Chapter 1
My boyfriend, Antonio Kaufman, cheated on me.
He gave another woman his heart.
Antonio’s mom invited me to their family dinner.
Coleen Atkins, Antonio’s first love, was upset when she saw
- me.
“Grace, Mom likes you, but that doesn’t mean I’d marry you! Shame on you! You played dirty to make me marry you.” Antonio splashed a glass of hot water at me.
I ignored the burn in my face and tried to explain.
Antonio locked me up in the dark and cramped basement, though he knew clearly I had claustrophobia.
He called it my punishment.
Coleen cried because of me.
That dark room was driving me crazy.
I scratched the wooden door. Splinters pierced deeper into my flesh, making me tremble with pain. I was on my knees crying and begging Antonio to let me out. But he turned a deaf ear and took Coleen out shopping.
Later, I suffocated and fainted. The cleaning lady found me and sent me to a hospital.
I woke up in the hospital bed. I called my brother Tyler Parrish in Newcastle.
“Tyler, I agreed with that contract marriage.”
Antonio came to pick me up when I was discharged.
His face was full of disdain. “I just locked you in the room for just an afternoon, and you ended up staying in the hospital for so long. Like I abused you or something.”
“Stop acting like a victim.”
I said nothing. I went through an earthquake as a kid. My parents shielded me when the ceiling collapsed. I was trapped with their bodies for a day. That’s how I got claustrophobia.
Antonio learned about this when we first started dating. He felt for me. Every time we passed a tunnel, he’d hold me tight. But at this moment, he coldly told me to stop pretending a victim.
I didn’t explain myself and just followed him downstairs. Walking up to his car, I noticed Coleen sitting in the passenger seat. Coleen and Antonio were childhood sweethearts.
Coleen was wearing a crop top. The half–covered cleavage looked more alluring. She smiled at me sweetly. “Grace, I got car sick. You don’t mind that I sit in the front with your boyfriend, right?”
I replied, “Suit yourself.”
Since I didn’t object, Antonio added, “Coleen knew that you’re getting discharged today. She offered to pick you up with
Chapter 1
me.”
I opened the car door. The backseat was filled with shopping bags. I snored and didn’t call them out. They were out shopping, not to pick me up.
Once Antonio got into the driver’s seat, Coleen leaned over.
Her soft bosom pressed against Antonio’s arm. She said sweetly, “Antonio, I want to have steak tomorrow. You have to come with me!”
I glanced at their intimate interaction and calmly got in the
car.
All I wanted was to go home, take my things, and leave Antonio.
I sat down and felt something under me. I reached down and pulled it out. It was an opened box of condoms.
Ever since Coleen returned, Antonio barely gave me rides. No, doubt who those condoms were for.
Antonio saw them and nervously explained, “My colleague borrowed my car a few days ago. I can’t believe that he left them here.”
“Grace, don’t hold them in your hands. Just throw them away.“”
Coleen smirked at me defiantly. I saw it in the rearview mirror. In the past, I’d demand an explanation.
But this time, I merely threw the condoms into the trash bag and wiped my hands. “Indeed, people should feel ashamed for having sex in the car.”
Antonio and Coleen turned their heads around awkwardly.
