me, only to be met with a recorded voice that drove him nearly crazy. He tried to message me on social media, but he kept getting notifications that I had deleted him.
If it weren’t for his vivid memories of the past seven years, he might have thought I was just a dream.
Lost in thought, he recalled a tracking app we used for couples. He opened it, only to find that I had turned off my location sharing.
Looking at the travel logs, he saw that I had used the app to approach him half a month ago, but then stopped just dozens of meters away and left without meeting him.
His instincts told me that something significant had happened that day.
He checked the calendar. When he saw the date, his phone slipped, hitting the floor with a crack. The screen split into a spiderweb of shards.
The dinner was set at a hotel that night.
All the bigwigs from my dad’s business were there. I was on my feet all night, toasting, until my legs felt like jelly. I ducked into a guest room to catch my breath. Just as I was lying on the bed, I heard a sound from the bathroom that crept me out.
“Who’s there?” I shouted, but it was met with silence.
Chapter15
My curiosity got the best of me, and I tiptoed toward the door. The moment I opened it, I was pulled in with a force.
I
My scream was cut short, and I stared at the man in front of
- me.
He was soaking wet, holding me up against the wall, his breath hot and rapid against my face.
It took him a moment to get a clear look at me, and then he whispered my name, so softly it was almost inaudible, “Grace?”
I just blinked, too shocked to speak.
He released me, and then, just like that, he slumped onto me.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said. “I’m your fiance. How about you do me a favor?”
“W–What do you mean, a favor?” stammered, immediately regretting my choice of words. “Why would I believe you?”
He chuckled, his breath brushing against my face, making me feel a little tingly.
“Good point,” he said. “I’ve got a wallet and phone in my pocket. You can call anyone to verify.”
He didn’t seem to be lying, so I gently pushed him off, pulled out his wallet, and checked his name on the ID.
