He Gave Her a Three-Day Honeymoon, Yet Called One Day With Me a Waste of Time Chapter 09

He Gave Her a Three-Day Honeymoon, Yet Called One Day With Me a Waste of Time Chapter 09

The receptionist did as I asked.

Near the end of the workday, I walked over to the window and glanced down.

Grant was still outside.

His suit was no longer as crisp as it used to be, and the wind had messed up his hair.

He looked up at the office building.

I closed the blinds.

For the next three days, he came every day.

On the evening of the third day, he finally managed to stop me in the lobby.

Security immediately stepped forward.

I raised a hand, signaling that it wasn’t necessary yet.

Grant looked at me.

“Elena.”

My voice was calm.

“Mr. Mercer, we have nothing to discuss.”

He opened his mouth, then hesitated for several seconds.

“I came here to-”

I cut him off.

“If it’s business, make an appointment through reception.”

“If it’s personal, I’m not interested.”

“And stop waiting for me downstairs.”

“If you keep interfering with employees entering and leaving the building, I’ll have building security deal with

it.”

Grant stayed where he was and didn’t try to stop me again.

But he didn’t leave Toronto.

For an entire month, he appeared near the office almost every day.

Of course my coworkers noticed.

Some thought he was persistent.

More of them simply asked whether I wanted security to issue him a trespass notice.

Grant also had flowers delivered and sent gifts through other people.

Following my instructions, reception returned every flower arrangement and every gift to the sender.

A month later, when I saw him outside the office again, there were two more people standing beside him.

My parents.

The moment they saw me, they started walking toward me.

I immediately took two steps back.

“Stop right there.”

All three of them stopped.

Grant spoke first.

“Elena, I was wrong.”

My parents apologized too.

My mother said that because Sophie had grown up without parents, they had treated her like a child of their own and gradually crossed boundaries they never should have crossed.

Later, Sophie used their joint investments and the authority they had given her to transfer away a large portion of the savings they had placed under her control.

Then she cut off contact with them completely.

Only then had they finally admitted that they had willingly hurt their own daughter for someone who wasn’t

even related to them.

“We’re not asking you to forgive us right away,” my father said.

“We just wanted to see you once.”

Grant immediately added, “Sophie and I are divorced.”

“If you’re willing, I can go back to Chicago and do everything properly this time.”

“The legal registration, the wedding-whatever you want, we can start over and do it your way.”

I looked at him.

“You keep saying you were wrong. What exactly were you wrong about?”

Grant didn’t answer immediately.

I repeated the question.

“What, specifically, did you do wrong?”

His lips parted.

“I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“I shouldn’t have married Sophie behind your back.”

“I shouldn’t have booked the fertility clinic for you without asking.”

“I shouldn’t have interfered with your job.”

I shook my head.

“Those are things you did wrong.”

“They aren’t the real problem.”

Grant looked at me.

I continued.

“The real problem is that you never respected me.”

“You gave me a fake certificate made with Al because you assumed I would never ask for anything more.

“You booked me into a fertility clinic because you assumed my body would eventually cooperate with your

plan.”

“You destroyed my position because you assumed my career could simply stop for the child you wanted.”

“It wasn’t that you thought I would agree.”

“You simply never cared whether I agreed or not.”

Grant didn’t respond at first.

His lips moved several times, but no words came out.

“Elena, that’s not how it was.”

“I love you.”

“I was out of my mind when I said those things about the baby.”

“Later, I even thought that if you were willing to have the child, you could raise the baby entirely on your own.”

I gave a small laugh.

“Listen to yourself.”

“You’re still explaining how you planned to arrange my child.”

“You say you love me.”

“But your version of love included legally marrying another woman, holding a wedding behind my back, and then sending me for IVF so the two of you could get a child.”

“If that’s what you call love, I don’t want it.”

I turned away.

Grant called after me.

“Elena, then what do you want me to do? Tell me. Whatever you say, I’ll do it.”

I paused for one second.

I didn’t turn around.

“Never come looking for me again.”

“That includes both of you.”

I looked at my parents.

“Don’t come to my office. Don’t come to my home. And don’t try to contact me through anyone else.”

Then I left.

After that day, Grant finally understood that some mistakes couldn’t be undone by filing the right paperwork

or holding another wedding.

Six months later, his law firm had barely stabilized.

But several major clients never returned, and the firm’s reputation within the industry had clearly declined.

His parents urged him to start over.

He refused.

He moved back into the apartment we had once shared.

He even bought the perfume I used to wear.

But no matter how much he sprayed, he could still smell the cleaning solution from the day I left.

It was the only trace I had left behind after walking out of his life for good.