when he saw my disappearance was completely shattered. “Forget it, he couldn’t even keep his promise of showing up at our wedding on time. Thus, how could I expect him to have any reaction after knowing that I ran away?” I said to myself.
I arrived at the apartment building according to the address given by my supervisor. And, just as I was about to go up with my luggage, Antonio’s friend called again.
Now that we had already broken up, there was no need to contact him or his friends anymore. Therefore, I thought it would be better to make myself clear.
I hesitated for a few seconds before answering the call.
Then I heard Antonio’s extremely angry scolding from the other end of the phone. “Grace, what’s wrong with you? How dare you block my number? Where are you? Speak!
“Didn’t I explain everything to you? Mandy had a car accident, and I can’t leave her alone. Can you stop making such a fuss?
“You did not show up at our wedding today, did you? Where are you now? Send me the address!”
My eyebrows twisted, and I said coldly, “Didn’t you see the message I sent you? We have broken up, and where I go has nothing to do with you! I’ll also block your friend’s number. Don’t contact me anymore!”
I did not expect him to be so shameless as to call and blame me after he had stood me up on our wedding day.
Before he could speak again, I hung up and blocked this number. I then walked into the apartment building and dragged my luggage into the elevator.
After tidying up the apartment. I sat on the sofa to rest.
Just at that moment, my supervisor called and said with obvious concern in his voice. “Grace, didn’t you tell your husband about going abroad? He just called me. He was so anxious that he almost called the police, so I told him your current address.”
I gasped, then let out a long sigh.
“Never mind. he can’t really come to find me anyway. By the way, we’re not married, so he has nothing to do with me anymore.”
My supervisor seemed to understand something from my brief words.
Before hanging up, he reminded me not to let my personal issues affect my work. I ruffled my hair irritably and checked the blocked messages on my phone, and the screen was full of Antonio’s numbers.
We had been together for eight years, and the number of times he took the initiative to contact me was much less than he had done today. I felt it was really ridiculous and ironic.
Perhaps he didn’t want his simple wedding to be absent from both
protagonists, for it would be too embarrassing. I finally had time to have a look at my phone album and clean up the photos I had secretly taken of him in the past.
Chapter 203
As my fingers slid along the phone screen. I felt like I loved him again.
The moment the album was completely emptied. I stood up from the sofa and walked downstairs to buy a bottle of whiskey.
When we were together, because he hated the smell of alcohol. I could only stare dazedly at the window no matter how sad I was. Otherwise, he would throw me and my drinks out of the house.
After the breakup, I was free to drink again.
At this moment, as if sulking, I filled my glass and drank it off in one. gulp. The alcohol hit my head, and my consciousness gradually blurred.
I habitually checked Mandy’s Facebook and saw that she had updated another post eight hours ago. That was when the wedding had just begun.
In the picture, a familiar wrist was lazily placed on the edge of a hospital bed.
Mandy said in the post, “When you are with me, it seems like I have the whole world, and I am not afraid of anything.”
Seeing that, tears immediately overflowed from my eyes, and I couldn’t help but sneer.
My fingers trembled as I drafted and redrafted a line of text. After a while, I commented, “You won, and I’ll give you back your whole world.”
I deleted her contact information and put the final full stop to this relationship. The next second after turning off my phone, I threw myself down on the sofa and fell asleep completely.
Ħ
The next day, after the alarm went off. I washed myself up and then went to work with swollen eyes.
On my first day in the foreign branch. I was so busy that I had no time to think about Antonio at all. It was easier to let go of a wrong relationship than I had imagined.
I also didn’t receive any more calls from home.
I thought our story had ended there, but after work, I saw a familiar figure downstairs at the company building.
Antonio stood with his back to the company’s main entrance, clutching his phone with one hand.
Meanwhile, he said with extreme impatience, “Her wounds got worse and infected? Ask a doctor for help then! I’m not a doctor! I’m busy now. Would it not be more convenient for her to go to the doctor than for me to go and see her, considering that she is now in hospital? Anyway, don’t call me if there’s no real emergency.”
I glanced at him without stopping, planning to bypass him and return to my apartment.
Shortly later, however, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in my ears.
Before I could run, Antonio tightly grasped my wrist.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going abroad? Was it because I took Mandy to the hospital? Didn’t I already explain all that to you? Can’t you stop making a fuss?
“How come there is nothing about you in our house? That’s our shared home. Don’t I have the right to know?”
I thought I was brave enough. However, encountering him again in a foreign land and hearing the blame in his words, I couldn’t hold back my
tears at all.
I forcefully shook off his hand and turned to look at him.
“Tell you? Why should I tell you, and what should I say? That I saw the thousands of photos of Mandy on your computer? Or that I saw you using our wedding as a way to force Mandy to return?”
His face, haggard from sitting up all night to catch a flight, and his bloodshot eyes, were new to me.
If it were before, perhaps I would have already softened and obediently given up the opportunity abroad to go home with him without him even speaking.
However, this time, facing his helpless eyes, I felt no sympathy or distress at all. Antonio’s anxious expression froze. Clearly, he had not expected that I would check his computer.
11
1