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“OK. The case you reported about the illegal excavation at the castle caused quite a stir, and the suspect has been arrested and sentenced to three years.
“That guy’s called Antonio Kaufman, and he seems a bit familiar.
“By the way, he has the same surname as your ex–fiance. And he was a history professor. How could he do such a thing?”
I shook my head and replied calmly, “I don’t know him.”
After some small talk with my boss, I hung up.
Having packed my bags and said bye to my friends, I boarded the cruise ship back home. After a month at sea, I returned to New York.
In the past six months in Antarctica, I had let go of the past. From now on, I’d only live for myself.
I rented a place near the TV station.
The next day, I went back to the station. After handing over work to my colleagues, I bought a bouquet of flowers and went to the cemetery.
Standing in front of my mom’s tombstone, I found it spotless- surrounded by flowers and her favorite desserts.
I stared at the photo of me, Levi, and Mom on the tombstone before looking away, as calm as ever.
Chapter 40
After a long time, I put down the bouquet and turned around, only to see Levi behind me.
It had been half a year since we last saw each other; he looked way thinner, and his once vibrant spirit seemed crushed. He appeared much older.
He spoke in a cautious voice, not daring to look me in the eye, “You’re back, Grace.”
The husky voice of his carried obvious guilt.
He fidgeted with his faded shirt hem and forced a smile. “No one’s hogging Mom’s place anymore.
“Before Antonio got arrested, he chased Roxanne and her parents away. And you still own Mom’s inheritance.”
He got more excited as he spoke but suddenly broke into tears when he saw my cold expression.
“You’re the only one I have, Grace. I was wrong.
“You know what? I had been worried sick about you the last six months you’ve been gone.” He covered his face and cried, tears dripping down his chin and wetting his collar.
“Please, Grace. Don’t leave me.””
He fell on his knees in front of me while crying his eyes out and hugging my calf, begging me to forgive him.
Sighing helplessly, I pushed him away. ” But back then, I was all alone too. Even so, you hated my guts and wished me dead.
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“Levi, I’m a human and have feelings. I’m not some toy or
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robot.
“Ask yourself. What did you do to me for Roxanne’s sake in the past? Do you deserve my forgiveness?”
He turned ghastly pale and He crumpled to the ground, trembling all over, his sunken eyes filled with despair and regret.
In a frenzy, he began to tear at his dry, peeling lips and still wouldn’t stop until they were dripping with blood.
Ignoring it, I turned around, and his resolute voice came from behind.
“It’s fine, Grace. You’re my only family.
“You don’t have to forgive me. I’ll protect you and guard you forever, giving up everything for you including my life.”
He sounded so certain, reminding me of the time when he promised to protect Roxanne. But I simply didn’t need that anymore.
I went back to my rental place and cleaned up casually.
The next day, I went out to my best friend’s wedding. She had been my ride–or–die since high school.
Back then, the whole class was brainwashed by Roxanne and isolated me, and my bestie was the only one who hung out with me.
In the past few days since I came back, I heard what had happened to Roxanne, Elise, and Peter from others.
My dad married my mom, who was from a rich family, for her
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fortune. So, after my grandparents died, he started torturing my mom in all kinds of ways.
When Levi was five, she had been afflicted with severe depression. That was when Elise showed up with Roxanne on their high horse.
Peter never came home after that day.
When it was the holidays, what Mom, Levi, and I always
received was Peter’s indifference and Elise’s sarcastic remarks.
My mom hung in there for Levi and me for five years. On my 17th birthday, under Elise’s provocation, she jumped off a building.
Peter claimed Roxanne was ill and needed my bone marrow.
Cornered, my mom transferred all her assets to me and told Peter that if I died, they wouldn’t t get a penny.
Peter was exasperated.
The next day, he put Levi and me in a school, saying he was helping us wean off the Internet.
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Elise and Peter threatened him, saying they’d put him in jail. In response, he exposed the facts that Peter had been cooking the books and bribing over the years.
Also, it was also Peter’s idea to build the castle and have Antonio propose to Roxanne. The reason was he colluded with a local profiteer and wanted to mine privately.
Peter totally panicked after knowing he was exposed.
He ran away overnight, leaving Elise and Roxanne behind.
Elise had always rubbed in my mom’s nose that she was the love of Peter’s life. Yet when she woke up in the morning, she found the villa empty.
Instantly, she was flustered and angry.
Unfortunately, Peter had kept her over the years, and she was basically a good–for–nothing. What was worse, Roxanne needed tens of thousands of dollars for her medical
treatment.
Elise had to borrow money from those men she had been with when she was young. However, a lot of them were already married when they were together, and she only got to be their mistress because of her pretty face.
Therefore, now that she was in misery, no one helped her at all. Instead, she was utterly tortured and humiliated.
She didn’t get to borrow a penny and was almost taken by a human trafficker. Cornered, she could only ask Antonio for compensation.
But Antonio was set to ruin all three of them.
