Chapter 50
At Galaxy Bay, Amanda came out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. She turned the TV on and sat down before the dressing table, ready to go through her skincare routine.
The TV was airing the live recording of the charity ball, and Elias was on screen, elaborating on his relationship. “Grace and I are just colleagues, not lovers.”
The explanation surprised Amanda. She swiveled around, her eyes wide with disbelief. She was then reminded of what Elias told her that night. Is he really going to dump her? She quickly got up and huddled closer to the TV, then she turned the volume up to listen to what Elias had to say.
After she heard what Elias had to say, she felt awkward and sorry for Grace. When she saw the look of disbelief on Grace’s face, she knew this was Elias’ plan, and one he did not talk to Grace about.
What does he want? Amanda picked up her phone and called Elias. A few beeps later, the call went through. “Elias!”
“What is it?” he asked calmly.
“Are you really going to dump her? What do you want? Don’t tell me you’re serious about getting back together.” Amanda was panicking. If Elias really did want to remarry, she would be entangled in a heap of mess again.
Elias was silent for a few moments. “Whatever happens between us won’t affect my decision. I don’t want to waste any more of her time.”
It wasn’t only because his grandfather was stopping him; he didn’t want to marry Grace either. His refusal was even more adamant than the time his grandfather forced him to marry Amanda. He realized that he didn’t hate Amanda that much, or he wouldn’t even have given in to his grandfather’s demands.
“Calm down, Elias. You…”
Before she could finish, Amanda heard Grace’s cries. “Why did you say that? Why did you say that. Elias?”
And then the call ended.
At the banquet, Grace searched for a long time before she finally found Elias on the balcony. Her makeup was a mess due to all her crying. “Why did you say that? Why did you do that to me? You promised my brother you’d take care of me. She dashed toward Elias and hugged him, refusing to leave him.
The night breeze brushed across her face, and it froze her tears, but not even the cold compared to the chill she felt in her frozen heart.
Elias looked at her and pushed her away. “Even if we’re not lovers, I can still take care of you. As a brother, I mean. I’ll do anything you ask of me.”
Grace shook her head violently. “No. I don’t want to. I don’t want to just be your sister. We’re good as lovers, aren’t we? I can’t just be your sister.” She couldn’t watch him falling in love with another
Woman
“Listen to me. I don’t love you. If we got married, our marriage would be a mess. I don’t want to waste your time. You’ll find someone who truly loves you.” Elias thought she was a hassle, and he massaged his forehead. He hated it when Grace cried. She wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted, and it annoyed him.
“What? Why do you think it’ll be a mess before we even get married? I might be a better wife than Amanda ever was!” Grace thought Elias would fall for her if they were married. He was only wavering because of the comments the public was making about them and his grandfather was stopping him.
Elias couldn’t stand it anymore and finally snapped. He sternly said, “Stop lying to yourself, Grace. There’s no love between us. Don’t even compare yourself to Amanda. At least I was willing to marry her. I don’t even feel like marrying you. Not one bit.”
Silence fell between them. Grace stared at him in disbelief and hurt. He doesn’t even want to marry me? She sneered. “So, you weren’t that reluctant to marry Amanda, were you? And you aren’t actually hating your grandpa for trying to stop our marriage?”
Elias said nothing, but his silence was tacit agreement.
She laughed bitterly as she couldn’t understand. What did I do wrong? Why won’t he love me even after all I’ve done for him? She slowly turned around, tears streaming down her cheeks. She trudged along to the other side of the balcony, all life sucked out of her.
Elias saw her off. He said, “Get the driver to take you home.”
“I can go home by myself, thanks.”
She left, but Elias thought that would be even more of a hassle. Is she really all right? He chuckled. again. Guess I have another woman hating me now.
Grace arrived home, though she wasn’t entirely sure how she made it. All she could feel was pain and all she could think about was the hurtful words Elias said just now. I worked so hard and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter. I can’t accept this!
Just then, her phone started ringing, but she was in no mood to take it. What if it’s from Elias? What if he’s taking back his word? She picked up her phone, but it was an unknown number. Disappointing. She tossed the phone onto the couch, refusing to look at it, but her phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Going mad from the incessant ringing, she answered the phone and roared, “What do you want?
Piss off!”
A man said awkwardly, “Um. Miss Murphy? I’m from the DNA testing facility. Um…”
Oh, so the results are out? Grace calmed down and gripped her phone tightly. “So, what’s the result? Are they related?” Her heart was thumping furiously, afraid that the answer might be the one she feared.
“Yes, 99.99% related. We’ll send you the detailed report in two days. Since you were really eager to know the results, so…”
