Chapter 8
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“Antonio, stop drinking. You’re risking your neck!
“Haven’t you noticed we have been worrying about you?”
One of his friends clutched the bottle, pleading with Antonio, “I just called Sandra. She’s on her way to get you. Can you please stop drinking?”
At the mention of Sandra, Antonio felt a surge of revulsion.
He shoved his friend aside and smashed the bottle on the floor. “Who gave you the idea to call her? Did I say she could come?”
“She’s your girlfriend. Who else were we supposed to call?” his friend shot back.
“Who says she’s my girlfriend?” Antonio scoffed. “Don’t you guys know who my girlfriend is?”
His friends exchanged glances. “Antonio, don’t you remember you and Grace are history?”
“Yeah, you even told us in the group chat to start calling Sandra your girlfriend.”
“Grace even congratulated you guys before she left the group chat.”
“Aren’t you and Sandra about to get engaged?”
“We are not getting engaged.” Antonio signaled for someone to
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crack open another bottle.
“Antonio, you can’t drink anymore,” one of his friends persuaded him.
“Do you think I’m going to listen to you?” said Antonio.
His friend said, “You never listen to us, Antonio. You only ever listen to Grace.
“If Grace were still around, you would have left with her by now. You wouldn’t have gotten wasted and ended up in the hospital.”
Antonio was silent, but he didn’t argue.
His friend pulled out his phone. “I’m calling Grace right now.
“If you don’t listen to her, we’re totally out of ideas.”
But what caught everyone off guard was that the call wouldn’t connect.
Everyone in the room tried their own phones.
Grace had blocked all their numbers.
The room fell silent.
Antonio sat on the couch, his eyes looking icy.
“Grace must be super pissed.”
“Yeah, Antonio. You dumped her out of the blue and then hooked up with her stepsister.
“Anyone would feel hurt and couldn’t take it.
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“She’s been on her own for a while now.
“Recently, on her mom’s death anniversary, my cousin saw her leaving the cemetery, her eyes all puffy from crying.
“Why don’t you go to her apartment and find her, Antonio?”
Antonio suddenly recalled the day Grace had moved out of the Parrish’s place.
She hauled two massive suitcases, walking away without a backward glance.
That place used to be her home, where she lived with her family.
But later it became Sandra and her mother’s home.
Her own dad became Sandra’s dad as well.
What was worse, he was totally smitten by the young and delicate Sandra back then.
He ditched Grace like she was nothing.
All Antonio could picture in his mind now was the final glance Grace had thrown at him.
It was calm, devoid of any feelings.
It seemed that he was just a stranger to her, a nobody passing through her life.
Antonio abruptly stood up, but just as he was about to head out, Sandra burst through the door.
“Antonio.” She still had that same fragile and timid expression.
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Her lovely eyes were always glistening, like she verge of tears.
“Was on the
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It was easy to get the impression that someone had been mean to her.
“Why are you drinking so much again? You’ll be moaning about a headache tomorrow.”
Sandra approached and took his arm, her voice incredibly soft and concerned.
Antonio was about to say something, but then he caught a whiff of that familiar perfume.
His heart did a little dance, and the hand that was about to shove Sandra away froze mid–air!
“How come it smells so amazing?” he asked.
Antonio’s voice was soft, and it made Sandra’s cheeks flush with a mix of shyness and thrill.
“Is it the same one from last time?” he continued.
Sandra’s smile wavered for a beat, but she nodded anyway. “Yep, it’s the same one.”
A spark of happiness lit up her face, but deep down, a sense of resentment was brewing.
The perfume was from Grace’s dressing room.
She had planned to break all of them, even though they were all high–end and untouched.
However, Antonio was only into this specific fragrance.
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Every time she tried on something else, he seemed to wrinkle his nose in distaste.
She had no choice but to keep using this one, even if it meant holding her breath.
“I’ll wear it every day if it makes you happy,” Sandra said, looking up with sparkling eyes. It was quite seductive.
But then, Antonio’s face fell.
He actually pushed her away with some force.
“Antonio?” Sandra was lost, and the rest of Antonio’s friends were also puzzled.
“Sandra.” Antonio stared at her with a poker face. His tone was as even as it could get.
But it was clear to everyone that he was barely holding it together.
“Antonio, what’s wrong?” Sandra made another attempt to wrap her arms around his.
But this time, Antonio just lifted his hand and slapped her right across the face.
“Antonio!” Sandra cried out.
“Antonio, you hit me?” Sandra clutched her cheek, tears welling up in her eyes.
But Antonio just sneered, “Aren’t you allergic to peaches,
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Sandra?
“Didn’t you tell me you were nearly killed when Grace got someone to spill peach juice on your bed?”
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Chapter 9
