Chapter 8
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Grace was jolted awake by a phone call.
She had gotten into the habit of keeping her phone on 24/7, afraid she might miss anything from Antonio. Groggily, she answered it.
“Grace, you gotta get back here, like, now! Mr. Kaufman is totally flipping out, and no one wants to deal with him. Looks like the shop’s about to change hands,” Donna Kirby, a colleague from Dessert Tryst, yelled over the phone.
Antonio had opened the shop out of boredom, so why the sudden deep attachment?
Grace was about to ignore it, but then Donna’s scream cut through. “Grace, they’re fighting!”
Almost on autopilot, Grace jumped out of bed and rushed to Dessert Tryst.
The place was eerily quiet, just a few department heads milling around. Antonio sat there with a bruised face, while some guy sat across from him.
All the workers‘ eyes lit up when they saw Grace–they knew Antonio usually listened to her.
This time, Grace didn’t even look at Antonio. She walked straight to that guy. “Hi, I’m—”
“I’m Lewis,” he interrupted her.
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Chapter 8
Grace’s mind spun with recent events, and her shocked
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expression gave her away. She never expected the mystery buyer of Dessert Tryst to be Lewis.
Trying to keep her cool, she asked, “Wait, are you really the one buying Dessert Tryst?”
Lewis looked her in the eye and said, “Yes.”
Her eyes scanned his perfectly fitted navy suit. “Well, he sure looks the part,” she thought. Grace’s confidence wavered.
“I’m not here to negotiate,” Lewis went on, signaling his assistant to whip out the contract. “I’m just here to inform you.”
Grace spotted the Kaufman Group’s seal on the contract. It meant Dessert Tryst was now legally Lewis’s.
She gasped, realizing this was final.
“But you shouldn’t hit him,” she said, pointing at Antonio. He perked up immediately.
“Ms. Parrish, Mr. Kaufman started it. My guys were just defending themselves,” Lewis said, pointing to the corner surveillance camera. “You can check the footage if you don’t believe me.”
His tone softened, and the warmth in his voice put Grace at
ease.
She figured she had a soft spot for people who made sense.
Lewis left soon after, and Grace watched him go, not even noticing Antonio’s glare.
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Chapter 8
“Do you know him?” Antonio asked, sounding suspicious.
“Nope,” Grace replied calmly, turning to leave.
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“Where are you going?” Antonio grabbed her wrist, but Grace pulled away.
“You said you didn’t need me anymore,” she said, her voice calm but sharp, leaving Antonio speechless.
“Sorry, I messed up. I was angry and said stuff I shouldn’t have. Please forgive me.” He reached out, trying to make
peace.
The others tried to help him. “Yeah, Grace, Dessert Tryst needs you. You and Mr. Kaufman are the dream team!”
But then they remembered the shop would soon have a new boss. They exchanged glances and walked away.
“Grace, I need you too,” Antonio said.
Grace just stared at him. “So he thinks I’m gonna forgive him?” she thought.
Out of nowhere, Janelle’s cat sprang at her, its claws slicing into her face and drawing blood.
Grace winced in pain, and Antonio yelled, “Who let the cat loose?”
He grabbed Grace’s hand and rushed her to the garage.
Just then, his phone rang. Without looking, he answered, “Yes, who’s this?”
“It’s me, Tino. Where are you? What took you so long?” Janelle
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Chapter 8
Updated fromy. More new chapters with interesting epivdes per tow
asked.
Right next to him, Grace heard and recognized Janelle’s voice. She looked up, noticing Antonio freeze for a second before he got a grip on himself.
“Okay,” he mumbled, ending the call. He turned to Grace with an apologetic look. “This is urgent. I gotta run. Can you get to the hospital on your own?”
Grace was injured, but did Antonio really care?
She wavered in the cold wind, her thoughts drifting. Before she could say anything, he was already gone. At least she wouldn’t have to owe him another favor.
