Chapter 21 Drowning
Brenton’s things didn’t just suddenly move to my house, but little by little, like ants nibbling on bread, until I realized that there was no place in my home without his traces.
Pairs of cups and toothbrushes, his clothes and socks neatly arranged in the wardrobe, numerous sets of matching family outfits for the four of them…
Brenton was especially patient with the two children. As long as he wasn’t on a business trip, he would pick them up and drop them off with me every day, and he would play with the children.
Those who didn’t know thought he was the biological father of the child.
The two children liked him very much.
When the children said, “Brenton is the best dad in the world,” my eyes suddenly became a little moist.
They lacked fatherly love from Antonio, but Brenton provided it twice as much.
“Melina, come and give me a kiss! Take a bite.”
“What happened?”
“So happy, afraid it’s not real…”
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Chapter 21 Drowning
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Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, the Kaufman’s Villa in Newbarrow was far from being described as “chaotic“.
Antonio was not doing well. Due to long–term alcohol abuse, he suffered from insomnia and his stomach problems became increasingly severe. Gradually, he even developed a tendency towards stomach cancer, and he became extremely thin.
What’s worse, his auditory and visual hallucinations were also worsening.
Not only at home, but also several times during meetings, he suddenly rushed out of the office, shouting “Grace…”
A large family, and also a listed company.
The demand for his removal, both within the family and among the company shareholders, grew louder and louder. Many people said he had a mental illness.
That winter, according to the timeline, was the day of our 5th wedding anniversary.
He was wrapped in a large robe, leaning against the railing on the terrace, one bottle of wine after another.
“Bang!”
The wedding ring slipped off the ring finger and rolled a distance on the ground before falling into the swimming pool.
Antonio, feeling dizzy, stared for a while and then followed
the wedding ring, jumping over the railing.
During the coldest days of winter, he fished for a ring in an unheated swimming pool.
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Chapter 21 Drowning
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The bathrobe was soaked in water and became extremely heavy.
The ring was like the moon on the horizon, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t grasp it…
He was so anxious that tears rolled down his cheeks.
Fortunately, there were countless bodyguards in the villa, and Antonio was just drowning and suffocating when he was pulled out by someone.
I tossed and turned for most of the night.
The first thing Antonio said when he woke up was, “Mom, I saw Grace!”
“Where is my wedding ring? Where is my wedding ring? If it’s lost, Grace will be angry!”
Tabitha turned her head and wiped away her tears. When she turned back, she said sternly,
“Antonio, snap out of it! If you keep wallowing in self–pity like this, Grace won’t come back!”
Antonio’s eyes cleared up a bit and then immediately turned
red.
“You deceived me, Grace is already dead… It was me who killed her, I betrayed her, she didn’t want me anymore!”
“No! Grace didn’t die!” Tabitha said firmly.
She took out a photoshopped picture from her bag and handed it to Antonio.
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Chapter 21 Drowning
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“Someone saw her abroad! It wasn’t her who died in that shipwreck!”
Antonio held the photo, as he looked at it, tears started to fall again.
His fingertips caressed the people in the photo, as if he was asking Tabitha, and also as if he was asking and answering himself.
“Why didn’t she come back if she didn’t die?”
“She seemed to have lost her memory. Antonio, pull yourself together! I have sent someone to look for her. You wouldn’t want her to come back and see the battered state of the Kaufman Group and the Parrish Group, would you?”
Antonio nodded.
He may have truly believed Tabitha’s words, or perhaps it was simply his body’s instinctual survival awareness.
After that day, his spirit improved a lot.
He started to personally tidy up the house, pouring cup after cup of coffee, working day and night to clean up the mess left by the company, and searching for me all over the world.
What is called “accidentally stumbling upon“? This is callec
When Brenton and I received the news, we were preparing for the wedding.
I had a feeling that this wedding wouldn’t go smoothly.
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