Chapter 3 The Torn Toy
Grace snapped back to reality and turned around stiffly to get on the elevator.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, she saw Antonio pushing Zelma down onto the back seat of the car.
Those few seconds in the elevator felt like they were ripping Grace’s heart apart. She knew exactly what Antonio and Zelma were doing. Antonio had always been a gentleman with girls.
It was like that with all his female friends, and it was the same with Grace. But Zelma was different–she was the only one who could get him to break his own rules.
Grace didn’t want to think about what the two were doing. She went to the storage room, took out a needle and thread, and planned to sew up the toy.
She wanted to take the toy with her; after all, she was the one who had won it in the first place.
Threading a needle usually needed a lot of patience, but Grace had a hard time with it. Every time she thought about Antonio and Zelma being together, her hands would start shaking uncontrollably.
She didn’t know how long it took, but finally, she got the bright orange thread through the needle.
Chapter 3 The Tom Toy
Grace wasn’t good at sewing at all. In the past, it was always Antonio who fixed her clothes for her. She just couldn’t throw away the clothes her parents had bought for her, even if they were worn out. So, Antonio learned how to sew by himself.
“Let me sew it up. I don’t want you to hurt your fingers and then have someone else worrying about you.” Antonio took the dress from her and quickly stitched a flower on it.
It was just a tiny tear, but she had pricked her fingers many times, barely managing to sew it up. Her fingers were already bleeding a lot.
The lock clicked open.
Antonio and Zelma came back together.
Zelma looked surprised to see Grace still in the living room. “Grace, you’re still awake? It’s late,” she said.
Her voice was a bit rough and not as smooth as usual. Her neck and the area around her collarbone were covered in red
love bites.
Antonio had the same marks in the same spots, lots of them.
“I… I’m fixing this toy.”
Grace noticed the marks on Antonio but didn’t react much. Maybe she had seen them too many times, or maybe she was finally letting go.
Antonio caught sight of the cuts on her fingers straight away. They were still bleeding, and that made him furious.
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Chapter 3 The Teen Toy
“Are we so broke that we can’t buy a new toy?
“Or are you planning to get tetanus so you can stay here longer?”
His words were harsh, and he ended by staring at Grace, who kept her head down. “Get rid of that thing,” he said.
Grace looked up, shaking her head firmly. “No, I won’t. It’s mine.”
Antonio glanced at the crookedly sewn toy and snatched it away. He had argued with Grace twice over it today. Grace, who was usually very obedient, had disagreed with him twice over this tattered thing!
Two whole times! He was seething with anger.
“Your toy? I paid for you to play the game! It should belong to me, and I have the right to throw it away.”
Grace stared at Antonio in disbelief. Antonio had been willing to spend money on her and had never asked her to give the toy back before.
She didn’t even notice that Antonio had just said he
remembered the game.
Soon, the poor lion toy was torn in half by Antonio violently, with the soft cotton inside spilling out.
He then threw it to the ground; now there was no reason to sew it back together.
Zelma, standing by, couldn’t get a word in. Feeling uneasy, she tugged at Antonio’s sleeve and said in a playful way, “Why be so mean? I heard you used to buy lots of dolls for
Chapter 3 The Tom Toy
Grace. Can you get some for me too? Girls all love these fluffy. things.”
Another doll issue. Antonio sighed, turned around, and softened his gaze at Zelma. He gently pinched her cheek and said, “Grace has got a ton of those in her bedroom. You can go pick out a few you like. Honestly, I don’t get why you girls are all into this kind of stuff, but if you like it, I like it too.”
