Chapter 4
It was already the evening when I arrived home. The second I opened the door, the happy chatter inside vanished.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back? I could have come to pick you up.” Antonio was surprised to see me.
Looking at “the family of three“, I said nothing. Then I went straight to my room. Meanwhile, Sofia, feigning uneasiness, took Zoe to stand aside. As I pushed open the door to my room, Antonio thought of something and said, “Wait! Well… The road leading to Sofia’s residential community has been under construction these days, and traffic there is a mess, so they’re here to stay with us for the time being.”
Before he finished speaking, Sofia had already entered my room. As I looked at her closing the door to my room, I was so furious that I actually sneered. I said mockingly, “So, you let her stay in my room?”
“I’ve moved your stuff into my room. You can stay with me for now. I’ll get them back in a couple of days,” he said, wanting to take my luggage.
I instinctively stepped back. “No need. I’ll sleep in the study.”
His hand froze in mid–air. After a few seconds, he withdrew it awkwardly and asked, pretending to be casual, “By the way, what did your parents say?”
I replied, “We checked the calendar and didn’t find any suitable date to hold the wedding, so we decided to talk about it later.”
It was the story I agreed on with Regina and Richard. When he asked them later, they’d explain it to him.
He nodded. “Alright. Let’s wait then.” After saying this, he picked up Zoe. who had run to him. asking cutely for a hug.
I closed the door to the study and leaned against the door: somehow. I couldn’t help but be angry with myself. Now that I had broken off the engagement. I no longer had anything to do with him. It was his house. and he got to decide who lived there. Why was I still so upset?
After driving for a day. I was beaten. I wanted to go to bed early, but Zoe insisted on watching cartoons and even turned the TV volume up so loud. It was unbearable, so I decided to go back to my car to have some peace.
The second I went downstairs, the world seemed so much quieter. Then I bumped into Halle Raymond, our neighbor, who had just come back after walking her dog. She greeted me, “Grace? I thought you went back to visit your parents.”
Halle was a retired teacher, and we got along pretty well. I smiled, “Yeah. I came back to stay with them for a few days and just got back today.”
She tapped my head gently, her eyes filled with frustration and helplessness. “Grace, you silly girl.”
Noticing the puzzled look on my face, she continued, “How could you let another woman stay in your home?”
From what she said, I gathered that Antonio told everyone it was my idea. to take Sofia and Zoe to stay with us.
Antonio said Sofia was my friend from childhood. She lived in a remote place, and her neighborhood had been under construction these days, so it wouldn’t be safe for her to walk home alone at night with Zoe. Given this, I asked him to bring Sofia and Zoe to stay with us.
Antonio used me as an excuse so that the neighbors wouldn’t point fingers
at him.
I said to Halle. “I’ll pay attention to it. Thanks, Halle.” But since I was about to leave, I didn’t bother wasting my time and energy arguing with him. Halle still seemed indignant and said, “Be wary, OK, Grace? Come to me if anything happens.”
After thanking her, I went back to my car and sat inside for quite a while. I only got upstairs to wash up after the light in the bedroom went out.
Yet, when I was brushing my teeth,
e slammed the door open with great force, and the door hit me right on the shoulder, causing me to exclaim in pain instinctively.
Meanwhile, Sofia said, “Grace, could you please step aside? Zoe needs to use the bathroom.”
Though she sounded delicate, the gloat and smugness in her eyes were too obvious to ignore.
“Apologize,” I straightened up, stood in front of her and Zoe, and said coldly, enduring the immense pain.
She was stunned, seemingly surprised that I’d confront her so straightforwardly.
“Apologize. Didn’t you hear me?” I raised my voice.
