Chapter 7
Antonio pursed his lips. “I didn’t mess with her!
“We slept together sheerly because she was frightened. I did nothing at all!
“I know you wanna marry me. Just go back with me, OK? As long as we go back, we’ll get married at once!”
I was speechless. It turned out that Antonio always knew what I wanted.
And he was good at using what I wanted to control me. He knew I wanted a family, so he kept building a bright future ahead for us when chasing me. He knew I was scared of dark, confined spaces, so he locked me in the basement as punishment.
He knew I wanted a stable relationship, so he got me under control with marriage.
Anyway, he believed I’d compromise for what I couldn’t have. That was why he kept me dangling.
But he was wrong about me. I had made up my mind to stop loving him.
“Leave, Antonio. I’m over you. I’ll never marry you.”
Antonio’s face grimaced. He took a few steps forward to hold my shoulders so hard that I cried out in pain. Antonio hesitated for a second and slightly loosened his grip, but the next second, he grasped my arm and pulled me outside. “Go
back with me!”
Dragged by him, I almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, someone held me quickly. Before I could come around, a man took a swing at Antonio.
The punch was so heavy that Antonio took several paces back. His face immediately became swollen.
I raised my head only to find that Zack was standing in front of me.
Zack was wearing a light sweater today. His legs looked even longer and straighter in the light khaki pants.
He glared at Antonio, his eyes so grim that Antonio just backed away in fright. Then, Antonio instantly came to his senses. “Who are you? I was quarreling with my wife. Stay outta this!”
Zack ignored Antonio’s words and looked back at me. “Are you alright?”
Then, with a slight frown, he carefully lifted my wrist. Due to Antonio’s grasp, there was a red mark on it. Zack asked, “Does it hurt?”
I shook my head. In fact, it hurt a little, but I was ashamed to tell him the truth.
Zack said, “Tyler asked me to take you to dinner. Wait a moment.”
Then, he strode to Antonio. Zack was a bit taller than Antonio. Besides, as Zack often worked out, he was in good shape. Now, he seemed rather oppressing. He said, “Grace has
24.71%
broken up with you. Just be a man and stop badgering her.”
Antonio nerved himself and refuted, “We didn’t break up! She’s just mad at me.
“Besides, you’re just an outsider. Who are you to interfere here?”
My eyebrows furrowed. I was annoyed by Antonio but I didn’t want to involve Zack in this. I was about to speak when Zack grinned.
“How can it have nothing to do with me? I’m chasing Grace.”
Antonio’s countenance changed at once. He looked at me. “What do you mean? You’ve got yourself a backup right after breaking up with me?”
I was disgusted by his words. So, I refuted promptly, “Didn’t you tell me that the childhood sweetheart was important? Listen, Zack is my childhood sweetheart.
“So timewise, you actually met me later than he did.”
Antonio was relieved to hear my words and then said in a softer tone, “Grace, enough. Coleen and I are just childhood friends.
“If that’s a problem for you, I’ll keep a distance from her. Be good and go back with me.”
“Oh, but Zack and I are more than friends.”
Finally, he found I was determined to break up with him.
Antonio stared at me and then looked at Zack, “Bro, you’d
better give up on her. She’s crazy about me and even has lost
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her virginity to me. You won’t want to be with a secondhand, right? She said those words simply because she got jealous. She may cheat on you…”
Before Antonio finished his words, Zack punched him hard again. This time, Antonio lost a tooth.
Antonio crashed onto the ground and groaned a bit. He couldn’t get up at all. Zack snapped through gritted teeth, “That’s complete nonsense. If you dare talk shit again, I’l knock the rest of your teeth outta your mouth!”
We were taken to the police because of the fight. Yet, with the security video and my testimony, it was proved that Antonio harassed me. Antonio also had to care about his reputation a lot. If this matter got serious, it would be bad for both of us. So, we settled this privately.
Tyler rushed to pick me up later and then eyed Antonio angrily when he passed.
Antonio appeared a bit on edge in front of Tyler. It was not only because Tyler was my brother but also because 70% of his business was gained due to Tyler.
