Broken Heart Novel – The day I found out my fiancé, Antonio Kaufman, was marrying my stepsister, Roxanne Chapman, I had an abortion. The night before our wedding, I saw their ceremony in a fairytale castle. Standing outside in the rain, I watched as my fiancé smooched my stepsister, . After about ten minutes, he swept her into his arms. Only then did I notice my family and friends were present. My brother, Levi Parrish, whom I’d saved with my life, was officiating in a black robe, bestowing a blessing on Roxanne. He’d forgotten that I was his full sister, hadn’t he? Roxanne and her mom, Elise, had nearly run us over once! Just then, Levi exclaimed, “May you be happy forever.” Right after that, piano music sounded.
Suffocated, I called Levi, only to have him screen my call.. I then called Antonio. His face went cold at the sight of my name. He wanted to ignore the call. But Roxanne intervened. He answered, his impatience evident. I asked gently, “Where are you?” He sneered, “At work. Stay at home now that you’re pregnant.” “Aren’t you at the castle?” My tone turned helpless. “I told you. Roxanne and I are here for archaeology. You’re so disgusting, always accusing me of cheating.” His impatience was palpable. His cruelty overwhelmed me. “It’s my birthday.” I whispered, biting my lip,“You promised you’d be with me.”
He had promised to celebrate, regardless of his.business trip 1,000 kilometers away. I’d journeyed to him, enduring multiple forms of transport and a five-kilometer hike through the woods, only to be told by a farmer that no archaeological work was underway. But he heard a Professor Kaufman had been planning a wedding at the castle. Antonio fell silent, the weight of his broken promise settling upon him. Before he could speak, Levi snatched the phone. “Grace, could you please leave us alone? Stop disturbing Antonio at work.” Then he hung up the phone. Roxanne, nestled in Antonio’s arms, smiled sweetly, strokinf Levi’s head. “Don’t be upset. Grace has always been controlling. Be understanding, OK?”
Levi nodded with a smile. Devastated, I left the castle and scheduled an abortion. – I wanted nothing, neither Antonio nor the baby. By the time I returned to the city, it was late. I checked into a hotel, showered, and fell asleep in a daze. The insistent ringing of my phone woke me up in the predawn hours. My frantic boss from the TV station barked, “Grace, tornado at that castle. Report it! before disconnecting. With a sigh, I checked my phone. Roxanne’s latest post—a picture of her hand intertwined with Antonio’s, both sporting matching rings—met my eyes. The pale scar on Antonio’s hand, a mark from a beer bottle incident when he protected me from my abusive dad at the age of eighteen, a scar I’d foolishly thought was a testament to his love, stabbed at my heart.
It was just my fantasy. Turning on my laptop, I sorted out interview materials and asked my lawyer friend to draft divorce papers. At the castle, devastation reigned. This tornado had wrought havoc. The sight of mining detonators near the ruins sent a chill down my spine. Then, a blow to my back. Caught off guard, I tumbled into the debris. Levi’s fierce voice rang out. “What are you doing here, Grace? Spying?” He’d forgotten how our mom died because of Elise. He had long become Roxanne’s lapdog. I didn’t need him. In silence, I brushed myself off and slapped him across the face. His head tilted because of the force. Shocked, he stared, not expecting me to fight back. “I’m here to work,” I spat, my voice laced with disgust.
“And I don’t want you as a brother. Go suck up to Roxanne.” Ignoring his rage, I began my interview. Antonio approached, holding the pale Roxanne. A hint of guilt flashed across his face, “Grace, sorry for not wishing you a happy birthday. “I’ll make it up to you later.” I calmly averted my gaze from their clasped hands. “No need.” My composure left the three stunned. Levi sneered, “Still after Antonio’s attention? He loves Roxanne, not you.” Antonio’s anger flared. He spat, “Grace, you followed me, disturbed my work, and now this a tantrum? “Roxanne needs peace. Go out of here, now!” He grabbed my hand, trying to pull me away.
Just then, the tornado struck again. Reflexively, Antonio pushed me to the ground, directly into the path of a falling concrete pole. The impact shattered my left leg and I passed out. – I awoke alone in the hospital, my left leg encased in a cast. A nurse, noticing I was awake, removed my IV, “You’re lucky it’s just your leg. Otherwise, you might lost the baby.” I looked calmly at the ceiling, “I don’t want the baby. Schedule an abortion .” Later, I learned the village chief had brought me here. Antonio’s only communication was a text: “Roxanne fainted seeing your injury. So I took her back to New York for treatment.” Then he and Levi arranged an overnight helicopter evacuation for her. My injuries were inconsequential to him.
Despair numbed me, yet heartbreak lingered. My abortion was set in three hours. During that time, I finalized my divorce agreement with my lawyer friend. Exited our chat, I saw Roxanne’s Facebook post: screenshots of money transfers. They’d all remembered her birthday. My dad, Peter Parrish, sent 8,500 dollars while messaging, “Happy birthday, sweetie!” Levi sent 16,000 dollars, saying, “My dearest sister, may you be happy forever!” Antonio sent her 85,000 dollars, and the words attached were, “No matter what the future holds, I’ll love you forever.” Silently, I unfriended Roxanne. Just then, Antonio called, “What’s wrong, Grace? You just hate seeing us nice to Roxanne, right? Back in high school, you accused her and Elise of killing your mom. But then what? “Your mom had mental issues! She committed suicide! And that school to fight Internet addiction?” “It doesn’t exist.Levi said you lured him there, he hit his head and Roxanne cared for him.” His disdain was unconcealed.
“I never wanted to marry you! If Roxanne hadn’t worried you might hurt yourself, I wouldn’t have drunk that spiked wine…” A nurse’s voice cut him off. “Patient No. 037, Grace Parrish, abortion room.” Antonio’s voice, tight with disbelief, “You’re getting an abortion?” Roxanne’s chuckle cut through the line. “Come on, Antonio. Grace cares so much about you and your baby. Why would she get an abortion?” Antonio’s voice turned icy. “You’re right. Grace, you’ve really let me down. “You’re vicious? Threatening me with the baby? I’m not falling for it. Divorce.” He sounded triumphant, expecting my tears and pleas.
But he was wrong. After a pause, I suddenly felt relieved. “Sure. Divorce.” – Antonio didn’t call me again until I got back to New York after the surgery. He seemed to think I said that in a fit of pique. He sent several posts on Instagram, featuring he took Roxanne to try on wedding dresses, take wedding photos, and even choose gifts. I ignored all his posts, went back to the station, and applied to the geological survey research team that was going to shoot a documentary on Antarctica. Also, I reported to the news channel the documents that the village chief had slipped into my bag when he took me to the hospital that day. When I learned the truth about the tornado, the last trace of my love for Antonio was replaced by disgust.
After all this, I went back to the small apartment I had lived in after graduation. I packed up all the cheap, crappy gifts Antonio had given me over the past fifteen years. Then I sent them to the wedding along with the divorce papers and a DVD containing the information about the school for Internet addiction I had researched over the years. Levi was very young when he was sent to that school. Suffering from PTSD from being tortured, he had forgotten everything. Over the years, I didn’t bring anything up as I didn’t want him to relive the pain. Yet now as I thought about it, maybe I was wrong. Before boarding, I blocked all Antonio and Levi’s contact information. Then I pulled out the SIM card, broke it, and threw it in the trash. From now on, I had nothing to do with these jerks. At the wedding, Antonio felt uneasy for some reason.
He figured it was probably because of Roxanne’s condition. She had terminal lung cancer. It suffocated him to think such a harmless, sweet girl would die soon. He wondered more than once why it wasn’t Grace who had it. Grace was so vicious; she deserved this. And Levi shared the same thought, saying from time to time, “Roxanne is perfect. How I wish it were that bi-tch Grace who’s dying!” At this thought, Antonio was even more pissed off at Grace. “The wedding is about to start. Where is Grace? She thinks she can act however she wants just because she’s pregnant?” he thought. Then he dialed Grace’s number, which he had not called for a long time, only to find his number had been blocked. Seeing that, Levi tried calling Grace and realized his number had been blocked, too. “She’s crazy!” Cursing, Levi started to contact others who knew Grace. Meanwhile, Antonio complained in a deep voice. “I married Grace only to fulfill Roxanne’s dream.
“I already made the biggest compromise by agreeing to marry her. Now she actually dares to run away? When I find her, I’ll…” “Excuse me. Are you Mr. Parrish and Mr. Kaufman?” A deliveryman’s voice suddenly rang out. “This is an express from Miss Parrish. Please sign for it.” After signing, Antonio opened the package. The first thing he saw was a divorce agreement. Sneering, he didn’t take it seriously at all and tossed it to the floor. Yet in the next second, he was stunned as he saw the abortion report under the agreement. “No way.” He was both startled and incredulous. Perhaps to comfort himself, he forced himself to open a small wooden box in the package. Seeing what was inside, he froze. Lying there was the tiny, crouching bones of a baby. His pupils shrank as the box slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor. Levi’s expression changed, too.
Yet unlike Antonio, who was lost in a trance, he was angry. “Grace! It’s a big day today, but she just won’t give up any chance of annoying us! What a bi-tch…” “Oh, one more thing. Miss Parrish specifically asked me to tell you that the DVD in the box would tell you the truth about the past.” The deliveryman left, his face calm. Antonio was still in a daze and didn’t catch the deliveryman’s words. Levi, however, sneered and then threw the box in a cleaning cart beside him. ” What trick is she playing this time?” Then he pulled Antonio, who was still lost in thought, and gave him a wink. “Antonio, since Grace won’t show up, why don’t you marry Roxanne today? “You love her, and the wedding dress and ring were designed in her size, right?” Hearing Roxanne’s name, Antonio finally snapped back to reality. He forced a smile and nodded, no longer looking at the box. Following Levi, he went to the hotel room where Roxanne stayed. Before this, Levi suggested that he should buy a bouquet of flowers. They didn’t tell anyone, intending to give Roxanne a surprise. – Yet as soon as Antonio and Levi reached the room door, they heard the click of a lighter. There was a crack in the door.
Through the crack, Antonio saw Roxanne. The seemingly innocent girl who was supposed to have lung cancer was now smoking. Peter and Elise were sitting on the sofa opposite her, both looking complacent. Elise was very pleased as she counted the bride price given by Antonio. “Roxanne, sweetie, you’re so smart. “You pretended that you had cancer and fooled Antonio, totally wrapping him around your finger. “He calls himself a professor? He couldn’t even tell that it was a fake diagnosis.” Elise’s tone was nothing but mean. While saying, she exchanged a look with Peter, curled up her lips, and sneered. “Antonio is so stupid. Grace has loved him for fifteen years, but he just insists on being with you. “Sweetie, you are charming indeed.”
Peter took a sip of the wine and commented arrogantly, “Grace is just like her mom. Both are bound to be miserable. “If her mom had given us her inheritance, she wouldn’t have been tortured so much that she jumped off the building. “And we wouldn’t have had to put on an act to keep that stupid Levi in the dark.” Roxanne rolled her eyes impatiently, saying in disgust, “Where’s that b-itch Grace anyway? If she dares to run away, I swear I’ll make her pay! “And I’ll deal with that baby she’s carrying! If it weren’t for me being infertile, she wouldn’t have been able to marry Antonio at all!
“After they get married, find a chance to send her back to that school to make her suffer. We’ll claim that the school is for disciplining women this time. “Then I’ll play pitiful in front of Antonio, saying Grace picks on me. I’m sure he’ll believe me. “After Grace gives birth, we’ll use her baby to claim the property her mom left.” After conspiring loudly, the three burst into laughter. Little did they know the two men behind the door were on the verge of losing it. Just then, a loud bang came as the door was kicked open.