Chapter 20
After Liana passed away, Grace had never heard Antonio mention her again.
It seemed that in his world, Liana was just a passer-by. Once gone, he would forget her completely, let alone cherish the memory of her.
Therefore, seeing Antonio here, a phrase suddenly sprang to Grace’s mind: out of place.
As the extremely self-centered heir of the Kaufman Group, Antonio was like a square peg in a round hole in this re- mote town and the surrounding cold, bleak atmosphere.
Even the bouquet of flowers in his hand seemed odd.
Under normal circumstances, Grace would have felt calm upon encountering him.
However, seeing him at the grave of her parents, she felt that he was up to no good, and her guard went up.
Devin, who was beside her, also frowned and quickened his pace slightly to shield Grace behind him.
The three of them confronted each other in front of the tombstone, silently staring at one another.
Antonio didn’t speak until it rained slightly again.
“You brought him here to visit your parents’ grave?”
Grace didn’t look at him. Instead, she lowered her head to tidy up the flower paper in her hands.
Meanwhile, she said in a flat voice, “Is there any problem with a son-in-law paying respects to his parents-in-law?”
“No problem at all!”
Antonio gritted his teeth, and a trace of displeasure flickered over his face.
Grace didn’t care about his current mood and went straight to the point.
“What brings you here, Mr. Kaufman?”
Antonio glanced at her and leaned down to place the flowers in his hand in front of the tombstone.
Then he said in a deep voice, “Mrs. Stafford worked for our Kaufman family for over thirty years, so I came to pay my respects to an acquaintance.”
“Thank you.”
In fact, Grace didn’t believe that a man like Antonio, who had never done anything without benefit, would specially visit Liana’s grave three years after her death.
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She was sure that he was up to something, and she did not want to fall into his trap. Therefore, she simply thanked him and ignored him directly, turning with Devin to look at the tombstone.
The two focused on paying their respects at the grave, acting as if Antonio didn’t exist.
At first, Antonio could still endure it. However, when he realized that they had entirely ignored him, a feeling of irri- tation rose within him, and he couldn’t help but break the solemn silence.
“I still remember Mrs. Stafford’s last words about asking me to take care of you. I didn’t expect that just after three years, you would move away. If she knew about this from above, who knows what she would feel.”
His meaningful words did not receive any response.
Devin and Grace, as if they hadn’t heard it, devoutly bowed to the tomb.
After cleaning the tombstone and putting down all the offerings, Devin helped Grace slowly stand up.
As the rain grew heavier, the two quietly turned and walked down the hill.
Being left behind and watching their departure, Antonio was so angry that even his face contorted.
He strode forward and caught up to them at the cemetery gate.
Then he grabbed Grace’s arm and asked in an angry voice, “Are you ignoring me?”
Grace stopped and side-eyed the hand on her arm.
Then she said in a cold voice, “Making a scene at my mother’s grave on the anniversary of her death, Antonio Kauf- man, do you think it’s funny?”
They had known each other for so many years, and this was the first time Antonio had heard her say his full name.
In the past, whether as a maid during their school years or as his assistant later, Grace had always addressed Antonio as “Mr. Kaufman.”
No matter when, where, or under what circumstances, this title of address always carried with it a sense of forbear- ance and respect.
However, this time, Antonio couldn’t help but shiver at the sound of her calling his full name in such a cold voice.
Devin stepped forward and patted away Antonio’s hand. Then he embraced Grace and quickly led her to the car.
Amidst the rain and the sound of the car engine, they headed towards downtown.