Chapter 16
In the wee hours of the morning, Grace finally dragged her tired body back home.
As she turned on the light, her phone buzzed a few times.
It was a message from Sofia.
“You must know by now that Antonio and I have got our marriage certificate, since you like my posts on Instagram every day. He told me he’s planning a wedding for me abroad. I’ve seen the arrangements, and they’re truly grand. Every single detail is something we dreamed about when we were young. I never expected that after all these years, he still remembers.”
“I also want to thank you. If it weren’t for you, Antonio wouldn’t have had the chance to see again. I really appreciate you taking care of my husband for seven whole years.”
Reading these shameless taunts, Grace felt too drained to be angry.
She went to her bedroom, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep.
That night, Antonio still didn’t come home. He just sent a message: “Grace, I’ve got some stuff to deal with. Are you hurt badly? If it really hurts, let me know and I’ll be right there.”
Grace stared at the message, her eyes kind of shimmering After a long time, she finally typed back: “No.”
“Antonio, from now on, I don’t need you anymore.” she said to herself
1 f you owes
Once the cut on her shoulder healed over, Grace went back to the
Kaufirm’s house by herself.
It was the place where she and Antonio lived together when he was blind- just the two of them.
She grabbed a hoe and walked to the peach tree in the yard that was still full of leaves.
Underneath it, she dug up the wishes they had buried on Antonio’s. eighteenth birthday.
The metal box was rusty, and the sealed glass bottle was fogged up.
Grace took out the note folded into a star shape and opened it up. There was her handwriting: “Hope Antonio can see again. Hope he stays safe. Hope I can always be with him.”
All her wishes were about Antonio.
Some happened.
But others would never happen now.
Then she opened another note, written by Antonio.
“Hope I can see again. Hope Sofia is all right.”
Every word was about him and Sofia, with no mention of Grace.
She realized Antonio never blamed Sofia for leaving him. He took the hit in the car accident for her, and he did it without any regrets.
Grace gave a bitter smile, crumpled the note she wrote, and throw it into the drain. Then she took off the necklace around her neck
It was a gift from Antonio, bought with the money he made from his first business deal after going back to his family.
Grace felt bad about how much he spent, but he held her and kissed her, saying, “Grace, people say the higher you go, the lonelier it gets.
“But with you by my side, I’ve got the courage to keep climbing. This is just a necklace. Everything I’ll have in the future, including me, is all yours.”
She buried the necklace, along with everything that reminded her of the past.
After filling in the hole, Grace turned and walked back home.
But just as she got to the door, she ran into Antonio and Sofia.
Seeing her there, Antonio looked pretty surprised.
“Grace, what are you doing here?”
Grace didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “What about you guys? Why are you here?”
Before Antonio could say anything, Sofia jumped in with a smile, “It has been a while since I heard Antonio play the piano. He said the piano was here, so we came to get it. Ms. Parrish, you know this place well. Can you show us around?”
Without waiting for Grace to agree, she grabbed her hand and dragged
her into the house.
