Chapter 9
Perhaps, now that their dreams of wealth and status had crumbled, Helen and her mother no longer felt the need to ask their sharp, vicious natures.
“Open the witcases, I want everything checked,” Simon commanded from the reps, his volen stern despite hit haggard appearance,
Paul watched the aging man, his own heart filled with a bitter ceme
How pathetic they both were
the absurd that they had driven away someer as good as Grace for the sake of those two women
This was their karma, their punishment in this life.
Helen and her mother refused to open the suitcases, resting instead to hysterical streaming and rolling on the ground.
But in the end, it was futile.
But in
The guards forcibly opened the dozens of large suitcases.
Beneath piles of clothing lay stacks of expensive designer handbags and jewelry
rave the clothes. Everything else stays,” Susan ordered coldly, his face dark as iron.
Helen and her mother threw themselves forward, crying and wailing as they led to reclaim the jewelry and accessories
fot the bodyguards shoved them aside.
Not only were the valuables in the suitcases confiscated, but even the jewelry they wore was stripped off.
Helen struggled so violently that her earlche was torn. Blood trickled from her neck down to her chest creating a chilling sight.
The man who once dored on her like a “father didn’t even spare her a glance
Simon waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away an annoying fly, instructing the guards to throw Helen and her mother out.
At the front gate, Helen wasn’t ready to give up.
Clinging desperately to the doorframe, she screamed hoarsely,
“Paul you can’t do this to me! You can’t! I’m pregnant! The haby is yours! You have to take responsibility!”
By the end, her voice had turned hysterical, her appearance that of a crazed woman.
Paul?” Simon turned to him with a questioning look
Paul felt a
elt a wave of indescribable disgust. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all but found he couldn’t.
How could he have ever liked someone so utterly revolting?
“Mr.”
Winston.”
Paul stepped forward, meeting the gaze of the older man whose hair was not streaked with gray.
“I never touched her?
Tear–I’ve never laid a hand on her.”
“That’s good. That’s good,” Simon exhaled deeply, relief washing over him as he waved his hand again.
The guards dragged Helen and her mother away. Their cries and screams soon faded into silence.
The setting sun slowly dipped below the horizon, casting its glow over the vast estate.
His Affair, My Glue, The Scroads at 2 AM
Both men’s gazes foll on the patch of withered crabapple flowers.
The Bowers had fallen asleep, uncertain of when they might bloom again
They were tirarr’s mother’s favorite Howsers.
After hot passing, a had been trace who tended to them with care.
Now Hat Grace was gone, The Bovers seemed to thate her uncrow, wibing even in the height of spring.
Simon wiped away tears from the corners of his
“I failed Grace,” he said, his voice heavy with
failed her mother, and 1 failed her. Paul, I was so blist, so foolish.–
“I promised her mother I would take care of her, that I would cherish her.
broke that promise.”
“Do you think I’ll be punished for this?
“Grace she must have been so heartbroken and so wronged during those days”
“Paul, her mother’s photo has been restored, and I’ll have the house renovated. Do you think Grace will come back bomer,
Paul didn’t know
Or perhaps he did but couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge the answer.
In the deepening twilight, he could only suppress s his own sorrow and offer what comfort he could.
“Mr. Winston, Grace has always had a soft heart.
But he couldn’t finish
They both knew. They both knew exactly how kind she was.
Why, then, had they allowed themselves to be so blind, so senseless, as to treat her so cruelly?
Adrian and I held our wedding in the spring of the following year.
As we had promised in our youth, Lexi stood by my side as my only bridesmaid
I didn’t inform any relatives or friends from Capital City.
Yot somehow, the news had spread
Chapter 10
On the day of the wedding, both my father and Paid dhonved up.
Adrian chine to ask me
sk me what I wanted to do,
The makeup artist was applying the finishing touches to my makeup. Instinc bushan
oked up and so myself in th
The bridal makeup was a hit heavier than my mal look, making me appear somewhat diffe
I resembled the Western reshapple trees Adrian had planted especially for
Adrian, in his black groom’s suit, looked incredibly handoume.
We exchanged a glance, and in that fleeting moment, mir eyes held a shared
“I don’t want to see them,” I said softly.
Adrian nodded without hesitation.
“Alright, I’ll have someone escort them out.”
“Okay”
Old faces and past memories–none of them were worth revisiting
The stars they left in my heart would eventually fade with time.
aw home–blooming shyly, vibrant yet captivating.
My bond with them had always been shallow. I had stopped forcing myself to hold onto connections that were never meant to be
When everything was ready. I walked onto the stage in my white wedding dress, holding my bouquet..
Before I could reach him. Adrian couldn’t wait any longer.
He stepped forward to meet me, holding out his hand eagerly, desperate to take mine.
I reached out to him as well
Amid countless blessings and joyous laughter, our hands clasped tightly together.
Adrian leaned down and kissed me, a loss so long and deep that I felt I might out of breath before he finally pulled away.
“Grace,” he whispered as he slipped the ring onto my finger.
I love you
“I loved you long ago, and I will love you far into the future.”
I looked up at him my eyes brimming with both tears and a smile.
*Adrian. F’ll try my best to love you too. To love you wholeheartedly.”
He wrapped me in his gentle embrace.
“Okay” he murmured.
The wedding that day was both extravagant and romantic beyond words.
Paul and Simon weren’t allowed to set foot inside the wedding venue.
Yet neither of them left, silently agreeing to linger outside.
Simon, however, didn’t make it to the end of the ceremony.
